*Ding-dong*
A doorbell rang, and a woman opened it some seconds later.
"Silas… Welcome," she said with a smile as she looked at the person in front of the door.
"Thank you," Silas replied and walked into the house.
"Where's Alex?" he asked as he walked towards the dining room and dropped the food he came home with.
"In his room."
"Ok," Silas said and turned to look at the stairs before shouting, "ALEX!"
A few seconds later, a scuffling sound came as a little boy ran down the stairs into Silas' arms.
"Brother," he said as he hugged Silas.
"How are you, Alex?" Silas asked as he ruffled his hair.
"Fine. Brother, you didn't go to work today?," Alex asked curiously. Alex is a kid who understands everything about his family, even his father's... lifestyle.
Though he barely talks, he's aware of everything, and that includes Silas' work schedule.
Silas smiled when he heard Alex's question.
"Yeah, I didn't," he said as he ruffled Alex's hair. "Come sit; I bought chicken wings."
Alex's eyes sparkled when he heard what Silas said. "Chicken wings?" he asked with a drool in his mouth.
"Yes, chicken wings," Silas replied and pointed to the package on the dining table.
Alex saw what Silas was pointing to and took his seat.
After Alex had taken his seat, Silas invited Kim to join them, and the three of them sat at the dining table with a plate of chicken wings in front of them.
Silas picked up a chicken wing from his plate and took a bite.
"I'm moving out."
"Y-you're moving out?" Kim asked in surprise.
"I got myself an apartment, and I will move in soon. Alex won't be coming with me, but I will be coming home every weekend to check up on him," Silas replied, before he continued eating.
"I see… Is it because of me? You're moving out... because you're uncomfortable with me in the house?" she asked, her voice becoming slightly heavy at the end of the sentence.
"Yes." Silas gave a blunt reply and continued eating.
Kim smiled bitterly when she heard Silas' answer. She knew that he was uncomfortable with her presence in the house, but she held on, hoping that things would change after living together for some months, but it seems she's wrong.
She remembered the undisguised disgust on his face the first day she was introduced to them and how his expression changed from disgust to anger.
She understood the reason why he felt that way. She knew that he felt like she was coming in to replace his mother and stepmom, but that was never her intention.
All she wanted was to be a good mother and a good wife, but that was just wishful thinking as Silas and Alex never gave her a chance.
She barely talks to them as they're always guarded against her, and the only way she can successfully interact with them is through a brief conversation like greeting, asking, or answering questions.
Thinking of this, her eyes became moist as tears started forming. She was getting frustrated with the situation she found herself in. She thought that she could finally start all over again after what happened at the office, but nothing has ever worked out for her.
She fell in love with someone who couldn't help but care less about her, and she can even manage a conversation with his kids. She felt so inadequate as a woman and as a potential mother.
"S-Silas… I-I can leave the house if you want." She said as she sobbed, trying to hold her tears.
Silas was surprised when he heard Kim sobbing. He doesn't know what to think of the situation.
'Is she crying because I said yes when she asked if I'm moving out because of her?' he asked himself.
'Sigh…. What else was I expecting? Of course she would break down. She has tried her best, but things have never worked out between us,' Silas said to himself as he thought of Kim's previous actions as she tried to connect with him and Alex.
He could understand her feelings, as it was the same thing he felt whenever he tried to please his father after his stepmom died.
The feeling of frustration and not being enough as a son, coupled with the degrading insults that were always hurled at him almost every day and the breakup incident at school, is the reason why he has his current personality, and now he's doing the same thing to Kim.
Silas let out a deep sigh as he dropped the chicken wings he was holding.
"I'm sorry, Kim, that was harsh of me to say," he said in apology.
"S-Silas…. Am I that bad as a person?" Kim asked with a bitter smile and a teary face.
Silas felt like a thousand needles were piercing through his heart when he heard her question, as it was exactly the same thing he asked himself.
"No, Kim, you're not a bad person, and you have never been. It's just... things happened, and those things made him become like this, and I'm sorry if I have caused you pain. I deeply regret my actions," Silas said with a solemn voice.
Kim forced a smile to her face when she heard Silas' words. She knew that he was sincerely apologizing, but she also knew that it would take time for him to really accept her into their home, but she feels that some progress has been made even though it's small.
"Thank you.. I will do my best for the family," she said to Silas with her eyes blazing with unwavering determination.
Hearing this, Silas smiled and said, "You're already doing your best, Kim. No need to do more than that."
"Thank you…," She said with a warm smile, "This kind of brings back memories," She added and ruffled Alex's hair.
"Something similar happened between me and your father at work," she continued.
Silas looked at Kim in curiosity when he heard what she said. His father's previous job before becoming a bus captain has always been a mystery to him, and the fact that his father always talks about someone setting him up didn't help matters.
"You worked with him?" Silas asked curiously.
"Yes. He was the sales department manager, and I worked in the same department for a year before I was transferred to another department and was later promoted to be its manager," she said with a wry smile.
"Department managers?... That's some pretty high positions, isn't it?" he asked in surprise.
"Yes, it was high, just below the director position, and we were about to get the position," Kim said as she took on a soured expression.
Hearing what Kim said gave Silas even more surprise. His low intelligence stat didn't mean that he was completely dumb. He understood what it means for someone to be in line to get a director position in a company. It's no small feat.
"What happened then?. If things were going so well, how did it turn out so bad?" He asked.
"Two things happened... It all started when the CEO was out for some medical situation and his son took over. Two weeks after he took over, we were fired and were served a lawsuit for embezzling company funds.
A crime we obviously didn't commit, but what could we do? He already had forged evidence against us.
He said that the only way he can drop the charges is if 'I go at it with him'." She said the last part in code because of Alex, and Silas understood, "This was not actually the first time he asked me to do such a thing; neither was it the second, third, or fourth.
He always took my rejections calmly, but unsurprisingly, he didn't take the last one in the same manner.
We were about to stand trial when the charges were suddenly dropped, and we were told that if we don't want to go to jail, we should never show our face around the premises of the company, and that was by some armed boys who he sent to us," Kim said, explaining the incident that happened at the office. She looked at Silas and saw that he had a confused expression on his face.
"You must be wondering how your father got involved in the mess?" she asked, and Silas nodded.
"It was because he stood up for me when I was being harassed by Lucas, who is the CEO's son, and that made Lucas very angry."
"Wow." That was only what Silas could say as he thought of the situation that Kim and his father went through.
As he thought of it, he felt a kind of familiarity with the name that Kim mentioned.
"Kim, what's this Lucas' last name?" he asked.
"Lucas Anderson."
'Yes, Anderson. That's the name of that bastard's father. The bastard who made my high school life a living hell, and the same person who stole his girlfriend from him.
A debt of two generations must be paid in full,' Silas said to himself with a creepy smile that sent shivers down one spine.