Chapter 6: Father

Cail walked into the room disheveled and yawning, with bed hair and one hand rubbing his neck. He looked like he either got no sleep or he partied with gremlins.

His mom pointed at his eyes. "It looks like you just got punched. Did you sleep last night? I heard your motorcycle, so don't lie."

Cail slumped onto the couch lazily. He was giving off the same vibes as his mother had yesterday. "I have no class, so cut me some slack."

"You look like a cat that just fell into a bucket of fish," his mother said, eyeing at the lazy Cail.

"You're so bored you've turned judgmental," Cail replied, still in a good mood despite her remark.

"Tsk. You better not have done anything that could land you in jail. Even if you're still underage, I'd lose face if I had to fetch you from the police station. If that happens, don't expect me to come get you," she said sternly. "You hear me? Got it?"

"Yeees." It's probably not illegal? Except for underage driving, he hadn't really done anything wrong. That was a legitimate trade, okay?

He stretched his body and stood up from the couch. "I'll prepare lunch."

In this household, breakfast didn't exist as both Cail and his mom usually woke up around 10 or 11 AM.

His mom nodded. She lifted her feet onto the coffee table and turned on the television. Beside her is a bag of sun flowers seeds.

Cail frowned at the sight of her feet on the table but said nothing. That's very unsanitary, he should wipe that after. He headed to the kitchen and began cooking.

When he opened the fridge, he saw the food was nearly finish. I should do groceries, he thought.

Then he remembered the money. He needed a way to launder that 7 million inside their home.

As he cooked, he thought about how to trick his mom. If he just gave her the money outright, she'd definitely assume he did something illegal. Hmph. Bad mother. She really doesn't know her son well, that's why she'd think of that. 

Smash!

When he heard the sound, Cail dropped whatever he was doing and rushed into the living room. He saw his mother picking up broken shards of glass from the shattered ashtray.

"Don't touch it!" he yelled.

He grabbed a rag and a black plastic bag. He carefully picked up the bigger pieces and sweeped up the rest.

He looked at her disapprovingly. "Why are you acting so careless?!"

His mom, usually feisty, didn't reply. She just stared blankly at the television.

Cail had a bad feeling. He turned to see what was on the screen.

> [Today we celebrate Chairman Eldreth and his wife, Mrs. Eldreth, on their 20th wedding anniversary. 

We caught a glimpse of the beautiful surprise Mr. Eldreth planned for his wife—]

Cail shut the TV off, well, not really "off." He yanked the plug out from the socket since the remote was nowhere in sight.

Annoyed, he turned to his dazed mother. He paused briefly, took a deep breath to steady himself, and said as kindly as he could, "Mom, if you're not feeling well, it's okay to rest in your room. But if you're up for it, maybe spend some time with the aunts? Or we could go shopping, I've got some extra cash lying around. What sounds good to you?" To be honest, he was just yapping randomly since he had no idea how to comfort her. He sucked at this.

Still seeing no response, he clenched his teeth, not again. He took her hand. "Mom… how many years has it been?" His voice trembled with restrained anger.

"I—I… This… Cail—"

Seeing his normally eloquent mother stutter because of that man, something inside Cail snapped. "Mom! Get a grip! You look pathetic! That person doesn't care that you're suffering! You think of him as your everything, but for him, you're nothing!"

"I bet he couldn't even remember who are we even if we appeared right in front of him. Heck, Even if he recognized us, we'll be dead the next day."

Cail's shout seemed to snap her out of it. The moment she realized how he was speaking to her, she exploded, "I'm your mother! Why are you talking to me like that?!"

She yanked her hand away.

Cail wanted to argue with her, but then he saw her eyes well up like she was going to cry, and he gave in.

He gently lead her to sit on the couch, took one of her hands, and put his head down on her lap.

"Mom… enough is enough. He abandoned us. That's it. The world isn't going to stop because of that. Mom, we're both getting older. How many years has it been since? Please… just stop it."

He felt her hand caress his head and heard her suppress sobs. Cail sighed and let her cry it out.

---

Cail's earlier good mood had soured. After eating lunch, his mom returned to her room.

He sat silently in the living room, scrolling through his phone.

"Chairman Eldreth..." he muttered the name again and again.

On his phone was a family photo: a handsome man and his gentle wife sitting side by side, their three sons and one daughter gathered below them.

When he was younger, just like his mother, he used to act like the world was ending whenever he heard anything about the Eldreth family.

He'd wallow in envy. He hated that man and his family. He had stabbed their pictures again and again in his room like madman.

The happier they looked, the more Cail wanted to destroy them.

Wealth. Security. Love. Stability. He looked at his so-called half-siblings and thought: That was supposed to be my life.

Not here, stuck in the lower-middle class, struggling to survive.

Their very existence was a painful reminder of what could have been. He hated the comparison, it made him look pitiful.

He threw his phone onto the table and rubbed his head, laughing bitterly. "That's probably where I got this despicable trait, huh?"

Now that he was older, his mindset had changed.

He'd work hard to get what he wanted.

"Wealth, security, love, and stability… If I wasn't born with it, I'll get it myself," he murmured.

"Destroying that man?" He chuckled. He thought of that gentlemanly face that was always the on cover of the financial magazine.

Silas Eldreth, the largest tycoon in Nyx City. The richest man from the wealthiest family.

"Maybe we should aim a bit higher."

Because if that man was the source of his suffering, then Cail would find a way to shatter him.

No one had ever spoiled him unlike like those four half siblings of his. So, he spoiled himself rotten.

And anyone who made him feel small, he'd destroy them.

But before that, he knew that he need a capital to trample that guy into the ground.

"It's your fault. Your success is my pain. I think its better for you to just grovel on the ground." It was a very selfish though, but Cail who grew up without guidance didn't think there's anything wrong with that mindset.