Carol listened, and though she felt a twinge of guilt, her tone remained firm. “This isn’t the first time, is it? What else is there for me to say? You’re an adult now. Can you stop being so childish?”
“Then… Mom, what do you mean by that?”
Julian’s voice suddenly turned calm, eerily calm, as if the person on the other end wasn’t his own mother.
“So, you’re giving up on me?”
Carol’s heart skipped a beat. She could hear the shift in his tone, but with Albert watching her, she couldn’t bring herself to say anything else.
In the end, she steeled herself and said coldly, “You’re a grown man now. You’d better learn to fend for yourself. Your father and I can’t spend our whole lives cleaning up after you.”
The next second, a pair of beeps echoed through Julian’s phone. It was clear that she had hung up again. This time, Julian’s expression didn’t shift as much as before. He almost looked like he’d seen it coming. Sitting in the chair, he stared at the phone in his hand and suddenly found the whole thing absurd. But he couldn’t even say why. So just like that, in a matter of minutes, he’d been abandoned by his parents? And these were the same parents who always claimed they loved him? He shared Albert’s features, and Carol had always doted on him. Unless there had been some mistake, they really were a family – his biological parents. How had things fallen apart so quickly? When Hector stepped out, he saw Julian slumped in the chair, looking utterly defeated. This time, Hector didn’t mock him and rush him back inside. He just stood there in silence. Neither of them broke the rare silence that hung between them. Even Julian found it strange. He hadn’t known this officer long, and yet here they were, sitting in peace as if it were nothing. What Julian didn’t know was that back in Ravenshore, things weren’t any easier for his mother. The moment the call ended, Carol was already in tears. She threw the phone onto the table, pointing at the black screen as she sobbed, “Are you satisfied now?”
Albert glanced at the disconnected phone, gave a simple “Mm,” and said nothing more. But Carol couldn’t stand that aloof attitude. She snapped, “That’s your own son! How can you be so heartless? How could you do this to him?” She pounded her chest, the pain almost making it hard to breathe. He was her only son–how could she not ache for him? The moment she hung up, the tears had started pouring. Albert, on the other hand, remained indifferent. His voice rang out in fury, “If the son you gave birth to was worth anything, I wouldn’t have had to do this! Look at what he’s brought to our company in over twenty years. Nothing but a ruined reputation and endless messes we’ve had to clean up.” He flung his sleeve with force. “If you still want a son like that, go ahead. But don’t forget my warning – a man of my status can get any women I want.” He said the last line while staring straight into her eyes. Carol flinched, so startled her tears stopped cold.