Chapter 464

Chapter 464:

Had he known life would unravel this way, he would have gladly foregone the gift of existence.

He hadn’t asked to be brought into this world, yet now his father dared to speak of a son’s duty to support his father as though it were etched in stone.

How utterly ironic.

Neal lay there for what felt like an eternity, his thoughts spiraling into an abyss, until a sudden wave of nausea wrenched him back. He bolted to the bathroom, retching violently, expelling the remnants of his last meal into the void.

His stomach, now hollow, twisted with the cruel pangs of hunger and despair.

He splashed cold water on his face, the icy sting jolting him awake, and leaned against the sink.

Staring into the mirror, he met his own reflection—a man worn down to the bone, a shadow of the person he used to be.

How had he become this way?

After leaving the bathroom, Neal picked up his phone from the floor with a listless hand and set it aside. Instead, he opened his gaming phone, his one escape, and found a message waiting on WhatsApp. It was from his top fan, the one he called his girlfriend.

“Are you okay? You looked unwell before you ended the stream. Did something happen? Was it about that call?”

Her questions came in a flood, each one brimming with concern.

Neal couldn’t help but feel a bitter pang of irony. A stranger he had never met cared more about his well-being than his own father, the one who had brought him into this mess.

His lips tightened as he stared at the chat, his fingers idly scrolling through their past conversations.

Their chats had started as a trickle but had grown into a steady stream over time.

She was the ideal girlfriend, never asking for voice calls or video chats, never prying into his personal life. She simply shared fragments of her own world, painting it with the warmth of her words.

Her username, Cutie, matched her personality perfectly. Her boundless optimism and sweet demeanor had often pulled Neal back from the brink, like a ray of sunshine cutting through storm clouds.

At first, it was all her—her energy, her words, her stories. She had the rare gift of carrying a conversation without demanding much in return. But slowly, Neal found himself replying, their bond growing thread by thread.

Gradually, Neal started responding, and their relationship progressively got closer.

Neal felt the weight in his heart lessen as he read through their earlier conversations, and he couldn’t help but smile.

That was until her mention of spending a small fortune on black plums so sour they made her wince. The word “money” stood out like a red flag.

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