By Zephyria He tried to ask with as much composure as possible, but even he could hear the anxiety in his voice. Of course, the man on the other end wouldn’t miss it, and as expected, the voice that came back a moment later was full of arrogance.
“That’s because I’ve built a bond with my child.”
“So.”
If he had been in front of him, he would have wanted to grab him by the neck and shout, “Just get to the point!” but unfortunately, the other man was too far away. Winston barely suppressed a rising sigh and continued.
“So how did you build that bond? It couldn’t have been easy.”
He thought he heard a low chuckle on the other end. If it had been someone else’s problem, he would have laughed at him too. The tragedy was that he was the one in this situation. Winston covered his face with one hand, and the arrogant voice, filled with laughter, reached his ears.
“Campbell, a bond is proportional to the amount of time spent together.”
The unpleasant voice continued.
“The reason my child is comfortable with piggyback rides is because she trusts me that much. She knows I’ll never drop her, so she climbs onto my shoulders.”
Winston could easily imagine him sitting with his legs crossed, arrogantly raising his chin. He never thought the day would come when he would have to beg someone. And to think it was this man of all people. He was furious, but he had no choice but to ask.
“So what’s the method? How did you make the child trust you that much?”
The answer that came back wasn’t anything special. The man answered smoothly, as if gliding on ice.
“You have to spend a lot of time with the child. And there has to be a lot of physical contact.”
Winston’s brow furrowed deeply under his hand. The man on the other end continued to speak. As if he was teasing Winston, in a drawn-out tone.
“I’ve been taking care of my child to the best of my ability since she was born. I was the one who woke up in the middle of the night to give her milk, and I was the one who held her until she fell asleep. There was a nanny, but she probably spent more time in my arms than in the nanny’s. I held her so much that she was late in learning to walk.”
Keith Knight Pittman bragging like this? If the world knew, everyone would be so surprised that their jaws would drop. Maybe some would laugh at him. They would say that the great man was nothing special after all.
Normally, Winston would have been in the latter group.
Right now, he was barely holding back his annoyance at the mess he was in. So, in the end, there was nothing he could do? Because he hadn’t been there for Angela since she was born?
But that couldn’t be helped. If that incident hadn’t happened, if Winston had never found out about his father and Yu-jin’s relationship, he wouldn’t have suspected anything and would have thought of Angela as his own child. Of course, he would have been there for her since she was born. He wouldn’t have had to listen to this ridiculous boasting and feel so frustrated.
He could have.
Nightmarish memories he had tried so hard to bury resurfaced. The image of Yu-jin in his father’s arms, looking at him, was as vivid as if he were seeing it right in front of him. Even his face, mocking him as he stood there in a daze. Winston clenched his teeth and took a deep breath.
“Campbell?”
The man called his name, probably having heard his rough breathing. His voice was sharper than before. He seemed to suspect something was wrong with Winston.
“I’m fine.”
Winston opened his mouth in his usual low voice.
“I’m not feeling sick, so don’t worry about that. So, you’re saying there was nothing special you did other than having frequent physical contact with the child from a young age?”
Even as he spoke, he felt pathetic. Could there be any other way? Wasn’t that the most basic and obvious method?
Even as he thought that, he spoke as if grasping at straws.
“What about buying her gifts? Have you tried that?”
The man replied in an indifferent tone to Winston’s question.
“That’s just something I do on a regular basis. You can’t build a bond with a child with just that.”
Winston, having gone this far, swallowed his shame and continued.
“I offered her stocks, but she wasn’t interested at all.”
After a moment of silence, the man asked after a pause.
“How old is this child anyway?”
“Three, no, she’s four now.”
For the first time, the man let out a short breath, as if he was dumbfounded. To Winston, who was even feeling self-loathing, he calmly added in a cold voice.
“My child is about the same age as her, but Spence can’t even count properly. The most she counts is 10. And you’re offering her stocks? You should have given her a puppy instead.”
“That child is not an ordinary child.”
For the first time, confidence mixed into Winston’s voice.
“Angela counts all the way to 100. She also reads a lot of books, and when you listen to her talk, she sounds like she’s at least seven or eight years old. She’s a very bright child. She’s definitely an amazing genius, and if you gave her an IQ test, she’d probably get an incredible score.”
He felt instantly better, as if he was bragging about his own daughter. He didn’t stop there and delivered the finishing blow.
“Oh, now that I think about it, your child can’t read yet, can she?”
The man didn’t answer. When Winston’s lips curled up involuntarily at his reaction, the man on the other end pointed out in a nonchalant voice.
“But my child can ride on my shoulders.”
Winston was silent again. In the heavy silence, the man gave him some light advice, as if he was relieved.
“Why don’t you try to make an effort from now on? It won’t be easy, but she’s still a child, right? It might be a little easier now?”
Maybe he could. If Angela was an ordinary child.
“Thanks for the advice, it wasn’t very helpful.”
Winston gave him a sarcastic reply and hung up without waiting for an answer. There was no point in listening any further, it would only make him more frustrated. Fortunately, the man didn’t call back.
Why did he even make the call?
He only heard obvious things. And even things that made him feel worse.
Maybe it’s taking longer because Angela is so smart.
If that was the case, it made sense. Pittman’s stupid child and Angela were on different levels.
Even as he thought that, putting down someone else’s child wouldn’t make his situation any better.
Do you become this childish when you have a child?
Winston pondered with a serious expression. In any case, to gain the child’s recognition, he had to meet her at her level. Instead of offering her stocks, he would have been much more effective if he had bought her a puppy, as Pittman had said.
…Right, as Pittman said.
Winston brought the whiskey to his lips again. Something suddenly flashed through his mind. Not bad. He inadvertently narrowed his eyes. Unable to stop a sigh from escaping his lips, he downed the whiskey in one gulp.
Let’s try that.
Having made up his mind, Winston jumped up and left the dining room. The mansion was as silent as the grave. The only sound was the sound of the waves. The employees had already left, but there were still two other people here besides him. Nevertheless, he felt like he was alone. Just as he had been ever since he had broken up with Yu-jin.
Get a grip, don’t give up.He deliberately took strides larger than usual. They had decided to start over, hadn’t they? They had promised to bury the past. If he could just win the child’s heart, Yu-jin would reluctantly accept him too. He could finally make the future with Yu-jin that he had dreamed of long ago a reality.
Yes, this time for sure.
Reaching the room at the end of the hallway, he quietly opened the door. Bright moonlight streamed through the gaps in the curtains into the dark room. Even as he quietly moved, the surroundings remained still. Winston stopped at the bedside and fixed his gaze for a moment. On the bed, Yu-jin was fast asleep, holding the child close. There could be no more peaceful sight. Nevertheless, Winston felt bitterness and unease more strongly than a sense of stability.
Never again.
He clenched and unclenched his fist in the darkness, staring at Yu-jin.
I will never let you be taken from me again.
* * *
“That’s right, Angie. You’re doing great. Now, hold your breath, and breathe again, hold your breath…”
Winston’s voice echoed through the living room. Yu-jin lay stretched out on the lounge chair, silently watching them.
Opening the large sliding glass door led directly to the swimming pool. There was no more luxurious vacation than leisurely soaking in it and gazing at the sea. And now, Winston was teaching his daughter to swim in that very pool. Of course, he had no idea, but Yu-jin could only watch them with a strange feeling.
What on earth is that man up to?