Chapter 178: Cole's Emotional Pain

"William you need to get out of here and take Cole with you. It is only a matter of time before my brother comes to finish us off after poisoning us" said the family head who knew that it was too late to counter the poison.

"No you should go, Cole needs his mother and I can fight off the great elder with your father while you escape" refused William.

"He only wants to get rid of me and Cole as he wants the position of family head and he won't publically pursue you to keep his reputation so you must be the one to leave" she urged with tears in her eyes.

She could feel her body declining and she knew that her cultivation would eventually be destroyed, but unlike most other cultivators, she didn't care about her cultivation and the safety of those that she cared about was more important.

"Son, you should go. This is a Epstein Family matter and will be solved by the Epstein Family but you must promise me that the family head position will be inherited by that boy" stated the family head, who had accepted William and knew that his own death was inevitable.

"You must also promise me that just like myself, Cole must be given the freedom that every child deserves and you mustn't get him involved in or reveal anything about me or cultivation until he is 18 and is ready for it" stated his partner who also knew that the only way for her husband and son to be safe was for her to sacrifice her life.

William with tears streaming down his face vowed to fulfil both their promises and with his reputation and connections was able to get himself out of the country for a year while everything settled down.

He couldn't help but curse his weakness and his bad luck. It was as if every time he got everything that he wanted, it would all come crashing down.

After a year, he returned to New York with a new identity for himself and his son and had also grown a short beard and put on a lot of weight, making him look completely different, while Cole didn't really understand what was going on.

Cole always asked his father about where his mother was, but his father would always avoid the question and make sure that Cole had a good time and never had to worry about anything.

Cole lived happily that year, but every day he felt lonely and empty despite having his father as he felt that he was missing his mother's warmth. William made sure to completely suppress his cultivation talent and ability to cultivate using a special rune that he had gotten imprinted directly onto Cole's chest.

Cole had come to believe that it was a tattoo or birthmark of some sort and as he got older, all of the past memories became hazy and he overcame the absence of his mother with the presence of Adam, Emma, Sarah and Adam's aunt.

Adam became the brother that he never had and provided him with the warmth that he was looking for, while Cole also protected Adam who was quite frail and scrawny and Emma and Sarah joined their friendship group along the way.

He was always happy in Brooklyn and knew that although his father was always busy and absent, he cared for him dearly and just found it hard to face him after the death of his partner.

Cole looked like his mother a lot and every time he looked at her, William couldn't help but feel guilty and hate himself for everything that happened and along with that, his cultivation continued to decline.

However, he stayed strong and was constantly keeping tabs on the Epstein Family and leaving traces of himself and his son around the world, so that the great elder would have no chance of finding him.

He hid in plain sight close to his enemy and had a few small businesses, but made sure not to catch the attention of anybody and made sure that his son was always provided for, but ignorant and distant from him.

He knew that Cole might not understand in his younger ages, but he was doing everything in preparation for Cole's 18th birthday where he would reveal everything to Cole and hope that he understood the reasons behind his actions.

After Adam disappeared for 2 years, it was some of the worst times of Cole's life who felt abandoned without his mother and his father's presence and soon after that Sarah also couldn't spend much time with them because of her own issues.

However, in that time, he found Emma who grew closer to him and their relationship blossomed from that, while he kept strong and positive as he continued on with his life despite feeling as though everybody around him would either die, leave or keep their distance from him.

Despite him always joking and seeming happy, inside he felt hollow and everyone always thought that because he was more wealthy than the average person because of his father's money, he was happy.

However that wasn't the case and the money just made him feel more empty and he didn't have anything to work towards or work for and until his 18th birthday, he didn't have a purpose.

It was known that the one that was in the most emotional pain and was the most depressed was the one that would try to act the happiest and always laugh, and the only person that stuck with him was Emma.

Emma knew that he was going through a lot, but Cole was also somebody that had supported her a lot when she was low, so it was only right that she tried her best to support him and in the process fell for him.

The emotional pain began to ease over time and it conditioned Cole to the harsh reality of life, but that all changed on his 18th birthday where his father opened up his eyes to the truth and revealed everything to him.