Hitched & Hitched Again: A Comedy of Marital Mayhem novel Chapter 1523

But at least then, his mom and dad would have been by his side. At least someone would have loved him.

But with them gone, there would be no one left to love their son…

That's why they felt so guilty, so remorseful, so sad.

And they worried that their son would resent them for it.

Lowell, being the sentimental type, was already in tears. "…"

Kendrick and Elizabeth were heroes, deserving of everyone's gratitude.

But what about Tarquin?

He was the son of heroes, but he was also a victim.

It was because his parents had sacrificed themselves that his life had been so hard, forced to bear everything alone at such a young age, with no one to love him…

The video was still playing, but Tarquin, his vision blurred with unshed tears, hit the pause button.

He grabbed his cigarettes and a lighter and went outside to smoke, chain-smoking one after another.

The twenty-year-old recording had stirred up a deep longing for his parents, along with a flood of terrible memories.

There's no such thing as true empathy in this world. You never know how much it hurts until you're the one who's been cut.

Only he understood the unspeakable bitterness of those years.

So he understood his parents' apology.

But he didn't blame them. If he had been in their shoes, he would have done the same thing.

He hated the people who had masterminded this biological warfare.

He hated the mysterious figure, that traitor to their country!

His phone suddenly rang in his pocket, playing Elysia's custom ringtone.

She was video-calling him.

Tarquin swallowed hard around the tightness in his throat and declined the call.

After composing himself, he called her back—a voice call, not video.

He didn't want her to see his reddened eyes and worry.

Elysia picked up instantly. "Honey, are you okay?"

"Hmm?"

"Why didn't you answer my video call?"

Tarquin lied. "The signal's bad here, video would be choppy. Why are you calling at this hour? Got some free time?"

Elysia didn't overthink it.

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