Chapter 530

Even though Nadine really wanted to tell Sean that Brad wasn't his father, she couldn't bring herself to. In the end, she decided to keep it to herself and instead tried to reason with the child to help him understand. Sean looked puzzled. "Why don't you love Daddy anymore? I thought you loved him the most. I often saw you lost in thought while looking at his picture, so how could you not love him?" He couldn't understand how his mother could love his father once but not anymore. Meanwhile, Brad had woken up early. He couldn't get Nadine out of his mind, so he headed straight to Sean's room as soon as he got up. He was about to knock on the door when he heard Sean's question. His hand froze mid-air, and instead of knocking, he opted to eavesdrop. He'd always prided himself on being an honorable man, one who would never resort to the lowly act of eavesdropping. But he was desperate to hear Nadine's response. Oblivious to the fact that someone was listening in from the outside, Nadine continued to reason with Sean. "Love is a two-way street, baby. How should I put this… Let's think about it this way; Keira is your best friend at school, right?" Sean's eyes lit up. "Yes! I like Keira the most. She's really good to me!" Nadine nodded. "Right, you like Keira, and she likes you too. So, when you give her a piece of candy today, she'll give you an apple tomorrow because that's how you share the things you like with each other. It's because you both like each other that you can be the best of friends, right?" Sean nodded empathically. That was exactly how things were between him and Keira. If anyone ever picked on Keira, he'd be the first to leap to her defense. Likewise, if someone ever talked smack about him, Keira would be the first to stand up for Sean. Realizing her son got the idea, she continued, "But it's different between me and your father. I like him, but he doesn't like me. No matter how many pieces of candy I give him, he'll never give me an apple in return. Do you think that's a love worth holding on to?" Nadine believed that love needed to be reciprocated. When only one of them was making an effort, that was just unrequited love. Her feelings for Brad were entirely one-sided; he had never returned her feelings. Consequently, this unrequited love could only bear bitter fruit, which she alone had to swallow. Sean was stumped by his mother's question and fell silent for a while. Even though he wanted his mother and father to be together, he wanted his mother to be happy even more. If she wasn't happy with his father, he could just not stay here. "Mommy, if you're not happy, let's leave. I don't like it here all that much either." The man standing outside the door felt a sharp pain in his chest upon hearing Nadine's response.