He was born as the heir of the richest family in the country, or, that was what he was supposed to be. His silly mother thought that she was the only one his father loved, but rarely there was a man who wouldn't succumb to temptations. When he was 5, the seductive mistress of his father came with her own son, claiming to be his father's kind. The difference in their age was only 3 months. Worse, the mistress was his mother's so-called best friend.
His mother was heartbroken. She asked for a divorce, but his father resolutely refused. Whether it was out of pride as a man, or greed for his mother's inheritance, he didn't know. What he knew, was that except his grandmother, nobody was happy with the result. His grandfather disliked his exalted family name being tarnished with the appearance of an illegitimate child. The mistress was unhappy that her meticulous plan to enter a noble family didn't work out. The illegitimate son was unhappy of his illegitimate status. He, was unhappy that his family was broken in just a day.
His mother brought the divorce to the law. Things are all going well for his mother. The evidence, witness, and facts are all there. Just a few days before she can win the divorce, she died in a car accident when she was taking him home from kindergarten. Her death not only left a scar in his heart, but also a long scar from his left eyebrow until below his left cheek. To make matters worse, he lost half of his hearing ability too.
It was unknown whether the car accident was a true accident or premeditated.
A week after his mother's funeral, his father finally married the mistress as she wished. The haughty, proud look as she entered the house; and the spoiled, arrogant expression of the illegitimate son - now his brother - made towards him made him disgusted. His father, who usually looked stoic, actually has a smile plastered on his face, while his grandmother was jovial towards the arrival of the new member of the family. Even his grandfather, who resolutely refused the marriage at first, only sighed before leaving with his cane into his study.
The house that was supposed to be his own, is now taking him as an outsider.
Days, months, years passed. Not one day he wouldn't live his life in misery. It started with comforting word, taking care of his injury, then to subtly mocking his slowly worsening hearing. Until the end, it was an outright mockery and insults to his own situation. His father never cared, his grandmother ignored him completely, his grandfather only giving a few useless scoldings just to ease his conscience.
In school, he was mocked for being deaf, bullied for having scar on his face. But he never succumbed to despair. He remembered his mother's dying wish: To live.
He learned sign languages, learned self-defense, learned everything he could so he can live. The struggle was hard, especially when the pair of stepmother and son tried their best to hide his excellence. By the time he was at the age to enter university, he finally left the house that tormented him for years.
Compared to his whole schooling years, university was heaven. He acquired friends, he acquired like-minded brothers, even acquired the long lost feeling of love. He was... happy.
After graduation, instead of returning home, he gathered his brothers and joined together to create a company. The company they opened develop games for both online and offline platforms. Their success started small, but slowly and steadily, they were able to gain more recognition and even earned their own group of loyal fans. Until finally, their company reached international stage.
All these accomplishments made him forget the pain during his younger years. He forgot the greedy father, forgot the vampire stepmother, forgot the wasteful half-brother. He forgot all the pain from being mocked, sneered, bullied, insulted, that he lowered his all of his defense.
His father, knowing that an internationally renowned company was owned by his son, decided to grab it together with his stepbrother. His stepmother, knowing that the child she used to regard as a thorn in the eyes had became more excellent than her own son, tried every way to calculate him to lose his name. The short happiness he gained shattered again with their relentless greed.
In the midst of overcoming their schemes, he lost friends, lost brotherhood, and lost... love. When he saw his so-called lover with tear staining her face ramming her car towards the car he was driving, at that moment, he thoroughly fell to despair.
He didn't question God, he didn't question anyone. He only regretted that he lived so long to experience all of this misery, when he could have chosen to leave the world earlier to accompany his mother.
Mother...
What would your expression be, if you know that your beloved son died in the same way as you did? What would you feel, if you know your son experienced the same betrayal as you did? Will you be sad? Will you be regretful? Will you think that it's better if both of us had died together on that day instead of experiencing misery alone?
In the last moments of his death, he thought a lot of questions, a lot of reasoning, but in the end, he couldn't come to a conclusion. His mother has long been dead, and he, is soon to be. He is not a religious person, but he hopes that if, just if; if reincarnation does exist, and he was given a chance to live a new life, he doesn't want to be reborn in this world that only gives him despair. It's fine even if he becomes an orphan, it's fine even if he was not born in a prestigious family. Years of suffering had tempered him into a self-sufficient person. As long as he has sound limbs and a sound mind, he was sure he can survive.
What he wished for, is only eternal peace...
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".... Baby son, what's wrong?" A gentle call entered his ears. When he slowly opened his eyes, a beauty appeared in front of him. In her beautiful starry eyes, he saw the reflection of an adorably chubby little baby.
Mother.
His lips opened to call her, but only the milky baby sounds of "Ah-eh" could be heard. The beauty smiled softly, then moved her body to hold his small body into her arms. Smelling the fragrance of milk and herbs from her body, his small body moved closer into her arms, the chubby little fingers of his pulled on his mother's clothes.
"Little bun, are you hungry? Mother will feed you milk right away." The beauty chuckled, then pulled the collar of her clothes to reveal her bountiful breast. Holding the teat to his lips, she coaxed gently, "Here, come on. Drink plenty."
His reason says no, but his instincts moved before he could even react. The moment his tiny lips came into contact with his mother's breast, he sucked heavily for milk. The arm that was holding his body gave soft pats on his back.
"Drink slowly, honey. You don't want to get choked on the milk," she chuckled. As if on cue, he slowed down the sucking, and drank the milk to his satisfaction.
Just as he was satiated, he heard the tinkling sounds of bells. Turning to the direction where the sound came from, he found an enchantingly handsome man standing by the doorframe. There was a smile hung on his handsome face, making his appearance even more good looking. His eyes were full of gentleness and affection, looking in their direction.
Father.
Again, he tried to voice out his call, but what came out was only the mumbling "Ab-uh" in a milky voice. Nevertheless, the handsome man looked joyful when he heard him. He immediately went over to the mother-son pair in a few strides, then hugged both of them into his arms.
"Baby son, did you just call for father? Did you miss me? Hmm?" Kisses fell on both of his chubby baby cheeks. Feeling the warmth from his father's tone, he laughed.
This is his new life, his new family. A gentle mother, a loving father. Honestly, he still couldn't believe that he really reincarnated. Maybe God was being fair to him, reincarnating him to a good family full of love. Just being born into their family was happiness enough for him. He wouldn't dare to ask for more. This peace, he would want to make it continue forever.
However, if anyone dared to destroy his peace...
...They say, never touch a dragon's [Reverse Scale].