Chapter 346
Extra 36: Late Regrets Part 1
Roger didn't return home for the rest of the night. He ignored the cries of his 'daughter' as he headed to the nearest bar to have a drink and try to clear his mind.
Seeing his father defeated and exhausted had made him stop and think.Content rights belong to NôvelDrama.Org.
While sipping his third beer, he raised his gaze and saw his reflection in the mirror behind the bar, realizing that an old man was staring back at him... which scared him. He now looked at his hands, which had more wrinkles than he remembered. When had he changed so much?
His once beautiful hair was now streaked with gray, his face showed his age, and he had dark circles under his dull eyes.
When had he gotten so old?
And why did he look like this?
He was supposed to age gracefully, but that wasn't the case... because what he saw in that mirror was a shell of the successful man he once was.
He thought back to James. That boy had surpassed him in height; he was the version of himself Roger had always wanted to be: tall, handsome, and slightly muscular.
Honestly, James would be any father's pride.
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And now that he remembered, he supposed that the party they had crashed was to celebrate his graduation.
"What have I done?" he asked himself because he realized that this life was not what he had imagined in his youth.
He had never thought he'd be exiled from his own family. He remembered how he had lost his position as CEO, and worst of all... he let Cooper steal his son without putting up a fight...all because of his damn pride that got him nowhere.
He pulled out his phone to do a quick internet search, discovering that James was a certified architect, and there were already reports of his remarkable achievement of graduating with a perfect GPA. This left him somewhat confused, as he assumed James had studied and prepared to take over his role as CEO in the family's jewelry business, but everything indicated that he was to become the CEO of Jayden's
company.
If he were honest, he hadn't just lost Deborah, who had supported him since she had been by his side... but he had never valued her because he remembered his mother's words about how Deborah was worthless for being a dumb mute... something he later found out wasn't true because, with a simple operation, she regained her speech.
For that reason, he tried to help her to prevent his mother, in her madness, from harming James. She had gone completely insane, and he obviously didn't agree with that.
With that help, he thought everything was fine and sought to ignore the baby because he didn't feel it was his... especially after everything that happened with Deborah. Chapter 346
But ever since he saw James that one time, he was amazed to see that even though he hadn't raised him, James was so much like him in character and appearance.
In fact, he thought that now that James knew the truth.. he would eventually seek him out to get to know him and ask him to be present in his life for support and advice because he was his father... he even imagined having a conversation with his teenage son where James would complain about his mother for giving him a stepfather.
Unfortunately, that never happened, and now he couldn't stand the girl he had adopted because sometimes she was so demanding and a bit annoying. That's why he felt terrible knowing her engagement was ruined, and she wouldn't be leaving the house anymore.... at this point in his life, he just wanted to live alone with his wife and enjoy his future retirement.
He let out a sigh, feeling so frustrated, and now he noticed that he had gone from being a young. successful CEO to an old failure.
After paying for his drinks, he returned home, where he only wanted to lie down and sleep.