Pretender Ivan

"Though why would Ivan lie to the police and to us about it?" Mrs. Hawthorne wondered.

"He mustn't know about these loans, and the police and even us didn't bother to ask him about his situation back at his real home, did we?" Alexander said, glancing at Mrs. Hawthorne.

"Yeah... now I feel bad for not asking it earlier..." Mrs. Hawthorne said, feeling bad.

"Don't feel that way... it isn't your fault... we didn't look too deep into it, so it's kind of our fault too." Alexander said, consoling her.

With this, Alexander decided that he would take matters into his own hands and bring justice for his previous son, Ivan.

###

[3 Hours Later]

[Ivan's Room...]

"Damn, that was really tough. I can feel my whole body aching from soreness!" I muttered as I massaged my own hand, which was really sore.

"But I guess it's worth it... I have to start loving the process, the pain that comes with it; only then can I go through this... otherwise, I'll drown in the pleasure and comfort that my new family is providing me..." I said, speaking my thoughts out loud.

"I should focus on meditating now... since it's crucial for me to control my emotions." I muttered as I sat cross-legged on the ground.

As I took a deep breath, I held it in for 5 seconds before letting it all out from my mouth. I repeated this meditation for the next 30 minutes.

I had done this countless times in the past 4 months that I can confidently say that I can enter a state of meditation for more than half an hour.

"Now then, since it's done, I shoul—" I couldn't finish my words as I heard a knock on my door.

Knock Knock Knock

As I heard that, I said, "Come in, the door isn't locked." Saying that, the door swung open as Mrs. Hawthorne came inside with a sweet smile.

"Son, come down! Breakfast is ready." She said, her kind and sweet smile surging up to her face.

'Sigh, they're too kind.' I thought with a sigh. To be honest, I hadn't thought they would be this kind to an adopted son like me.

Even though I've already lost the ability to trust, I still appreciate their kindness.

'At least there's still some people who are kind.' I thought, and a small smile surged up to my face, which made Mrs. Hawthorne surprised. The reason for her surprise was that I never smiled... like if an average person smiles 5 times a day, I smile zero times except for some rare moments, but still, it was a surprise for her.

"Alright, Mom, let's go down together!" I said with a smile. The reason for my sudden change was just to let them know that I've finally moved on from that and that I do not need a therapist.

###

'Huh? He seems different than the cold kid from 4 months ago... has he finally moved on, or is something else going on?' Mrs. Hawthorne thought, surprised by her son's behavior. But still, she was happy that he was changing because she was thinking of having him see a therapist, and it pained her to see him in such a state.

...

After a little while, they both arrived at the dining room where a huge table was set up with 5 chairs around it. Alexander was sitting comfortably in one of the chairs, drinking black tea with elegance that resonated with a rich man's demeanor.

"Oh, Ivan! You're here. Come, sit beside Dad." He said, noticing them entering.

"Son, sit beside your father! I'll go and get breakfast." Mrs. Hawthorne said as she walked away.

Even though they were really rich, possibly multimillionaires, they didn't hire any maids because they thought it would be beneficial for their body and mind if they did their own work. Because of that, they only hired guards and not maids.

"Dad, I remember you said you were bringing a husky breed dog 4 months ago!" Ivan said, acting as a normal kid who has finally moved on from his past trauma as much as possible.

'What? Did I just see him interacting like a normal child? Did he move on from his PTSD?' Alexander thought, shocked by Ivan's strange behavior, but he kept quiet, thinking that it's good and healthy for him.

"Haha, sorry, son! I forgot about that! But don't worry, son! I'm a man of my word. I'll bring that husky in the afternoon." Alexander said with a small laugh, laughing like a happy grandpa.

"Wow, really? Thanks, Dad! I was really lonely and tired from the workout, so I really wanted a friend." Ivan said, his smile really big.

"Yeah!" Alexander said with a smile as he saw his son smiling so widely, fulfilling his dream of becoming a dad, even though Ivan wasn't his own child.

"Alright, guys, breakfast is here!!" Mrs. Hawthorne said as she walked in with the breakfast.

###

[5 more hours later...]

[12:00 PM]

Ding Dong... Ding Dong...

The doorbell rang across the mansion, reaching the living room where the family was watching TV.

The TV was a high-end Sony model, a large, boxy CRT model with excellent color and sharpness, around 27 inches, featuring stereo sound and advanced picture technology.

They were watching the *Tom and Jerry* cartoon, a cartoon that was very popular and broadcasted from the 1940s.

"Ah, I'll get it. You can continue to watch, son." Alexander said as he stood up.

"Okay, Dad!" Ivan said, focusing on the cartoon while showing so much interest in it.

On the screen were two animals: a cat named Tom and a mouse named Jerry. Tom was on the way to catch Jerry, while Jerry was running away, throwing a sofa and piano at Tom, which landed on him perfectly.

"Woof woof." As Mrs. Hawthorne and Ivan were watching the show, suddenly a dog's barking sound could be heard as it ran towards them.

'I should act scared now!' Seeing that, Ivan thought to act scared.

"Ahh, Mom!!" He screamed as the white husky ran toward him. He acted fast and hugged Mrs. Hawthorne with a scream.

"Don't scare my child!!" Mrs. Hawthorne said with a smile that was sweet and terrifying, which made the husky stop in its tracks, its fur bristling as it showed its teeth but did not move toward them.

"Hahahahaha" Seeing all this, Alexander suddenly entered the room with a loud laugh as both of them looked at him with confused expressions.

"What's that for?" Mrs. Hawthorne said, her tone angry because that joke wasn't funny and it scared her child.

"Don't be so angry, my dear! It's the dog that I ordered for Ivan." He said, still laughing heartily.

"For... me?" Ivan said, his head tilted to the left side, looking really cute.

"Ah, yeah..." he said as he stroked his hands. All the scared expressions went away as he picked up the dog with a smile.

"So this is a husky dog." He muttered with a smile, his face flushed with excitement.

"Yes, it is." Alexander said, his laugh finally stopping as he said with a smile.

"Ohhh!"

"Don't you dare do any more of your stupid pranks. Do you know how scared Ivan was?" Mrs. Hawthorne said as she scolded her husband with an angry tone.

"Haha, yeah, yeah, alright." Alexander said with a laugh, dismissing it like a pro.

"Ahh" As Mrs. Hawthorne scolded her husband, suddenly a pained scream could be heard as they looked at Ivan almost instantly with worried expressions.

And what they saw was the husky dog biting his hand... thankfully not too deeply to cause serious harm, but enough to make him feel pain.

"You bad dog!!" Mrs. Hawthorne shouted with an angry expression as she spanked the dog.

"Woof woof woof" He let out a pained cry.

"I-I'll take him to my room. He must be guarded up and bit me because he is in a different environment and not used to it yet." Ivan said like a mature kid, with a small smile before going away.

"Haha, Ivan really is kind and mature." Alexander said with a laugh.

"Yes, I hope he doesn't remain that kind after going through the training with that military commander, because if he's still like that when he's older, it'll make him a vulnerable target for others taking advantage of him." Mrs. Hawthorne said with a thoughtful and worried expression.

"Yeah, but he'll have some means to protect himself too, so we shouldn't worry too much. It'll make us old really quickly." Alexander said as he cracked a joke.

###

[Inside Ivan's room.]

"Stupid fucker!" Ivan cursed as he threw the husky dog on the ground, making it scream, but thankfully, they made the mistake of soundproofing his room because they thought he would need privacy.

"Au au au au" The dog screamed in pain, in its usual language.