Chapter 126: A Dilemma
It reminded him of his original parents back on Earth.
"What the fuck are you doing?" His father hit him with the back of his hand while drinking.
"What?" Nathan\'s body was shaking violently as his blood came out of his nose. He didn\'t even do anything wrong, so why would he get hit?
"Why are you not even doing anything? Do something useful, you idiot!"
Nathan was only eleven years old. He looked at his father with a horrified expression. His body was already covered in bruises, but Nathan still dared to glare at his father.
"Whatcha looking at?"
Nathan bit his lips and shouted, "You dare to call yourself my father? You fucking useless human being!"
The veins on his forehead bulged. Without him realizing it, Nathan got kicked in the guts with such a force that blew him to the side of the table.
*Cough!*
*Cough!*
Nathan coughed some acid from his blood as he was on all fours while holding his stomach.
"What did you say?" His father was furious. He started kicking and punching him.
It only stopped until Nathan was half-conscious. He was bleeding, and his nose was broken.
What Nathan had was not that he couldn\'t endure the pain. In fact, he could endure it pretty well, especially when he absorbed the mature class core. What he actually had was a trauma that reminded him of the beating he would receive from his father.
He somehow put his father into jail by showing his state to the police until some officers noticed him. He called the police before provoking his dad. And the police ended up entering the house and catching his dad in the act.
It was then he was sent to his mother, which wasn\'t much different. After seeing how much his father was drinking and doing drugs, Nathan felt repulsive when he saw his mother in the same state.
Fortunately, he didn\'t receive any beating, which meant he could recover from his injuries and run away from his mother. He ran, ran, and ran until his legs gave up.
It was fortunate that he met an orphanage that willingly accepted him after learning his circumstances, instead of sending him back to his mother.
He made a small business like buying things and selling them at a higher price or any other hustle that he could do at his age. He managed to save up some money and bought a phone to read.
That was when he fell in love with reading. The main characters were cool; they could stand up against their parents, and their lives became much better. All of them pushed him forward and became a way for him to escape from reality.
He never liked his full name, Nathan Reckmoon. When pronouncing it, he felt like he was the moon that was getting wrecked.
And this time, he ended up facing a dilemma, wondering if he should meet the original Nathan\'s parents or not.
On the one hand, Nathan\'s parents in this world were good people. There weren\'t any bad memories, and they looked very supportive. On the other hand, Nathan couldn\'t help but tremble.
\'Is this the reason I am feeling attracted to Selena? Because we both have problems with our family? Tsk. I try to act cool by saying I want her to separate the feeling of love and dependency, but I\'m such a mess myself.\' Nathan scratched the back of his head. He kept hanging his head low, thinking about it.
Suddenly, Selena\'s voice echoed from the side. "What are you thinking?"
"!!!" Nathan\'s heart skipped a beat as he instinctively jumped to the side, finding Selena walking next to him. "What? Since when have you been here?"
"I have been walking with you for half a minute. You didn\'t notice me the whole time, so I couldn\'t help but call you."
"Ah. Sorry. I was in deep thought." Nathan smiled wryly. "Didn\'t you return to your dorm?"
"I did, but I ended up encountering someone."
"Hmm?" Nathan noticed the displeasure on Selena\'s face.
Selena looked hesitant but chose to say it. "I met my brother…"
Selena ended up recounting everything he said.
It blew his mind, not because of her brother, but because she actually told him about this.
"Ehm…" Nathan pinched the bridge of his nose and said, "Wait a second. Let me process this. Did you just tell me about this instead of walking away without saying anything?"
"Yes?" Selena tilted her head in confusion. "Is there something wrong with me telling you about this problem? You end up getting involved in this because of me, so you have the right to know."
Nathan said, "Nothing. I was just thinking about what they told me in this situation. After all, most of the time… no, 99 out of 100 people would quietly leave them, thinking they could save them this way. And their partners end up having to learn it themselves and do something about it."
"Hmm. I don\'t think it will be the solution." Selena crossed her arms. "In this situation, I\'m telling you because I know that your teacher will definitely protect your parents. After all, she must know things that can actually mess you up. If they attack your parents, it will end up provoking your teacher. Either way, it\'ll give me an advantage against my family."
"No. That\'s not what I mean…" Nathan looked troubled. "Never mind. First of all, thank you for telling me about this."
"But it doesn\'t change the fact that I have inconvenienced you, your teacher, and your parents. For that, I\'m sorry. And I will probably have to apologize again because I have no intention of leaving you, so I will continue putting them in danger." Selena lowered her head. "But if you think it\'s too much, please tell me about it. I\'ll leave."
"No. In fact, I should be the one asking you. Do you need my help? After all, you told me back then that you want to stand at the top, equal to everyone, right? That\'s why I\'ll respect you as my equal. How do you want to solve this problem?"