Chapter 5

Dad, faced with my icy stare, eventually lowered his hand.

"I can't deal with you anymore," he said.

Mom took my hand and asked with teary eyes, "Owen, why have you become this way? Weren't you always such a sensible child? Do you still remember the rose you gave me on Mother's Day? You told me that you'd love your father and me for the rest of your life."

I smiled mockingly.

Back then, knowing that Mom loved roses, I planted a potful of seeds myself. I failed several times during the process and eventually managed to cultivate just the one rose.

When I presented it to Mom on Mother's Day, she glanced indifferently at it before setting it aside.

"That's very thoughtful of you," she'd said half-heartedly.

However, she was elated to receive a plush toy from Oliver and even posted a photo of it on her Instagram.

Her caption read, "The plush toy my son gave me is so cute. He really is the best son in the whole wide world."

After I moved into the dormitories, nobody looked after the rose. By the time I returned, it had already wilted.

I frequently wondered why, despite being twins, Oliver and I were treated so differently. Eventually, I learned the answer to that question.

I said to Mom, "It was nothing more than a childish declaration. Why are you taking it so seriously?"

Mom cried even more bitterly. "Are you really abandoning us?"

I chuckled. "You're the ones who abandoned me. Don't you remember what the fortune teller told us back then?"

Mom instantly let go of my hand, looking flustered. "What are you talking about, Owen? I don't understand."

Dad's expression changed, but he didn't dare say a word.

Well, since they didn't want to mention it, I'd do it for them.

"Back then, you sought out a fortune teller in the village to read my and Oliver's fortunes. The fortune teller said that since I'd been stealing all the nutrients from Oliver in the womb, I might grow up to bring disaster upon the family. He claimed that the only way to avert disaster was to raise me apart.

"You two believed his words, so despite our family doing pretty well financially, you insisted on sending me off to live in the countryside."

Mom looked slightly guilty while Dad remained grim and silent.

I continued, "However, you later discovered that the fortune teller was a fraud. It just so happened that Grandma passed away around that time, so you finally brought me back home."

My hands clenched into fists, and I couldn't help shedding a few tears for my past stupidity.

"You gave birth to me but didn't raise me properly. You brought me back home but wouldn't treat me well. And now, you only think of me when you need someone to take care of you in your old age. What do you take me for?" I asked.

Mom, seeing that I was unmoved, finally dropped the act.

She reached out to wipe away her tears, then put her hands on her hips and ranted, "Owen Stewart! No matter what, your dad and I gave you life and raised you! So what if you found out about these things? Are you going to turn your back on us? Well, we're living here, and that's that!"

I looked at Dad, who had always cared about his reputation, and asked, "Dad, do you also think that way?"

Dad simply turned away with his hands behind his back and pretended not to see anything.

Mom angrily grabbed my arm and declared, "If you don't agree to it, I'm not moving from here."

My last trace of mercy vanished completely.

I asked calmly, "Mom, are you sure you want to force my hand like this? If you don't want to stay at Oliver's place, I can rent a place for you nearby. I'll cover the bills and even hire a caregiver to look after you two."

Dad turned around, his expression softening slightly.

However, Mom remained stubborn. "That won't do. A rented place couldn't possibly compare to yours. This is a high-end neighborhood, after all."

A little annoyed at Mom's insatiable greed, I asked Dad, "Are you going to let Mom continue making a fuss? You'd both better think things through. If you turn down my offer, I'm calling security to throw you both out. If you accept, I'll pretend nothing happened just now."