Chapter 78 Hurting
Chapter 78 Hurting
Chapter 78: Hurting
Dianna.
“Did you know…” I paused softly, watching his face closely. “That you were adopted?”
Theodore stilled completely.
The change in him happened so suddenly that my breath caught.
His expression did not immediately twist into anger or shock.
Instead, he simply went still.
Like the words themselves did not fully register, until his eyes finally lifted toward me.
And the look in them made me flinch.
He didn't look angry, instead he looked tired.
For several seconds, he said nothing.
Then Theodore slowly leaned back against the chair and dragged a hand across his face.
“I had a feeling,” he admitted quietly.
I stared at him.
“A feeling?” I repeated softly.
A humorless smile appeared briefly on his lips before disappearing again.
“You know what’s funny?” he murmured. “Children can tell when they don’t belong.”
His voice remained calm, but I could hear the wounded him beneath it.
I stayed silent and let him continue.
Theodore lowered his gaze toward his hands.
“I grew up in a house where no one really looked at each other properly,” he said slowly. “My father only cared about appearances and power. My mother…” He paused briefly before exhaling. “She loved too much. To the point where she slowly destroyed herself trying to keep someone who did not even love her.”
His fingers curled slightly together.
“And me?” He let out another faint laugh. “I spent most of my childhood wondering why it always felt like I was standing outside of everything.”
Something tightened painfully inside my chest as I listened to him.
“I thought maybe it was my fault at first,” he admitted quietly. “So I started acting out.”
His eyes finally lifted toward me again.
“That’s why I became rebellious.”
I blinked slightly.
“I skipped classes. Got into fights. Slept around. Drank too much. Did every stupid thing I could think of.” His jaw tightened faintly. “Not because I enjoyed it all that much, but because I wanted someone in that house to notice me.”
Theodore smiled bitterly.
“And they did notice me. But never in the way I wanted.”
My chest ached listening to him say it so plainly.
Because suddenly, so many things about him made sense.
The arrogance.
The recklessness.
The way he constantly demanded attention while pretending not to care about anyone’s opinion.
It was never confidence.
It was loneliness.
“I remember watching other families when I was younger,” he continued quietly. “Even the small things felt strange to me. Parents who actually sat together at dinner. Mothers who smiled when their children spoke. Fathers who came home because they wanted to.”
His gaze drifted somewhere distant.
“I used to wonder why our house always felt cold no matter how expensive it was.”
The room fell silent again.
Then Theodore suddenly looked back at me.
“The first time I met your grandmother was when I was young…” His voice softened slightly. “She looked at me so warmly that I almost hated it.”
I frowned slightly. “Why?”
“Because she treated me kindly." He paused. "She asked if I had eaten. Told me to sit properly when she visited. Complained that I looked too thin.” A small smile appeared briefly on his lips again. “It sounds stupid, but I remember going home afterward and realizing no one had spoken to me like that in years.”
My chest tightened again.
Grandmother…
Even after everything, she still saw through people so easily.
Theodore leaned forward slightly, resting his arms against his knees while staring quietly at the floor.
“I think part of me already knew the truth before anyone confirmed it,” he admitted. “I just never wanted to say it out loud.”
“Then… Grandma told you?” I asked.
He nodded once.
“It happened after you disappeared.”
My fingers tightened slightly over the blanket.
“The day she told me, I almost didn’t believe her,” he admitted quietly. “Not because I thought she was lying. But because suddenly everything in my life started making sense all at once.”
His eyes slowly lifted toward me again.
“My mother couldn’t have children.”
Theodore’s expression remained calm, but I could see the pain sitting quietly behind his eyes.
“She found out years after adopting me,” he continued quietly. “Victor was already cheating before then.”
Theodore lowered his gaze for a moment before letting out a faint, bitter laugh.
“The reason he suddenly suggested adopting a child was because he needed a way to hide the affair and clean up his own mess.”
My chest tightened.
“He made it sound noble,” Theodore continued. “Like he wanted to save their marriage. Like he wanted to give my mother a family after learning she couldn’t conceive.” His jaw slowly clenched. “But in reality, he was only trying to bury evidence of his cheating before it ruined his reputation.”
I stared at him silently while he spoke.
“Mother eventually found out the truth anyway,” he murmured. “I don’t know when exactly. Maybe years later. Maybe she always suspected it from the start.” His expression darkened faintly. “But even after everything, she still chose to keep me.”
A humorless smile briefly appeared on his lips.
“And Victor…” Theodore shook his head slowly. “He still acted like my mother was the problem.”
The bitterness in his voice felt deeper this time.
“He made her feel inadequate for being unable to give him a child.” His eyes lowered briefly before lifting toward me again. “Looking back now, I think she spent most of her life trying to love a man who never once felt guilty for not loving her.”
My throat tightened painfully.
“She loved me,” Theodore admitted softly. “I know she did. But sometimes…” He paused briefly, struggling for the right words.
“Sometimes it felt like she loved me because she was trying to convince herself that everything she sacrificed for him was worth something in the end.”
The room fell silent again.
Then Theodore looked away and exhaled quietly.
“That’s probably why I grew up feeling unwanted no matter how hard she tried.” His smile turned faint and tired. “Because deep down, everyone inside that family was already hurting long before I understood why.”