Reborn From Ashes novel Chapter 2

Hayden slept soundly. He even dreamed that he had returned home to his foster family, the Caldwells.

Life with the Caldwells had been simple, but at least he didn't have to walk on eggshells around them. To some extent, his foster parents had provided for him like he was their own.

A series of loud bangs against his bedroom door pulled him from the wonderful dreamscape, and he bolted upright.

He rubbed his eyes and reluctantly got out of his bed. When he opened the door, he was greeted by a beautiful but angry face.

"It's dinnertime!" Julia snapped. "Morgan called you about half a dozen times, but you just stayed inside your room and refused to come out. What are you throwing a fit for anyway?"

Hayden blinked, then frowned. He hadn't heard Morgan calling him at all. He was a light sleeper on account of his neurasthenia, and the slightest sound would affect his slumber.

Previously, Morgan tended to blast music in his room, often at the highest volume. Hayden could hear it even though the former had closed his door.

Furious as Hayden was, he couldn't bring himself to complain about the noise and had chosen to suffer in silence. As time went on, the lack of sleep wore on his nerves and led to his neurasthenia. If anyone had called out to him, he would have heard.

"You should have asked him how he had called me earlier," Hayden said coldly.

Julia glowered at him and did not bother with a response before storming off.

Too lazy to pick a fight, Hayden just followed her out.

Everyone was waiting at the dining table when Hayden arrived.

"You've finally decided to join us, haven't you? Who do you think you are to throw a fit? Leave those crude values you were taught at the door and sit down for dinner! Don't you feel bad for making us wait?" Francis thundered, leveling a mutinous look at Hayden.

The rest of the family remained quiet as they sat at the dining table, as if they were watching a show. They only shot Hayden a dirty look every once in a while to show their unhappiness at his tardiness.

"Do you expect me to feel bad?" Hayden countered, frowning as his heart sank. He stared at Francis, feeling the gap widen between them despite their kinship. Francis had no fatherly love for him, only spite and distance.

"It's my fault, Dad. I just wanted to let Hayden sleep a little more. Maybe he would have woken up if I'd knocked a little louder," Morgan said, pressing his lips together as guilt wove across his features.

He looked so apologetic that one might think that he had borne the brunt of Francis' anger.

Hayden snorted derisively and regarded Morgan with a mocking look. He had heard Morgan's self-pitying words too many times, and only the rest of the Sterling family would fall for them.

"What are you snorting at?" Francis barked, his palm slamming against the marble top of the dining table. The thud was loud and crisp, and everyone jolted in their seats.

"I was diagnosed with neurasthenia during the last checkup, and I'm sensitive to noise. I would have woken up if he'd called me, which makes me wonder if he really did," Hayden said, casting an icy look at Morgan.

"What the hell are you talking about? Neurasthenia? That's because you stay up late reading and gaming! You're just used to late hours!" Francis seethed.

"Sure," Hayden said as a self-effacing chuckle escaped him. He did not bother to argue with Francis, for the older man had said the same thing after Hayden's checkup. He didn't care that his son was suffering from neurasthenia at all.

"Dad, stop it. Let's eat before the food gets cold," Morgan urged. "Mom, Julia, and Lily are waiting for us to begin."

"How considerate of you, Morgan," Charlotte praised lovingly, ruffling Morgan's hair. She looked at him with nothing but affection and pride.

Hayden's heart nearly bled as he watched Charlotte dote on Morgan. If this was kinship, he certainly did not feel it. Was this what having a mother felt like?