chapter489

Elliot was momentarily lost in thought, the weight of Tarquin’s words settling heavily upon him. He could only stare at the man, taken aback by the suddenness of the statement. Perhaps the speaker hadn't meant much by it, but for the listener, it struck a deep, resonant chord.

A tidal wave of conflicting emotions surged within him—a strange cocktail of pride at being finally acknowledged, and a sharp, bitter pang of grievance for the years spent in the shadows. But where did this resentment come from? He couldn't quite grasp its origin. After all, he had never expected to be recognized, and in his more defiant moments, he told himself he didn't need a father at all.

The three brothers had been raised in a world defined solely by their mother. Elysia was their beginning and their end—the one who tended their wounds, shared their laughter, and held them through feverish nights. From their first words to their first steps, it had always been just Mom.

As for "Dad"... during their quiet years in the countryside, the concept was nothing more than an abstract noun. Elysia’s love was so encompassing that they had never truly felt an absence. But returning to the bustling streets of Jindale City and discovering Tarquin's existence had changed everything. At first, there was no joy—only a cold, burning resentment. They didn't hate him for his absence; they hated him for the pain he had caused their mother. They had even whispered of revenge, of making him pay for every tear she had shed.

However, as they observed him from afar, and as Elijah’s presence became a constant in their lives, their perspective began to shift. The innocent environment of preschool played its part too. For children aged three to five, parents are the absolute center of the universe. Every conversation between peers inevitably looped back to them.

"Look at my hair clip! My mom bought it for me." "That’s cool, but look at my quiet book! My dad made it for me!"

When the topic was Mom, the brothers had endless stories to tell, their voices bright with pride. But the moment the conversation shifted to Dads, they would fall into a heavy, awkward silence. Evan, whose fiery personality made him Tarquin’s harshest critic, used to interrupt those talks with an annoyed huff. "Why are we talking about dads? Dads are boring! Let’s talk about moms instead. My mom is Elysia—she’s the prettiest, kindest person ever, and she makes the best food in the world..."

But as time passed, even Evan stopped interrupting. He would simply sit in a corner, sulking as the other children bragged about being lifted high or being picked up from school by their fathers.

Emmett had once asked Elliot in a quiet moment, "Elliot, is having a dad something to be really proud of? Why do they like talking about them so much?"

Elliot had countered with a question of his own: "Emmett, do you want a father?"

Emmett had hesitated for a long time before whispering, "I love Mom most of all. But... I wish I could tell everyone that we have a dad who loves us too. I wish someone would lift me onto their shoulders so I could see the world from up high. Sometimes, when they ask about our dad, I’m afraid to answer. I’m afraid they’ll think we aren't loved."

It was clear that even the most resilient of the three yearned for that missing piece. In this world, there is perhaps no five-year-old who doesn't crave the steady, protective love of a father. But despite that yearning, the wall they had built around their hearts remained standing... for now.