홈 / Emotional Realism 단편 작품 & 소설 / Dad Only Loves His New Son / 챕터 1 - 챕터 10

Dad Only Loves His New Son의 모든 챕터: 챕터 1 - 챕터 10

10 챕터

Chapter 1

Zoey's POVI refolded the piece of paper in my hand and made my way to the administration office. The teacher took it from me and flipped straight to the report card tucked in the back. After a brief pause, she looked up. "Zoey, have you really thought this through? With your grades, it would be such a waste to drop out now. You've always been one of the top students in the regular classes, and your score on the last mock exam was high enough to give you a real shot at a prestigious college." Clutching the straps of my backpack, I gently shook my head.There were other teachers in the office. One of them had just returned and casually mentioned, "Mr. Smith came to the school for the parent-teacher conference today. "After it wrapped up, he donated another scholarship fund to the school, specifically to reward the top ten students in the grade and the academic competition winners. The principal was just singing his praises." The other teacher chimed in with a smile, "He real

Chapter 2

Zoey's POVThe next morning, the second I walked through the school gates, I knew something was wrong. As soon as people spotted me, they immediately lowered their heads to whisper to whoever was next to them. Someone even held up their phones, aiming them at me, only to yank them down the moment I lifted my gaze. On my way to my classroom, I walked past the stairwell where two young ladies were fervently gossiping about something. The moment they saw me, they immediately lowered their voices, though their eyes kept darting toward my face. I reached my desk and set my backpack down, only to notice the lines written in chalk on the surface of my desk. "Ungrateful wretch.""Hates seeing others do well.""Jealous of her stepbrother." Every single word had been written with a lot of pressure, as if the person who wrote them was afraid no one would see them. I stood there and stared at them for a few seconds. Then, I pulled out a tissue from my bag, dampened it with a little

Chapter 3

Zoey's POVIan loathed it when other people brought up what happened five years ago. Looking at him, I suddenly remembered the days many years ago when I would still lean against the windowsill, waiting for him to come home. Back then, I was still young, and Mom would always make excuses for him. She told me that his company was going through a difficult time and that things would get better once he made it through this rough patch. Then, one day, Ian came home with a grim expression. He sat at the dining table in silence for what felt like an eternity before telling Mom that the company's cash flow had been cut off, that he owed debts outside, and that he was afraid he would drag us down. Consequently, he wanted to get a divorce. The color drained from Mom's face that day. However, she didn't blame him. In fact, she merely said, "It must be hard… carrying all of that by yourself." Ian merely nodded. From then on, Mom withdrew every last cent she had saved since their weddin

Chapter 4

Zoey's POVIan stood there as if the wind had been completely knocked out of him. "That's impossible!"His eyes gradually narrowed as he gazed at me. "Your mother was a master at playing the victim. There's no way she—" "There's no way she actually died, right?" I finished his sentence for him. "No matter what she does, she's always putting on an act in your eyes, huh?"Elena's expression shifted too, and she immediately chimed in to play the peacemaker. "Calm down, Zoey. You're emotional right now, so you might be exaggerating. If your father's ex-wife is genuinely having a hard time, I'm more than happy to help out financially. There's no need to kick up such a huge fuss."I didn't spare her so much as a glance. At this point, she was still implying that Mom was still alive and that she was just using this opportunity to cling to Ian. I took the withdrawal application out of my backpack and smoothed it out on the table. The paper had been folded so many times the edges were f

Chapter 5

Zoey's POVThe door remained ajar, and the draft from the hallway began to seep in. Ian was rooted to the spot for a long while. He stared at Mom's funeral portrait as if he had forgotten how to breathe. Elena, too, was stunned. Her face was pale as a sheet. It had probably never crossed her mind that Mom had actually passed away. Eugene was frightened by the layout of the room and instinctively shrank back behind Elena. I paid them no mind. I simply walked over, set my backpack down, and picked up the slightly cooled glass of water in front of the altar to replace it with a fresh one. I had done this every day for three months. So, it was almost muscle memory now.Ian finally dragged his feet into the room and rasped, "When did it happen?""Three months ago.""Why didn't you tell me?"I looked up at him and responded apathetically, "Would it have made any difference if I told you? Mom called you, messaged you, begged you, and waited for you. But when did you ever believe he

Chapter 6

Third-Person POVIan didn't leave. In the days that followed, he felt as though he had suddenly awoken from a long dream. He began a frantic crusade into the events leading up to Sophia's death. Alan headed to the hospital to obtain her medical records. Ian, on the other hand, personally reached out to the school to check the records of Zoey's unpaid tuition and look up the security footage from when Sophia went to plead with the school. The footage was grainy, yet it was still clear enough to see how terribly thin she was back then. Clutching the desk for support, she begged the teacher over and over again to give her a few more days, saying Zoey's grades were excellent and that she shouldn't have to drop out because of money.Ian didn't make a sound as he stood in front of the computer. The teacher, who stood beside him, added quietly, "She made quite a few trips. Every time she came, she'd tell me she'd figure something out." Ian's grip tightened. Back then, he had been busy

Chapter 7

Zoey's POVElena was on the other end of the line. She froze for a second before playing dumb. "Why are you bringing this up all of a sudden?" she asked softly. Standing beside my table, Ian's voice dropped dangerously low. "I'm going to ask you one more time. Why was that card empty?" The other end of the line went dead silent for a few seconds. Elena's tone had completely changed when she broke the silence. Initially, she said she was simply afraid that Mom and I would keep coming back for more if we got our hands on that money. Eventually, she came clean and admitted that she was the one who had someone transfer the money out of that account. Elena reasoned that exes should disappear from each other's lives for good. She hadn't wanted Mom to live off Ian's money, pretending to be pitiful, fishing for sympathy, or using me as an excuse to force her way back into their lives. Ian's grip on his phone tightened, inch by inch. "I gave them that money to save her life!"Elena

Chapter 8

Zoey's POVEven though a storm was raging on the outside, I stayed out of it. I simply packed away the things Mom had left behind, preparing to move out of the rented apartment. I didn't want anyone to find me here again. A few days later, Mr. Miller came to find me and gave me a brief rundown of the situation outside. He told me Ian's company was on the verge of collapse, the board of directors was in complete chaos, and the investors were pulling out left and right. Elena's family had also been dragged into the mess, and they were desperately begging anyone they could for help. Ian was already preparing to sue Elena. He was going after her not just for embezzlement, but for intercepting the life-saving funds and intentionally withholding information about Mom's medical condition from him.After hearing that, I merely said, "He should've done this ages ago."Mr. Miller paused for a moment before handing me another document. "Mr. Smith wants to reinstate your enrollment first

Chapter 9

Zoey's POVThat night, I was alone in my room, packing up the last box of my books. All of a sudden, the door was thrown open. It slammed against the wall with a dull thud. The moment I whirled around, I saw Elena charging in. Her hair was disheveled, her eyes were bloodshot, and she was brandishing a fruit knife. In short, she had completely lost it. Glaring at me, she snapped, "This is all your fault! If you hadn't kept stirring the pot, none of this would have happened! I can't believe that even after I hired people to smear the Smiths online, you still came out on top! "Now, Ian's company's finished, our family's ruined, and Eugene looks at me like I'm some kind of monster. You've completely destroyed everything I've painstakingly built for so many years!"I instinctively backed away, my fingers already reaching for my phone, which was on the edge of the table. However, she didn't give me a chance to call for help as she lunged at me with her knife. "If I'm going down,

Chapter 10

Zoey's POVIt was a bright, sunny day when I went back to school. A lot of people assumed that Ian would put me in the international class or simply transfer me to a better school. However, I went right back to my regular class. When I walked into my classroom, the room fell quiet for a moment. There were some who looked up at me, while others hastily lowered their heads. I paid them no mind as I walked to my seat with my backpack and sat down. My desk was brand new. The chalk graffiti that once read "ungrateful wretch" and "jealous of her stepbrother" was long gone.Ms. Hill stood at the front of the room. She took one look at me and tapped on the desk. "Let's begin today's class."The sound of pages turning rippled through the room. I lowered my head and flipped open my workbook. Sunlight streamed through the window and fell onto the pages. The moment the tip of my pen touched the paper, a sense of peace I hadn't felt in a very long time suddenly washed over me. After scho

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