Chapter 18 Awaiting New Life
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In the past, if Lucas had suggested asking Kenneth for forgiveness, both Victoria and Eleanor would have immediately objected. Yet now, the two women simply nodded in silent
agreement.
“I suppose that’s for the best,” Eleanor murmured, taking a small sip of her coffee.
The aroma had faded, leaving only bitterness sliding down her throat, making her feel even worse.
Victoria gazed out the window, neither of them noticing Lucas‘ darkening expression.
In truth, their assumptions weren’t entirely wrong.
Although Kenneth had already left the country, he had indeed
lingered in the States for some time before finally arriving at his
overseas home.
Kenneth had been lounging on the couch chatting with his
grandma, Jocelyn Barrington, when they heard his mother, Helena Caldwell, calling from the living room. They both got up
and made their way to the dining table.
“Mom, it’s just the four of us eating. Why did you make so much
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food?” Kenneth said with a light laugh as he helped Jocelyn into the main seat and gathered the cutlery.
Though he was speaking to Helena, his eyes wandered
elsewhere. “And you gave the housekeeper time off to cook all this yourself? When was the last time you even stepped foot in a
kitchen?”
“You’ve barely been back and you’re already teasing your
mother!” Helena shook her head. “This is your first meal home. Of course I wanted to cook it myself.”
Helena noticed Kenneth’s wandering gaze and sighed inwardly, reaching up to ruffle his slightly overgrown hair with a flicker of
guilt in her eyes.
Jocelyn sat comfortably in her chair, watching them banter back and forth, and couldn’t resist joining in with a few playful remarks
of her own.
Meanwhile, Wesley Caldwell, who had been busy with work in his upstairs study, made his way to the dining room.
Where Helena carried herself with quiet elegance and grace, Kenneth’s father was the picture of distinguished intelligence, a man of remarkable presence and refined dignity.
He adjusted his glasses, smiled warmly at Helena, then took
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Kenneth by the arm. The two men, so similar in appearance, sat
down together.
“This family dinner today isn’t just to welcome our son home,” Wesley said openly. “It’s also marking a new beginning for our
family.”
Wesley seemed completely comfortable bringing this up, but Jocelyn looked surprised, tapping the back of his hand lightly with
her cutlery.
“What do you mean by that? Are you two not planning to go back? Is the Dallas project finally finished?”
Jocelyn’s question was exactly what Kenneth wanted to know
too.
When he’d landed and seen his parents waiting to pick him up,
he’d been both delighted and confused.
After all, they’d been so busy with their project back overseas that
he hadn’t expected them to have time to come.
Faced with the expectant looks from both Jocelyn and Kenneth,
Helena exchanged a glance with Wesley, and the couple nodded
in unison.
“The project over there is wrapping up, so we can manage things
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remotely from abroad,” Helena said.
“I’ve discussed it with Wesley, and we’re planning to continue working at the branch office here. We’re thinking of making this
our home base going forward.”
“How could we possibly feel at ease with just you two looking after each other overseas?” Wesley said with a hint of playfulness.
They had never been ones for excessive sentimentality, which
colored their words with a teasing tone.
Jocelyn’s face lit up with delight at the news, while Kenneth clenched his fists against the table. He kept his head down for a moment before smiling and picking up his knife and fork to take a
bite of meat.
From a young age, Kenneth had always known that Wesley and
Helena loved him deeply.
Everything he wanted or needed, he got. They even respected his choices when it came to education, his field of study, and where
he wanted to live.
The only downside was that while he enjoyed an extremely comfortable lifestyle, he missed out on having his parents around.
Wesley and Helena had built their company together, juggling
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both business operations and technological research.
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With their hands full managing both commercial and scientific ventures, they barely had time for themselves, let alone family.
It was precisely this feeling that drove Kenneth, upon returning and meeting Eleanor and Victoria, to quickly establish an intimate
connection.
He needed something to ground him, to keep him from drifting
aimlessly–something he could depend on.
He wasn’t naive enough to believe that material things could buy
genuine emotions, but he was willing to try.
Just when he thought he’d finally found that rare, precious
connection he’d been searching for, Lucas suddenly appeared,
turning everything he’d gained into a cruel joke.
“What’s wrong, Kenneth? You don’t seem happy that your father
and I are back from work.” Helena’s question snapped him back to
reality.
Kenneth looked up and faced the three smiling faces before him.
A lump formed in his throat. He quickly nodded, clearing his throat to hide the emotion welling up inside him.
“Of course I’m happy. It’s just… I’m grown up now. You don’t need
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to treat me like a child anymore.”
Sometimes, Helena and Wesley wished their son would be less
understanding, that he might express anger toward them now and
then.
It would have eased their guilt, even just a little. Fortunately, they still had plenty of time to make amends.
Wesley ladled hot soup into Kenneth’s bowl, sighing softly as he
noticed his son’s visibly thinner face, his eyes filled with concern.
“The transfer process takes time, so don’t rush it,” Wesley said.
“Clear your schedule tomorrow,” Helena added. “We want to take
you to the hospital for a checkup, just to see how you’re doing.”
Kenneth paused mid–sip of his soup, then nodded. During his last episode back in the States, he’d asked Harriet not to tell his family. But after tomorrow’s examination, he knew he wouldn’t be able to
hide it anymore.
He didn’t want Wesley, Helena, and Jocelyn to worry, but he
understood that keeping this kind of thing secret could be deadly. At his age, he couldn’t afford to gamble with his life.
That night, Kenneth lay in his familiar bedroom, where not a single detail of the decor had changed. He wrapped himself in his
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blanket and smiled faintly.
Through the gap in the curtains, he gazed at the view outside- familiar yet somehow foreign–his brows slightly furrowed.
“It must be daytime back in the States now,” he muttered. He
wondered if Eleanor and Victoria were in class, or perhaps out
somewhere with Lucas.
He was grateful he wouldn’t have to see any of them again. Though he felt a twinge of regret, he’d made up his mind to leave. Staying would only have meant tormenting himself.
That night, Kenneth slept soundly for the first time in ages.
The next morning, after breakfast, the family drove to the hospital.
Wesley’s friend, who was the chief physician in the cardiac department, had arranged to meet them there. Once they arrived, Kenneth immediately underwent a series of tests.
By the time all the examinations were completed, it was nearly noon. The family sat anxiously in the doctor’s office, watching as he studied the test results with focused attention.
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