“Your fault, you say?” Terry laughed angrily and switched his gaze between Jesse and Maria.
“What utter embarrassment.” He scoffed. “To think I have raised another man’s child all this time.”
Jesse walked over to the window, gazing at the peaceful streets. He could feel Terry’s rageful gaze on his back.
“No wonder.” Terry said with a laugh. “I was always suspicious of you, anyway. There is no way a man from the Kraham family could give birth to a pathetic lifeform like you!”
“Hmm.” Jesse let out a deep sigh, feeling the weight of Terry’s fate on his shoulders. “You already treated me badly when you thought I was your son. I bet you abandoned me to the streets if you knew.”
“I definitely fucking would!” Terry shouted. “There is no way I would waste money on someone who isn’t even my own blood!”
“Thought so; very predictable.” Jesse said nonchalantly, acting like he wasn’t hurt by anything he said, but deep inside, there were some hidden scars.
“So, Rothsmith bastard is your real father, huh?” Terry laughed while Maria’s body flinched slightly.
“I remember Holly saying that kid from her school called you his brother. A kid from the Rothsmith family. It wasn’t hard to find out who your real father was.”
Terry scoffed and looked at Maria with disgust. “Of course, every woman becomes a whore in front of rich, handsome man like him. Isn’t that right?”
Maria lowered her head, her body shaking with tears. At that moment, Holly touched her shoulder and looked at Terry with anger.
“Not sure if this matters to you, but you two weren’t married back then.” Jesse looked away from the window and leaned against the wall while staring at Terry.
“Cheating never happened because you two weren’t even together. Hell, you two hadn’t even met back then. But she happened to be pregnant when you two eventually got together because of your parents.”
“I wasn’t aware of that.” Terry said nonchalantly. “However, none of that matters. It didn’t matter when she whored herself out to him. She still made me take care of another man’s child.
“That alone makes my blood boil.”
“You two should have never even gotten married.” Jesse said. “I always thought you two didn’t act like husband and wife. More like two people unwillingly living in the same house.”
“A brat like you wouldn’t understand how the world works.” Terry stood up, his back slightly hunched from working too much at the desk.
“A divorce would be a stain in Kraham’s name that just wouldn’t go away.” He said angrily. “That’s why I have tried dealing with your presence so far, but this is the final straw.
“Maria, Holly, get out of the house. I am tired of looking at your faces!”
“B-but…” Maria stammered and looked at her daughter. “You are throwing Holly out as well? She is our daughter!”
“Is she really mine, though?” Terry laughed and picked up a nearby vase, ready to throw it at Maria. “Get the fuck out of my house, bitch!”
“Enough.” Jesse grabbed Terry by his arm, stopping him from throwing the vase. “You are drunk. I can smell your breath from a mile away.”
“You dare to touch me?” Terry looked at the hand that was grabbing his arm. “You might have changed, but has your disease? You’re still the same sick, fragile piece of shit.”
“You’re drunk; that’s why I am still tolerating your behavior.” Jesse said casually, but then his piercing purple eyes narrowed into a glare. “However, if you don’t lower the vase, I will do it for you.
“Don’t do it. You might not have been the best father, but you still raised me and kept the roof on top of my head. I appreciate it, and I have come here to repay that.”
“Hands… off me!” Terry screamed and threw a sloppy slap with his free hand.
Jesse grabbed his hand by the wrist and kicked him off his feet, sending him crashing to the ground.
Thud—after Terry fell to the ground, Jesse caught the vase from mid-air before it could fall to the ground and shatter. Then he placed it back on the table.
“Terry!” Maria shouted and painfully watched as her son and husband fought. It was already too much for her heart, as she had been quite ill recently.
“Y-you bastard…” Terry groaned in pain and tried standing up, but only to fall back down again.
Jesse reached out to his left pocket and pulled out his wallet. He then dropped it in front of Terry.
“The wallet has enough crowns to cover all my medical treatments and hospital bills.” Jesse said emotionlessly. “It’s not enough to cover all the food, etc., you purchased for me, but I can’t currently afford it all.
“I’ll be leaving your house. Sorry for bothering you this morning.” Jessy grabbed his coat from the chair and headed out towards the door.
Terry looked at the wallet in front of him and clenched his fists. “F-fuck…”
“You two will be okay?” Jesse asked as he passed Maria and Holly. They were, after all, thrown out of the house, and he wondered whether they had a place to go.
“W-we have a place to go.” Maria said, awkwardly avoiding Jesse’s gaze.
“We’ll be fine.” Holly reassured while looking at his beautiful, purple eyes. “Are you alright, Jesse?”
“I am.” Jesse sighed deeply and showed a faint smile. “I am actually very relieved. He might hate me, but at least I don’t owe him anymore. I can finally move on with my life.”
“Mm…” Holly nodded and said, “Take care yourself.”
Jesse nodded and waved his hand as he walked out of the door and departed from the house.
As he walked down the sidewalk, a grayish sky with cold air accompanied him. He felt strange. He thought he would be sad hearing his ‘father’ speak so badly about him.
However, he was now very relieved and free from expectations. He didn’t need to prove himself to Terry anymore.
‘He is nothing to me anymore.’ Jesse thought while slipping his hands inside his pockets. ‘He’ll be finally able to live his life without ‘burdens’ and I’ll be able to live my life without the name Kraham shackling me down.’
‘I can finally say with free breath that I am Jesse Rothsmith.
‘Jesse Kraham does not exist.’
…
“We’ll be leaving now.” Maria and Holly stood near the front door, carrying their bags.
In the living room, Terry sat on the couch with the wallet in hand.
He didn’t say a single word, not even looking in their direction.
Maria and Holly looked at each other, sighed, and walked out of the door.
Click—the door soon closed, and the room grew empty with only Terry in the living room.
Terry slightly raised his gaze and, from the window, saw Holly and Maria enter the taxi, which soon drove off and disappeared from sight.
He then turned his gaze back to the wallet and opened it. There was a single credit card inside, with the pin code typed on a small piece of paper, and then there was a small picture.
The picture had a stern-faced man with brown hair and a black-haired kid who barely reached his waistline. It looked like they were standing at the entrance of the water park.
Neither the man nor the kid were smiling, but the picture looked somewhat bright and cheerful.
Terry silently looked at the kid before closing the wallet again.
“Take…
“Care.”