Chapter 233
Chapter 233:
Thus, the true struggles one endured were often visible only to oneself or those very close.
“Seeing how he’s turned out, I’m actually quite relieved,” Bobby said quietly, his gaze drifting to Cristian nearby. “You’d never guess his past challenges. Had you met him as a child, you might have been frightened off.”
“Really? Cristian was that intimidating as a child?”
It was difficult for Fernanda to picture. Cristian had always been nothing but courteous and gentle around her, hardly the image of someone with a menacing past.
“I’ll never forget our first meeting, on my eighth birthday. Cristian brought me a cake for my birthday, which made me so happy. But when I sliced into it, a snake slithered out, leaving me in tears.”
Fernanda was startled by the story.
For a young child, such an experience would indeed be horrifying.
“That incident left me with a lifelong dislike for cakes, despite once loving them. I haven’t eaten one since.” Bobby sighed.
Now, he spoke of his past calmly, almost humorously, as if he had long since reconciled with the fright.
“Was that his only prank?” Fernanda’s curiosity about Cristian’s younger years grew.
“Absolutely not. Cristian was quite the little terror back then!” Bobby exclaimed, then clapped a hand over his mouth. “Wait, should I really be talking about this? Could this harm Cristian’s reputation?”
“Not at all,” Fernanda laughed, amused by Bobby’s hesitation. “The Cristian I know today is who I trust. Learning about his past just helps me understand him more deeply. Plus, his antics didn’t drive you away, and you two are still close.”
“You’re right,” Bobby said with a broad smile, flashing his teeth. “And I get the feeling that you’re not easily frightened either.”
With a chuckle, Bobby leaned in closer and started to unveil more of Cristian’s childhood mischief.
For example, their shared grandfather, an elderly artist with a love for historic art, received a homemade painting from seven-year-old Cristian for his fiftieth birthday. It was a macabre scene of an executioner beheading a victim, heavily doused in red paint.
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“That painting used more red than I’ve ever seen in one place,” Bobby added.
On another occasion, Cristian crafted earrings for Judie from real bird eyes, which promptly made her sick and forever wary of birds.
He didn’t stop there. Cristian once gave another cousin a basketball, seemingly ordinary until it burst during a game, revealing it was stuffed with bird droppings.
His pranks grew wilder when he rigged firecrackers inside another cousin’s shirt collar, scorching his neck, while gleefully proclaiming it a fiery surprise.
Fernanda listened, her eyes growing wider with each story.
Bobby’s stories painted a picture of a young Cristian as both mischievous and somewhat menacing.
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