Semua Bab No Longer Begging for My Parents' Love: Bab 1 - Bab 10

"Malcolm must've understood his parents' good intentions. He's so young and already so mature—my heart's melting.""No surprise there—his parents made the right call, after all. That's why Malcolm turned out to be so outstanding in the future. Even when he got rich, he continued to live a frugal life.""His parents must feel so gratified right now."I lifted my head in confusion, wanting to see whether my parents were truly happy and gratified, just as the floating comments said.But when my eyes met my mother's, Rebecca Hansen, all I saw on her face was cold indifference."Malcolm, what are you looking at me for? You got something to say? Or is this a silent protest? You know what, forget it. Since it's your birthday today, I won't lecture you any further. But this is the last time."Remember, you're five years old now—no longer a child. Now go back to your room and redo every question you got wrong on your last paper ten times. You're not allowed to go to bed until you're done.

The security looked me up and down with a frown and waved me off dismissively."Kid, this isn't a place for you to be. Go play somewhere else."I froze for a moment, then glanced down at my clothes—a yellowed, worn-out shirt washed so many times the color had faded, and trouser cuffs caked with mud.No matter how I looked at it, I didn't belong among the people inside.I subconsciously shrank back a little, a surge of shame welling up inside me."Sir, you've misunderstood. I-I'm Joseph and Rebecca's son."A look of disdain crossed the security guard's face."Kind, it's not good to lie at such a young age. I may be new here, but even I know that Joseph and Rebecca's son goes out and comes home with them every single day. Besides, dressed the way you are, you're not very convincing if you're trying to pass yourself off as their son.I was stunned. I couldn't make sense of what the security guard was saying. I had been in the mountain village the entire time, so how could my paren

I stared blankly at the living room, crammed full of blue and yellow balloons. Not far away sat a mountain of expensive gifts, and beside them stood a birthday cake that was taller than me.It was only then that I remembered the glimpse I'd caught of Nathan earlier. He was dressed in a magnificent prince costume, with even his decorative cane studded with huge diamonds.It was far more refined and costly than the suit my grandparents had given me for my fifth birthday.Since I turned five years old, I had never once had a proper birthday again. Mom and Dad wouldn't even get me a birthday present anymore. At first, I had naively asked where my gift was, only to be met with their matter-of-fact retort."Why should we give you a birthday present when you're so disobedient and difficult? So you can keep being vain and shallow? Malcolm, do you have any idea how much it costs us to even get one birthday present for you?"Money doesn't grow on trees, you know. You want a birthday party a

It was also because of this that my parents told me to come back home.But the moment I arrived, they pulled out a contract right away."The fact that you got into a college in Oakdale isn't because you're so outstanding, but because you got lucky. We expected you to be the top scorer in the state, but you fell short by 13 points."From now on, we'll give you five thousand dollars a year for living expenses. Two thousand dollars is for college tuition, and the remaining three thousand dollars is for your living costs and accommodation."If you want to stay at home, you'll need to pay rent—500 dollars a day. If you don't have the money, you can write an IOU."I looked up at this home that felt utterly foreign to me and simply signed my name on the contract without saying anything.I knew all too well that over those ten-plus years in the mountains, I had no way of achieving financial independence. And because of my family background, I also couldn't get a student loan.Thus, this

I froze for a moment, then let out a laugh.So, that was it.It dawned on me belatedly that the thug had called me by name. He had even said he'd seen my photo.But back then, I had been too panicked and consumed by the fear of not being able to afford college. All I could think about was figuring out the tuition.It turned out they were all people my dear parents had sent.Was it to toughen me up? This was what they called for my own good?Time and again, whenever I tried to climb out of the hole I was in, they cut off every escape route and forced me to face it all alone with no one to turn to.And this was supposed to be for my own good? This was their idea of love?I watched the comments pouring in—some sympathized with me, others with my parents.But this time, none of them could bring me any comfort anymore.I calmly handed the phone back to the man in the suit, then took my bank card and ID and left the bank.I walked all the way home and laid my house key at the door