Chapter 626
A Life Debt Repaid
Lucas was speechless. How could he explain to Richard that he was not his daddy?
âHave some warm milk, Daddy. It will warm your stomach,â the boy said then, eagerly passing his own glass of milk to Lucas.
Lucas was unable to reject the childâs kind gesture. âThank you.â
âYouâre welcome, Daddy,â Richard replied, flashing a tame smile just then.
It somehow left Lucas with a mental burden, as if it would traumatize the child if he turned out not to be his father.
But he really was not.
Taking a sip of warm milk, he ruthlessly reminded Richard, âIâll be gone after breakfast.â
âOkay.â Richard nodded tamely.
âWe probably wonât see each other ever again,â Lucas said, making himself very clear to stop Richard from having any expectations.
âWhy?â
âBecause Iâm not your daddy,â Lucas said, slowly and deliberately.
As Richardâs expression darkened, Lucas steeled himself to continue, âI understand very well how you feel, and I understand that you miss your daddy-but Iâm not him, and I canât love you like he did.â
âI donât need you to love me. Iâll love you and thatâs enough.â
âDickyâ¦â
âDaddy?â
âTake care of your mommy,â Lucas advised in a heartfelt manner. âWithout your daddy, you and your mommy only have each other now. Youâre a young man, and you should take responsibility for caring for your mommy, so you should pay her more attention instead of some ungrounded fantasy. H âIs there something you canât tell us? Is that why you canât acknowledge mommy and me?â
âNo. Itâs just that Iâm not your daddy.â
âDid you⦠lose your memories?â Richard pressed.
In reality, he did not listen to Cordy and went to bed early as told. Instead, he went online to find out why a person would lie and had most hits on two results: the first was that something that weighed down the person, while the other was memory loss.
âHow do I explain this to you?â Lucas sighed feebly then.
âJust get to the point,â Richard replied, looking utterly innocent.
Lucas was not sure if he should laugh or cry. âAnyway, Iâm leaving soon, and I wonât ever be coming back.â
âAre you really going to leave Mommy and me? Sheâs missed you so much over the years,â Richard said, his eyes red with tears.
Even though he was a small man at five feet two, he looked utterly miserable when his eyes turned red as he continued, âMommy never forgot about you. She always stayed strong in front of me, but Iâve noticed that she has been crying alone when no oneâs around. She also suffered from severe stress and could never fall asleep naturally, losing sleep everyday and had to consult a shrink, but that never worked much. He even said that her health would continue to deteriorate if this keeps up.â
Lucas quietly listened to Richard telling him everything while sniffling.
Cordy actually suffered from insomnia?
But she was sleeping well now, wasnât she?
She especially slept like a log when she was sleeping with him!
Could it be that Cordy was only able to sleep if she was hugging him in his sleep? Was that why she climbed into his bed?!
When he realized that, Lucas did not know if he should be amused or annoyed-in the end, he was just a tool!
âMommy never sleeps this late. Thatâs a fact, even with sleeping pills.â Richardâs eyes welled with more tears as he continued. âBut her insomnia is better because you came back, Daddy. Whatâs going to happen to Mommy if you leave now? Her shrink said that this has to stop.â
He would never dare mention any of that in front of Cordy, because he knew that she insisted on staying strong in front of him.
And he refused to let her know that he knew everything and make her uncomfortable because of that.