Chapter 285 - Ch. 285 His Father's Secret

"Good evening, Mr. Gonzalez. Nice to meet you at last," greeted Declan in a polite tone, and he felt himself a little awkward, but he hid his awkwardness well.

"Why with the formalities? Have you eaten? I just told my head cook to prepare our dinner." replied Mr. Gonzales while inviting Declan to sit with him.

Declan complied, and he couldn't help but find himself immersed in his father's self-assurance.

Back when he spent time with his father, the older man seemed very high-reaching, and sometimes he felt he would never be able to reach his father's hand.

He greatly admired his father and obeyed everything his father said. Declan was even willing to follow his father whenever he invited him to go out with him.

Declan felt amused at how the feelings he once had are now returning to him.

He still admires his father, especially seeing how successful his father was, and became a victorious person even the name Dario Gonzales spread throughout this country.

Only a few people could move Declan's heart, which was filled with great ambition and strong will. The only person he respected was his adoptive father, and he was willing to do what his adoptive father said as long as it didn't interfere with his golden rule of life.

And now… he feels the same way toward his biological father.

"Is it just me, or is the mood becoming awkward?"

Declan smiled faintly at Dario Gonzales' question. "That makes two of us. Frankly speaking, I don't know what to do or say at a time like this."

Mr. Gonzales chuckled in amusement in response to his son's comment. "So you already know who I am?"

"It's not hard to tell by the resemblance of our faces."

"That's undeniable, isn't it? How are you doing?"

"As you can see, I'm doing great, but… now that I see you, I feel much more than great."

Dario Gonzalez's smile widened at that. "My, time flies so fast, and just you've grown without me noticing it. It felt like only yesterday you sat on my lap while I was doing a story-telling."

Declan smiled at that and wished his father didn't mention his embarrassing moment.

"Not to mention, you don't have to raise your head, and I don't have to crouch down to talk. Now we can talk one-on-one with the same eye-level."

"You're right."

"I'm sorry."

Declan was a little surprised to hear his father's apology. Why did the older man suddenly apologize?

"I'm sorry for not preventing your mother from taking you away. And I'm sorry that I haven't been looking for you all this time. Believe it or not, I was looking for you, and by the time I found you, you were already under the Black's wing."

"..." Declan didn't expect his father to have found him all this time, but the man didn't contact him at all.

"I thought you were a lot safer and happier with the Blacks, so I let it go."

"Safer? What threat of danger will haunt me if I return to your side?"

"You want to come back to my side?"

Declan felt the older man in front of him was paving a trap and waiting for him to enter the web. Since he was no longer a child who always listened to his father's words, Declan knew his father would not treat him like he used to.

"You want me back?" was his counter-back question made Dario Gonzales laugh.

"Didn't you ask why I wanted to see you now?"

"For missing me?" came his overconfident response made Dario Gonzales blink his eyes before finally laughing out loud.

"You are really my boy. You've never changed." Dario remembered that his son likes to boast about himself.

'I wonder why I was born as a handsome and adorable child. It turns out that I inherited my father's good looks!'

"You remember you said that when you were little?"

Declan cleared his throat in awkwardness. "I do not remember." lied Declan. "Why do you even remember it? You should have forgotten about it."

"Why? Are you embarrassed that you are now an adult?" teased Dario while holding back his amused laughter seeing his son feel like a child again.

"You haven't changed either. Still like to pull my leg and make me cry."

"Ho? Are you still that crybaby?"

"No." was his short answer. "Ever since mother abandoned me that day, I've forgotten how to cry." Declan continued in a serious tone.

Right. Declan had no longer shed tears since his mother dumped him in the orphanage.

Every time he wanted to cry, he would somersault and turn the source of his sadness into a focus on not falling. Since then, he didn't know if his tears had dried up or disappeared. Declan was no longer shedding tears.

"I'm so sorry to hear that. I know your mother left me because she couldn't stand me anymore. I know she doesn't want you to be influenced by my character and take you away. But I didn't expect she would leave you in an orphanage. She shouldn't have taken you away if she did that." Dario clicked his tongue in annoyance, and Declan detected hatred in his father's voice.

Did his father no longer love his mother?

Then whose photo is the woman displayed in the small photo frame? The picture frame looked clean and nice as if the owner took great care of it.

Declan glanced at the small frame he had been looking at curiously. Who is that girl?

"Didn't you say earlier that I found something you were hiding? Did you mean that photo?"

Dario also turned towards what Declan was looking at.

"If you wanted to hide it, you shouldn't have put it there or had your head servant lead me here. It seemed to me that you wanted me to find your secret instead. Isn't that right?"

Dario flashed a crooked smile and turned to his son with a look of menace that Declan had never seen before.

"You are really my son. That's right. I want you to see it, just like when your mother found it."

Declan's brow furrowed at that.

"She was my first love, and I wished you could help me to find her."

What? "Why should I?"

"Because she has something that belongs to me."

"What is it?"

"My daughter."

"!?"

"In other words, your half-sister."