Semua Bab The Man Who Forgot How to Feel: Bab 1 - Bab 10

Anthony Seymour heard that woman's voice again. Faint. Hoarse. As if it had been soaked through with damp fog, reaching his ears only in broken fragments. "Anthony, I'm sorry. Please forgive Mommy..." Small for his age, he stood in the doorway, chin tilted up, looking at his mother's reddened eyes, and at his sister standing silently beside her. They were both dressed and ready to go, a packed bag sitting at their feet. "Mommy, why are you crying? And where are you and Naomi going? Can't I come too? Daddy always hits me when he's home. It hurts so much..." His mother's lips trembled. She looked like she was on the verge of tears, and yet she never once knelt down to hold him. Not even once. "Mommy and Naomi are going somewhere far away. You... you have to be good while we're gone, okay?" "When are you coming back?" His mother looked at him with sorrow in her eyes and said, slowly, "We're... not coming back." He'd been too young, back then. Too young to understand wh

Ashford University was the most prestigious research university in the state of Meridian, and as a top state institution, its admission cutoffs were never low.As a full-time undergraduate program, its Semiconductor Engineering and Materials Chemistry departments were flagship majors, staffed by several members of the National Academy of Sciences and ranked among the best in the country.For most students, getting into a school like Ashford, especially in a state as academically competitive as Meridian, was no small feat. Anthony, though, felt nothing much about it either way.For reasons of his own, he'd spent the whole of his senior year working part-time jobs and studying on his own at home. It had been brutal, but he'd still shown up on exam day and taken the National Scholastic Exam. Studying entirely on his own, he'd still managed to place in the top fifty in the state—a result that left more than a few of his old classmates stunned when he went back to school to pick up his r

Mother and daughter fell into a heavy silence.Seven years ago, they'd been welcomed back into the sprawling Sinclair family with smiles all around, but how much of it had been genuine was hard to say.To the family, after all, Diane's divorce and subsequent return—dragging along an extra mouth to feed—simply meant one more person to split the inheritance with. Over the years, there'd been no shortage of maneuvering against them, some subtle, some not.In the end, it had only ever been the two of them, mother and daughter, leaning on each other to survive.Fortunately, Naomi had proven herself more than capable, fighting her way to real standing within a family that would otherwise have eaten her alive—otherwise, there was no telling whether their fortunes would have turned out any better than before.Which was exactly why the two of them cherished what little family they had left all the more.They could hardly imagine how much their boy had suffered over the years, and the thou

At Anthony's words, Jake froze. "What are you thinking, man? Where's this coming from?""Oh?"Anthony blinked, equally caught off guard, before landing on another possible explanation.'Ah, I see. Is he the type who needs a foil to make himself look better by comparison in front of the class?'Anthony studied Jake thoughtfully for a moment, then nodded. "I understand. I'll do my best to cooperate with you going forward."Jake looked stunned. "Dude, no—I'm just trying to make a friend here. What kind of dark, twisted stuff is going on in your head right now?""So you genuinely just want to be friends? In that case, how much do I owe you for that?"Jake wiped a hand across his forehead. "Have you never had a friend before?""First, let's establish a working definition of what a friend actually—""Okay, stop right there." Jake suddenly regarded him with something like pity. "I get it now. You don't need to say anything else.""Ha.""Anthony, buddy, I'm starting to get real curi

So, after failing over and over again, Anthony had eventually learned his lesson.As long as you never let yourself hope, you could never be disappointed.Anthony kept his expression neutral, gaze fixed calmly on the front of the room, ignoring the glances Chloe kept sneaking his way as he waited for her turn to introduce herself."Hi, everyone. My name is Chloe Sheridan."I... there's something I want to say to someone."..."I... there's something I want to say to someone."The moment Chloe spoke those words, it seemed to take everything she had.Heart pounding with nerves, she glanced toward the back of the room and found the boy she'd spent three years dreaming about looking back at her.Only his gaze was utterly calm—unreadable, giving nothing away about what he might be feeling.But knowing he was watching her right now was enough.For some reason, a small wave of relief washed over Chloe.If he could look at her the same steady way he always had, that meant he'd trul