Marico's eyes were bloodshot as he glared at them.
"How many times do I have to tell you? Charley invited me to play a high-stakes game of Texas Hold'em, and he was the one marking the cards! He refused to pay his debts and threw the first punch! You don't even care about the truth; you just instantly blame me! What kind of parents are you?"
"Where there's smoke, there's fire. At the end of the day, your own behavior is rotten!" Jonas barked.
Marico laughed out of pure rage. "So in your eyes, I'm always the screw-up!"
"Hmph, if you weren't already half-dead, I'd beat the rest of the life out of you right now!"
"Go ahead! Kill me if you have the guts!"
"You think I won't?"
Jonas actually looked around for something to hit him with, but his wife hurriedly stopped him.
"Enough, he's still your son."
"I... I'm disowning him this instant!"
Marico scoffed. "Disowning your son at his hospital bed. What a stellar father you are!"
"You little bastard!" As Jonas Jonas, his wife desperately shoved him toward the door.
At the threshold, she looked back at Marico with a heavy sigh. "You're in the hospital, which means your father has to cover for you at the company. He's exhausted. Just stop causing trouble. Since you don't have anyone looking after you, I'll send one of the maids over. Just focus on recovering."
Marico sneered. "Sending a maid. Right. It's like my mother is already dead."
"You!"
Grinding her teeth in fury, Mrs. Stapleton shot him one last glare before dragging her husband out into the hallway.
They did notice Natalie standing near the door as they left. Given Marico's revolving door of women, they simply assumed she was just another fling and paid her no mind.
Once his parents were gone, Natalie stepped into the room just in time to see Marico struggling to get up.
He snatched the container and told her to turn around.
Natalie found it amusing. "I didn't think you possessed the ability to feel embarrassed."
"I'm not embarrassed. I just want your only memory of my lower half to be how amazing I am in bed, not... ow!"
His smart mouth earned him a swift smack on the arm from Natalie.
Instead of getting mad, he started laughing.
"Just wait, Natalie. Once I'm healed up, I'm going to punish you severely. And yes, I mean in bed!"
Natalie shook her head in mock pity. "Look at you, still acting like a sleaze even in this state. You're hopeless."
Despite his banter, she knew the confrontation with his parents had cut deep. Even though he always put up a careless, cynical front, when she had originally meant to just say a quick goodbye and instead returned to check on him, she had seen tears in his eyes.

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