?Chapter 1181:


    Once they had ordered, Lawrence sat quietly, his curiosity growing stronger by the minute. “So,” he asked, “what did you want to talk about?”


    “We want to know what’s going on with Kristian,” Melinda said inly, her tone firm and serious.


    Lawrence hesitated. He sat there, thinking.


    They had every right to be concerned about their son. And if he wanted to stir things up, he could easily tell them the truth just to upset Kristian. But he knew that would only make things worse for Kristian—especially in the state he was in.


    “Has something happened to him?” Lawrence asked, keeping his tone even andposed. He didn’t let a hint of emotion show.


    “Your rtionship with Kristian hasn’t exactly been close,” Isaac said, watching him closely. “But you’ve been visiting him pretty often these past few months. If it weren’t something serious—something health-rted—you wouldn’t be doing that.”


    “You’re getting it wrong. It’s true that we weren’t close in the past, but after we ran into each other again in Alerith, we got along really well. I’ve been visiting because I needed his help with something, that’s all.”


    Isaac and Melinda didn’t say anything. They just sat there, watching him closely, trying to read between the lines. Something about their presence made it hard for Lawrence to breathe, like a quiet pressure weighing on his chest. If it had been anyone else, he could’ve stayed calm. But this wasn’t just anyone—these were Kristian’s parents.


    “You don’t believe me?” he asked gently, unsure of their reaction.


    “No,” Isaac replied firmly, not even blinking.


    Lawrence tried to keep his cool, though his heart was racing. “But… that’s really what’s going on.”


    “As his parents, we can tell something isn’t right with him,” Isaac continued, his gaze fixed on Lawrence. “If I’m not mistaken, he hasn’t been sleeping much—or eating properly—these past few months.”


    Lawrence froze for a second, his thoughts tangling with worry, guilt, and confusion.


    “We just want to understand what Kristian’s going through,” Melinda added, her voice softer but filled with concern.


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    “It’s not that I don’t want to tell you,” Lawrence finally said after a long pause. His walls were beginning to fall away. “It’s that he asked me not to.”


    He’d never truly felt what it was like to be loved by his own parents. So now, seeing how much Isaac and Melinda cared, he didn’t want to keep the truth from them.


    Kristian had already pushed away Freya—who had once loved him deeply—and Lawrence didn’t want him hurting his parents too.


    “You don’t have to tell us everything, just let us know how he’s doing,” Melinda said reassuringly, her eyes full of worry. “We promise—he won’t hear it from us.” Lawrence looked down, torn between doing what Kristian wanted and what felt right.


    Isaac and Melinda didn’t rush him. They just waited—quiet, patient, and kind.


    Finally, after taking a deep breath to steady himself, Lawrence said, “Honestly, he’s not doing well. His health has gotten pretty bad. He’s having stomach problems because he barely eats, and his sleep’s all over the ce—some nights, he only gets two, maybe four hours.”


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