<h4>Chapter 9: Shadows From The Past</h4>


    *Ding-dong*


    A doorbell rang and a woman opened it some secondster.


    "Ss... Wee," She said with a smile as she looked at the person in front of the door.


    "Thank you," Ss replied and walked into the house.


    "Where''s Alex," He asked as he walked towards the dining, and dropped the food he came home with.


    "In his room."


    "Ok," Ss said and turned to look at the stairs, before shouting, "ALEX!"


    Few secondster, a scuffling sound came as a little boy ran down the stairs into Ss'' arms.


    "Brother," He said as he hugged Ss.


    "How are you, Alex?," Ss asked as he ruffled his hair.


    "Fine. Brother, you didn''t go to work today?," Alex asked curiously. Alex is a kid who understands everything about his family, even his father''s.... lifestyle.


    Though he barely talks, he''s aware of everything, and that includes Ss'' work schedule.


    Ss smiled when he heard Alex''s question.


    "Yeah, I didn''t," He said as he ruffled Alex''s hair, "Come sit, I bought chicken wings."


    Alex''s eyes sparkled when he heard what Ss said. "Chicken wings?," He asked with a drool in his mouth.


    "Yes, chicken wings," Ss replied and pointed to the package on the dining table.


    Alex saw what Ss was pointing to and took his seat.


    After Alex had taken his seat, Ss invited Kim to join them and the three of them sat at the dining table with a te of chicken wings in front of them.


    Ss picked up a chicken wing from his te and took a bite.


    "I''m moving out."


    ".....Y-You''re moving out?," Kim asked in surprise.


    "I got myself an apartment and I will move in soon. Alex won''t being with me but I will being home every weekend to check up on him," Ss replied, before he continued eating.


    "I see... Is it because of me? You''re moving out... because you''re ufortable with me in the house?," She asked with her voice bing slightly heavy at the end of the sentence.


    "Yes," Ss gave a blunt reply and continued eating.


    Kim smiled bitterly when she heard Ss'' answer. She knew that he was ufortable with her presence in the house, but she held on, hoping that things would change after living together for some months, but it seems she''s wrong.


    She remembered the undisguised disgust on his face the first day she was introduced to them, and how his expression changed from disgust to anger.


    She understood the reason why he felt that way. She knew that he felt like she wasing in to rece his mother and stepmom, but that was never her intention.


    All she wanted was to be a good mother and a good wife, but that was just wishful thinking as Ss and Alex never gave her a chance.


    She barely talks to them as they''re always guarded against her, and the only way she can sessfully interact with them is through brief conversation like greeting, asking or answering questions.


    Thinking of this, her eyes became moist as tears started forming. She was getting frustrated with the situation she found herself in. She thought that she could finally start all over again after what happened at the office, but nothing has ever worked out for her.


    She fell in love with someone who couldn''t help but care less about her, and she can even manage a conversation with his kids. She felt so inadequate as a woman and as a potential mother.


    "S-Ss... I-I can leave the house if you want...," She said as she sobbed, trying to hold her tears.


    Ss was surprised when he heard Kim sobbing. He doesn''t know what to think of the situation.


    ''Is she crying because I said yes when she asked if I''m moving out because of her?,'' He asked himself.


    ''Sigh.... What else was I expecting? Of course she would break down. She has tried her best but things have never worked out between us,'' Ss said to himself as he thought of Kim''s previous actions, as she tried to connect with him and Alex.


    He could understand her feelings as it was the same thing he felt whenever he tried to please his father, after his stepmom died.


    The feeling of frustration and not being enough as a son coupled with the degrading insults that were always hurled at him almost everyday, and the breakup incident at school is the reason why he has his current personality, and now he''s doing the same thing to Kim.


    Ss let out a deep sigh as he dropped the chicken wings he was holding, "I''m sorry Kim, that was harsh of me to say," He said in apology.


    "S-Ss.... Am I that bad as a person?," Kim asked with a bitter smile and a teary face.


    Ss felt like a thousand needles were piercing through his heart when he heard her question, as it was exactly the same thing he asked himself.


    "No Kim, you''re not a bad person and you have never been. It''s just... things happened and those things made him be like this, and I''m sorry if I have caused you pain. I deeply regret my actions," Ss said with a solemn voice.


    Kim forced a smile to her face when she heard Ss'' words. She knew that he was sincerely apologizing but she also knew that it would take time for him to really ept her into their home, but she feels that some progress has been made even though it''s small.


    "Thank you.. I will do my best for the family," She said to Ss with her eyes zing with unwavering determination.


    Hearing this, Ss smiled and said, "You''re already doing your best, Kim. No need to do more than that."


    "Thank you...," She said with a warm smile, "This kind of brings back memories," She added and ruffled Alex''s hair.


    "Something simr happened between me and your father at work," She continued.


    Ss looked at Kim in curiosity when he heard what she said. His father''s previous job before bing a bus captain has always been a mystery to him, and the fact that his father always talks about someone setting him up didn''t help matters.


    "You worked with him?," Ss asked curiously.


    "Yes. He was the Sales Department manager and I worked in the same department for a year, before I was transferred to another department and waster promoted to be its manager," She said with a wry smile.


    "Department managers?... That''s some pretty high positions, isn''t it?," He asked in surprise.


    "Yes... it was high, just below the Director position and we were about to get the position," Kim said as she took on a soured expression.


    Hearing what Kim said gave Ss even more surprise. His low Intelligence stat didn''t mean that he waspletely dumb. He understood what it means for someone to be in line to get a Director position in apany. It''s no small feat.


    "What happened then?.... If things were going so well, how did it turn out so bad?," He asked.


    "Two things happened... It all started when the CEO was out for some medical situation and his son took over. Two weeks after he took over, we were fired and were served awsuit for embezzlingpany funds.


    A crime we obviously didn''tmit but what could we do? He already had forged evidence against us.


    He said that the only way he can drop the charges is if ''I go at it with him'' ," She said thest part in code because of Alex, and Ss understood, "This is was not actually the first time he asked me to do such a thing, neither was it the second, third or fourth.


    He always took my rejections calmly but unsurprisingly, he didn''t take thest one in the same manner.


    We were about to stand trial when the charges were suddenly dropped, and we were told that if we don''t want to go to jail, we should never show our face around the premises of thepany, and that was by some armed boys who he sent to us," Kim said exining the incident that happened at the office, and She looked at Ss and saw that he had a confused expression on his face.


    "You must be wondering how your father got involved in the mess?," She asked and Ss nodded.


    "It was because he stood up for me when I was being harassed by Lucas who is the CEO''s son and that made Lucas very angry."


    "Wow." That was only what Ss could say as he thought of the situation that Kim and his father went through.


    As he thought of it, he felt a kind of familiarity with the name that Kim mentioned.


    "Kim, what''s this Lucas''st name?," He asked.


    "Lucas Anderson."


    ''Yes. Anderson.... That''s the name of that b*stard''s father. The bastard who made my high school life a living hell, and the same person who stole his girlfriend from him.


    A debt of two generations must be paid in full,'' Ss said to himself with a creepy smile that sent shivers down one spine.