"Alright."
Upon hearing my response, Father and Lisha quickly added, “Dex, Kingston isn’t the kind of person who would drive you away.”
“Kingston,” Kester looked at me earnestly, “we know we’ve wronged you all these years. But now that you're home, rest assured—we’ll take good care of you.”
I nodded slowly, then looked at them and said, “Since you’ve brought me back, doesn’t that mean I’m officially your son? Shouldn’t my identity be made public?”
After all, the Park Family is a prominent name in this city. Announcing the return of their lost heir should be inevitable.
But the moment my words landed, their expressions shifted.
Kester lowered his gaze and said quietly, “Kingston, you know our situation… If we go public with this, it might harm Dex. He’s been with us all these years. He’s our son, too.”
I stared at them, disappointment settling in my chest. “So, you never investigated how I got replaced?”
They didn’t respond right away. Instead, they exchanged a guilty glance.
“Kingston, what happened… it was an accident,” Lisha said softly.
“An accident?” I let out a cold laugh. “I’ve looked into it myself. I know exactly how it happened. Don’t insult my intelligence.”
The air turned stiff, silence enveloping the room. No one said another word. I quietly finished my meal while the two of them sat with their heads down.
When I stood up, I said, “I’ll go back to rest.”
“Kingston, you’re home now. I haven’t had the chance to talk with you properly,” Lisha said, almost pleading.
I turned to her. “What do you want to talk about?”
“You should change your surname back to Park—be Kingston Park again,” Kester said firmly.
I chuckled, but there was no warmth in it. “Kingston Park? The child the Park Family doesn’t want to acknowledge?”
Tension returned like a thick fog.
“Kingston,” Lisha began, “we know we’ve made mistakes, but try to understand. Dex has been with us far longer than you. Can’t you just live peacefully with him?”
“What if I said we can’t live peacefully—that one of us has to leave?”
Their faces darkened.
“Kingston!” Kester barked, slamming his hand on the table. “Is this what your grandfather taught you? Is this how you speak to your elders?”
“If that’s your attitude, then get out!”
“I never wanted to be here in the first place,” I replied calmly.
With fury in his eyes, he stepped forward and slapped me—hard. So hard that I tasted blood and felt a tooth fall out.
He stared at the blood on my lips, momentarily shaken—but he quickly masked it.
“Consider this a lesson,” he said coldly. “In this house, you follow the rules.”
I met his gaze without flinching. “Sorry. I don’t follow rules built on hypocrisy.”
With that, I picked up my small bag and walked out of the Park Family home.
In less than half a day, I had arrived and left.
As I reached the gate, my eyes fell on a crooked tree planted in the front yard.
“A good energy flow ruined by bad decisions,” I murmured, my tone light but cold.
“The Park Family… is doomed. And the rot starts from within.”
