Chapter 1403
Darwin watched, feeling that familiar wave of guilt wash over him again.
He almost couldn't stop himself from hugging the kid, from swallowing back the words he hadn't finished. But then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw the photo on the bedside table.
Darwin's hand clenched into a tight fist.
The veins on the back of his hand bulged, and his skin was covered in tiny needle marks.
"But what did I do wrong?" Darwin stared at the kid. "Your tragedy wasn't my fault. My guilt is misplaced."
"Please..." The kid's eyes filled with tears as he pleaded with Darwin, shaking his head weakly.
Darwin's mind flashed back to the harsh words in the diary.
"My wife once told me that love is freedom, not a shackle. Love brings joy, not pain," Darwin said seriously. "Aiden, it's time for us to say goodbye. My wife and child are waiting for me at home."
"You don't want me anymore?" Aiden sobbed uncontrollably, crawling towards Darwin, his thin frame making his eyes look even bigger.
His scarred hand clung to the railing at the foot of Darwin's hospital bed, looking pitiful and helpless like a stray animal.
Darwin's fist tightened even more.
"You were never real," Darwin said, enunciating each word.
Aiden stared at him, stunned.
Darwin continued, "I'm officially saying goodbye to you. I won't protect you anymore, no matter how miserable you look."
He paused, then added, "Aiden freed himself many years ago. He's been free for a long time, no longer a pitiful child waiting for someone to save him."
Hubert had mentioned before.
Sometimes, breaking through hallucinations and delusions took just one sentence—like a hidden password.
As Darwin finished speaking, the kid before him transformed into a young man who looked a lot like Darwin.
The young man scrutinized Darwin, then suddenly smiled with relief.
He approached Darwin, leaned down, and kissed his forehead. At that moment, Darwin felt like he was back in his childhood.
Nathaniel knew Darwin's origins.
He held the title of father but never showed Darwin any love, never kissed his forehead with tenderness.
"You've grown up well, and I'm glad." The young man's voice carried the gentle warmth Darwin had heard others describe. "Darwin, I never resented your birth. I understand it wasn't your fault."
Yeah.
Darwin found himself momentarily lost in thought.
The diary's contents were too harrowing.
Aiden had killed his beloved fiancée and their unborn child.
He had tragically taken his own life.
He was an unspeakable secret of the Solomon family.
In that moment, Darwin forgot that to the older generation, Aiden had always been seen as a genuinely good person.
Faced with Darwin's birth, Aiden might have felt anger and blamed his mother's selfishness, but he would never harbor resentment towards an innocent baby.
He would only pity Darwin and worry about his future growing up with his mother.
Another old, rusty shackle in Darwin's heart silently came undone.
Darwin's soul, profoundly trapped in an endless abyss by these shackles, felt each one unfastening, one by one.
He was getting closer to escaping.
He woke up.
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