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Chapter 3
Dad
Bianca flared up at Geron’s apology.
“Mother!”
Ignoring her son’s almost hysterical shout, Bianca continued speaking.
“But don’t worry, dear. You’re my granddaughter! I could tell the moment I saw you. Shall I tell you a secret? Your grandmother fell in love with you the instant we met.”
Bianca whispered the most beautiful and precious words she could think of, determined not to leave even the smallest wound in the heart of the precious little child.
Zenith, who had expected nothing but criticism, stared at her in a daze as if enchanted.
As she looked at Bianca, something swelled up inside her chest.
She did not know why.
But she felt like crying.
Was it because she was receiving kindness after being lonely for so long?
Thinking of her adoptive parents from her previous life, who had passed away, the old lady’s warmth made her heart ache.
Tears welled up in Zenith’s eyes.
“You poor thing!”
Bianca pulled Zenith into her arms and gently comforted her. The sound of the child sniffling echoed through the drawing room.
Watching the two of them, anyone would have thought they were the closest grandmother and granddaughter in the world.
Geron snorted.
“Mother, this is ridiculous. Why are you being so stubborn? Do you really want to make your twenty-five-year-old son into an unmarried father? Who exactly told you something like this?”
“What’s wrong with twenty-five? Would you suddenly get married if you were forty-five? Fifty-five? You’re the type who won’t give me a single grandchild your entire life.”
“Mother!”
“My hearing is perfectly fine. You don’t need to shout. Besides, I’m not wrong.”
Bianca waved her hand dismissively at her son.
Watching her shoo him away like a fly, Geron gritted his teeth.
Bianca looked at him as if he were insignificant and continued.
“You keep saying you have no memory of it, but your memory isn’t exactly reliable to begin with. There’s no way to be completely certain. Life is full of ‘what ifs.’”
“I only lost one year of my memory. What could have happened during that one year? And you know this yourself! I can’t even hold a woman’s hand. I have a severe rejection reaction! So how could I possibly have a child? Don’t tell me you’re imagining that during the period I can’t remember, my condition miraculously improved and I somehow fathered a child?”
Geron logically and rationally explained why Zenith could not possibly be his daughter.
Hearing something she had never expected, Zenith froze.
She remembered Geron shouting earlier that he broke out in hives just from making eye contact with women.
…That wasn’t a lie to avoid responsibility? It was actually true?
Zenith looked at Geron with new eyes.
I thought he was obviously trash…
Judging from Bianca’s reaction, the period of Geron’s lost memories overlapped with the time Zenith had been in her mother’s womb.
The problem was that Geron genuinely could not get close to women.
From the way he talked about a rejection reaction, it seemed his psychological issues had even manifested physically.
She had been so enraged, thinking he was just like her biological father from her previous life, that she had hurled every insult she could think of.
But after hearing the circumstances, she could at least understand him.
Besides, he was only twenty-five, barely older than she had been in her previous life.
He had just graduated from university, and suddenly a seven-year-old child appeared and told him to become an unmarried father.
Anyone would be angry. Even I would.
Zenith nodded.
She believed there was nothing more absurd than telling a victim to understand the person who hurt them.
Still, putting herself in his shoes, she could not say she completely failed to understand.
Even so, she had no intention of forgiving Geron for insulting her parents.
And she still firmly believed that begging under a bridge would be better than being raised by him.
…By the way, is he really not my biological father? Then who is?
Zenith’s eyes rolled thoughtfully.
Just then—
“Geron, you brat! What have you done this time?!”
A booming voice rang out, and the drawing room door opened once again.
A man entered who looked as though he had been built entirely from muscle.
The man, whose hair was streaked with gray, looked remarkably similar to Geron.
He was probably the old lady’s husband—
“My poor little cuckoo bird! Don’t worry, I’ll give that unfilial son of mine the beating he deserves! To think my only child turned out like that…”
“Oh, my dear!”
Cuckoo bird?
Zenith briefly doubted her own ears.
But something else shocked her even more.
After hearing the man’s words, the old lady twisted slightly and lightly punched his shoulder.
The man immediately broke into a huge grin.
All kinds of sweet and sugary words poured out of his mouth.
Zenith felt goosebumps.
It was her first experience with such a culture shock.
Then suddenly—
The man, who had been flirting shamelessly with his wife, abruptly turned his head.
His gaze landed on the tiny little girl sitting all alone behind the towering adults.
In front of his wife, he spoke nonsense like “cuckoo bird” and acted like a devoted husband.
But his appearance was frightening enough to make people flinch.
A scar stretched from his forehead across one eye and down his cheek, making him look even more intimidating.
The man stared at her.
There was no warmth in his eyes.
He strode over and stopped in front of Zenith.
…Is round two starting already?
Zenith, who had been watching everything as if it were a movie, was instantly dragged back into reality.
She lowered her head as though she were a pilgrim and prepared herself for verbal abuse.
Then the man spoke.
“Do you know who I am?”
“…”
It was an incredibly difficult question.
Since he was Geron’s father, she should call him Grandfather.
But Geron kept insisting he was not her father.
And honestly, Zenith thought Geron’s argument made sense.
Could it be this guy instead…?
The couple looked deeply in love.
She really did not want this kind of family.
But then she remembered something.
People who cheated often acted like perfect spouses at home.
Even Min Kyung-tae, her biological father from her previous life, had pretended to be a good husband and father at home.
Disgust and contempt appeared in Zenith’s eyes.
The man spoke again.
“It looks like you’ve figured something out. Go on. Who am I?”
“…”
Zenith clenched her teeth.
She did not want to say such a thing to garbage.
But everyone was waiting for her answer.
Even Geron, who looked completely confused.
She had no choice.
First, Zenith bowed slightly toward the old lady in apology.
Then she voiced her guess.
“Dad?”
Silence filled the room.
No one could speak.
Even the old general himself—the very man who had asked her to identify him.
“Pfft!”
In that moment, the old lady burst out laughing.
Zenith looked at her with concern.
…Did the shock make her lose her mind?
“…Father, is it really you?”
Geron’s trembling voice delivered the final blow.
Then the old general’s thunderous roar shook the room.
“You idiot!”
His hand smacked the back of Geron’s head.
“Father!”
As Geron protested, the old general smacked him again.
Nice!
Zenith secretly felt satisfied.
Understanding Geron’s situation was one thing, but she was still holding a grudge over the insults he had thrown at her.
Then, before she knew it, the old lady had walked over and gently hugged her.
“Our little baby, you got confused, didn’t you? That fool kept saying you weren’t his daughter. I’m sorry about that. But you are his daughter. My granddaughter.”
Caught completely off guard, Zenith looked up at her.
The old lady smiled warmly.
“You must be hungry. Do you like pie? Apple pie. Your grandfather baked one this morning.”
“…That scary and violent grandfather baked an apple pie? Wait, but I really am your granddaughter?”
“Of course you are. You’re my granddaughter. And your grandfather’s hobby is baking. Since I love pie, he bakes one every morning.”
The old lady winked.
Zenith could hardly believe it.
The giant man whose arms were thicker than her face, who looked capable of wrestling down a bull, had baking as a hobby.
No, seriously, how are you so sure I’m your granddaughter?
Her eyes silently asked the question.
The old lady held out her hand.
“Now then, explanations can wait. Let’s eat first. We should give those two some privacy so he can be beaten properly. That boy needs a good beating.”
For a moment, Zenith thought she heard teeth grinding during that last sentence.
But it was probably her imagination.
Probably.
Entranced by the woman’s voice, Zenith chose to ignore reality.
Without realizing it, she reached out and took the old lady’s hand.
The old lady beamed.
“A wise choice, my little skylark.”
That was the exact moment the strange nicknames began.
“I’m not a skylark. I’m Zenith…”
“Zenith is a skylark, and a skylark is Zenith. Do you happen to like lily-of-the-valley flowers? They remind me of you.”
A terrible feeling washed over her.
If she said she liked lily-of-the-valley flowers, she would probably start being called Lily-of-the-Valley.
Not that she particularly wanted to be called Skylark either.
‘My beautiful little lily-of-the-valley, how does the apple pie taste?’
‘Lily-of-the-valley, don’t you think this cuckoo-bird grandma is very pretty? Your oak-tree grandpa says I’m the prettiest woman in the world.’
After imagining it for a moment, Zenith shuddered.
She quickly shook her head.
“No. Absolutely not!”
“…What a shame. The lily-of-the-valley flowers in the greenhouse are blooming beautifully.”
“I-I want apple pie! I’m hungry!”
Afraid the old lady might come up with another bizarre nickname, Zenith hurried forward.
Her steps quickened.
The old lady chuckled softly and matched her pace.
Behind them, the sounds of Geron and the old general engaging in a physical fight echoed through the room.
The sound of fists meeting fists.
Serves him right!
Humming cheerfully, the old lady closed the drawing room door behind them.
