Encounter

When I jolted awake, I realized that the one who was talking to me wasn't Dad, but the system.

It mentioned that Dad had left an opportunity for me when he left. I could go to his world if I wanted to.

Of course, I was willing to go to his world.

However, I swallowed back the words right before I blurted out my answer.

I asked, "Will my life be better if I stay with Dad? If he loved me, why didn't he take me with him in the first place?"

The system explained that Dad had accepted the mission because Grandma had been deathly ill at the time. He only came to this world because he wanted to save her.

He had only been a sophomore in university in his original world. Not only had he spent all his savings to pay for Grandma's medical bills, but he also had to pay off his family's debt.

My four mothers had promised Dad that no matter whose child I was, they would treat me as if I was their own flesh and blood. They had begged Dad to leave something behind for them to remember him by.

Naturally, a parent who loved their child would plan ahead for them.

Dad didn't want me to live a tough life with him, so he left me here with my four mothers.

"Henry," the system said gently, its voice sounding like a caress. "Your father has been waiting for you for years. He didn't look for a new girlfriend, and he didn't take a wife. He bought a small house and has been waiting for you this whole time. Are you willing to return to his side?"

I nodded.

The system breathed a sigh of relief. It then informed me that once I died in this world, I would be able to see Dad.

I removed my clothes and made a noose before tying it to the cage. I had seen something similar on TV in the past. I would die once I put my head in the hole and let myself hang from it.

Fortunately, the cage was big enough, and I was quite short.

It didn't take long for me to start choking for air once I put my head in the hole. However, I became increasingly excited even as my consciousness began to fade.

I was going to see Dad soon.

Unfortunately, my happiness was cut short when I heard someone calling my name. The person unlocked the cage and saved me.

When I could breathe again, I looked up and saw a pair of panicked eyes.

"Mom," I blurted out subconsciously.

I immediately regretted calling out to her.

The panic in Gloria Yates' eyes was replaced by disdain when she heard me.

"Don't call me that," she snapped. "You don't deserve to call me that."

Gloria was one of my mothers, and she was a CEO. She spoiled me the most among my four mothers.

Our eyes were very similar.

I had been staying in Gloria's villa for the past few years. She would buy me anything that my heart desired. She once told me that if I wanted the stars, she would find a way to pluck them from the sky for me.

However, her love for me disappeared three years ago.

Gloria was also the one who brought William Carson home from abroad.

Only then did I learn that my four mothers had a first love before they fell for Dad.

Their first love obtained a large sum of money by betraying them. He then moved abroad.

Dad's appearance in their lives saved them. He helped them slowly leave the past behind.

When their first love was on his deathbed, he called Gloria and apologized to her, begging her to take William in.

My four mothers told me that since William was younger than me, I should be more tolerant of him.

I treated William as if he was my own brother, but he had planned to monopolize our mothers' love for himself from the very beginning.

He accused me of hurting him whenever wounds suddenly appeared on his body. He blamed me for pushing him when he suddenly rolled down the stairs.

Our mothers became increasingly disappointed in me as William repeatedly accused me of hurting him.

The situation took a turn for the worse when William was beaten within an inch of his life by a dozen hooligans in an alley.

After the hooligans were arrested, they accused me of being the mastermind who ordered them to beat William up.

I vehemently denied their accusations, but from that day on, I became a criminal in our mothers' eyes. They even forbade me from calling them "Mom".

I was forced to move out from my childhood room to live in a dog's cage.

The household staff criticized me, calling me a murderer. I was constantly beaten and starved.

I immediately lowered my head and mumbled, "I'm sorry, Mo—Ms. Yates."

Gloria wasn't appeased by my apology. "What were you trying to do, Henry? Were you trying to end your own life to catch our attention? You're so stupid. Why did you pick here of all places to do it? This place reeks. No one will find your rotting corpse here."

It turned out that Gloria assumed that I was just putting on an act.

I didn't correct her. However, I was still confused.

"Why are you here, Ms. Yates?" I asked. "I thought you loved cleanliness above all else?"

Gloria frowned. "This is my home. I can go wherever I want. I came here to give you a warning. It's William's birthday today. I don't want you to cause any trouble for him, which also means that you can't die here."

I nodded obediently.

It turned out that Gloria had only saved me because she didn't want me to cause any trouble for William by dying in the villa.

I supposed that I just had to find another place to end my life.

I left the Yates residence after Gloria left the cage.