"Give it back to me!" Andrew's voice was already raspy, the surging rage in his chest nearly consumed him.
Damon wanted to say something more, but his limbs felt as if they were suddenly shackled by an invisible force.
Before he could even react, he was slammed hard against the cold wall by Andrew Damon.
His back throbbed with pain from the impact, most of his intoxication vanished.
Damon was completely stunned, his eyes wide with disbelief. The man seemed not to have expected that his son, who was usually gloomy and weak and would only silently endure his scolding without ever resisting, would show such a fierce expression. Andrew's eyes surged with an unprecedented irritability and rage, his power was so immense that it caused the man to instinctively flinch.
Andrew Damon took a deep breath after a moment of realization, withdrawing the telekinetic power he had subconsciously released.
Damon collapsed onto the floor, his body nearly limp, looking at the son before him with a gaze full of estrangement.
Andrew's knuckles turned white from the force of his grip as he tightly clamped onto the man's wrist and violently snatched the name tag away.
The young man's hands trembled as he carefully put away the name tag.
"Andrew.." From inside the bedroom came the worried call of his mother, who had heard the movement.
Andrew took a deep breath, suppressing the surging emotions in his heart. Just as he was about to walk to his mother's bedroom door, he suddenly spoke in a hoarse voice, "I know what you're thinking, but Young Master Finn is a very good person."
How can a good person help you for no reason?" Andrew Damon remained slumped on the ground, letting out a sneer upon hearing this, his face full of disbelief and contempt. "Does this young master of a wealthy family just suddenly appear like some charitable foundation, tossing you a large sum of cash every single time? Or does he find it amusing to see you wagging your tail like a dog, begging for scraps?
"Look at the mess you've become! Covered in injuries, your face looks haggard and wretched, as if you've been out there using drugs. You haven't told your father a single truth; do you even look like a student anymore?" Andrew Damon continued his sharp interrogation.
That familiar, suffocating sense of oppression surged forth, overwhelming everything.
Andrew Damon's chest heaved violently, his fingertips were trembling slightly.
He had always known, of course, that in his father's eyes—
He was always so lowly and despicable, a useless piece of trash.
So?" Andrew Damon slowly turned his head, unable to help but demand, "Do you actually think you act like a father?
To your own son, there has only ever been contemptuous abuse, constant physical violence." The dissatisfaction, complaints, anger accumulated over so many years completely breached the dam of Andrew's rationality at this moment. The young man's voice suddenly rose, carrying a roar that had been suppressed for too long, "Do you actually care about how I'm hurt right now? What meaningful contribution have you ever made to this family? Have you ever loved me? Ever cared for me? Ever protected me?!
By what right! What authority do you have now to question me like this?
But Andrew knew that in Finn Osborn's eyes, he could do many things.
He could help him find his dog, he could perform magic on stage, he could dress up as a hamster for the show Finn carefully prepared, he could focus on his own interests to film and document Finn's life, he could be the secretary to the Young Master of the Osborn Group..
He could do many things, instead of being a useless waste.
"What do you want now? Do you not plan on attending class either!" Andrew Damon's scolding interrupted his thoughts.
I will go, I promise I will graduate," Andrew said through gritted teeth, one word at a time, "I have communicated with the teacher via email.
Andrew's family situation was already quite unusual, this uniqueness allowed the teacher to show him some leniency, as long as he made up the missed assignments.
And then what? You don't actually think you can be a secretary, do you? Or maybe a mediocre magician who can't even make a proper living?" Damon's tone was filled with bone-chilling mockery. "Do you still want to go to college or not!
University?" Andrew looked as if he had heard the joke of the century. He suddenly took several steps toward Damon, his eyes churning with erupting fury. "I go to university? With you looking like a disheveled alcoholic, with my mother bedridden and unable to move, this family being as rotten as a pile of mud, I'm supposed to go to university? What about the tuition? What about the living expenses? Am I supposed to conjure them out of thin air?
"You can get a student loan, can't you?" The man paused, then said hesitantly.
Stop joking around! Are you being serious, or are you just being idealistic?" Andrew Damon roared at his father, his voice trembling, the suppressed emotions nearly tearing him apart. "I'm already suffocating under the weight of my current life! Am I supposed to take on even more debt just to go to university? How am I supposed to pay it back? My life isn't worth that much money!
Or what? What do you want to do? Just follow that Young Master around like a secretary for the rest of your life? He's given you quite a bit of money now, but how long do you think that will last? Have you thought about your own future?" Damon roared back in equal anger, his fingers trembling as he pulled out his phone to search for something. "Or are you going to keep chasing that bullshit dream of being a magician? Can you even do magic? You think you can actually stand on a stage just by buying a few cheap props?
Damon finally found a video on his phone and threw it fiercely in front of Andrew.
Andrew looked down at the video playing on the ground, which was a recording of his very first stage performance as a magician at school.
He showed an arrogant and self-satisfied expression on stage, then vomited pathetically on stage.
The crowd below erupted in a wave of disgusting boos and piercing laughter at his expense.
Even hearing it again now, Andrew Damon could still feel that sense of shame, embarrassment, disgust.
Is this where your confidence comes from?" Damon asked, pointing at Andrew in the video with utmost mockery. "Being laughed at by everyone as if you were a clown, you actually feel proud of it?
Andrew couldn't help but laugh, a smile filled with inferiority, pity, self-deprecation, even a sense of helplessness.
That is just how this world is.
The tiny bit of light he tried his utmost to show will always be invisible to his father.
But that nightmareish dark history, however, happened to be exactly what he could see.
And then it further confirmed that you were the loser in his eyes.
became the ironclad evidence he used to humiliate you.
—But, it doesn't matter anymore.
Andrew didn't even want to defend himself for anything.
The young man just stared at the name tag in his hand, as if it were the only thing that could make him feel at peace.
—It didn't matter anymore.
Even if I am mocked, it is my own choice." Andrew certainly knew he would be mocked. An eighteen-year-old, impoverished, reclusive, gloomy young man who truly wanted to become the secretary beside the brilliant Young Master Osborn—there were plenty of people who would laugh at and question his overambition. But he had already grown accustomed to the disparagement and cold stares of others. It didn't matter; as long as he could endure it, it was fine. "I am already eighteen. I know what I am doing, I do not need you to boss me around.
"I am your father!" Damon's roar carried a hint of embarrassment.
Enough!" Andrew Damon suddenly raised his voice, interrupting him. "When I needed help, you never provided any! When I was feeling overwhelmed by such a terrible life, you only made it worse, constantly adding heavier burdens to me! Young Master Finn has never treated me like a punching bag; only you treat me like trash! Like a venting machine!
The man froze instantly, able only to stare fixedly at him, his eyes churning with shock and humiliation.
Andrew Damon took a deep breath, but the feeling of suffocation in his chest did not diminish in the slightest.
He gazed deeply at the father he loathed before him, speaking clearly and solemnly:
I indeed cannot do any magic tricks.
Those most brilliant magic tricks he displayed were nothing more than tricks he performed using his superpowers.
But so far, I have learned one magic trick.
Andrew Damon paused, his gaze passing over his father, as if looking into the distance.
Looking toward that young man who, like a beam of light, had unexpectedly illuminated his dim and lifeless life.
That is—
I have the ability to make myself a better person.
Damon's pupils contracted as he stared at his son in shock.
Finn Osborn is the most dazzling, most brilliant, most wonderful person I have ever seen in this world.
Andrew's eyes were red, his trembling voice even carried a hint of a sob.
“He not only gave me the material resources to improve our entire family's situation and provided my mother with better conditions for recovery, but he also gave me.. a hope you could never imagine. It was him who made me feel that life might not be so bad; it was him who made me feel that I am actually quite lucky; and it was him who made me feel that everything I do is finally starting to have meaning.”
The arrogance and fury on the man's face seemed to have all his strength sucked out of him in an instant, dissipating bit by bit. He gazed at the unprecedented light and stubbornness appearing in his son's eyes, his lips trembling, but in the end, he could not utter a single word.
I don't care what you think, but I am telling you this with absolute certainty," Andrew Damon said, steadying his emotions, his voice firm. "This is the path I have chosen for myself. I will not regret it, I will certainly live a great life.
I will never become a cowardly man like you.
I will give my mother a better life. I will do everything in my power to learn things that are truly valuable to me.
As long as Finn Osborn still needs me, no matter what my identity is, I will follow in his footsteps.
Andrew Damon's gaze stared coldly at his father.
If you truly still consider yourself a father..
Then please, do not get in my way.
After speaking, Andrew Damon ignored his father and went straight into his mother's bedroom. Because of Finn Osborn's sponsorship, Andrew was able to provide better medical conditions for his ailing mother. Now, with better medication and a brand-new ventilator, her condition remained relatively stable, Andrew couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
But this stability was shattered the next day when he stepped into Finn's hospital room.
"You don't have to come anymore," Finn said suddenly.
".. What do you mean?" Andrew was stunned.
The color drained from the young man's face in an instant, his eyes churning with near-desperate terror as he looked toward the person in the hospital bed.
—Was it because of that video he posted on his own initiative?
Even though the storm of public opinion had been suppressed by both Harry and Noah, it was all a massive mistake caused by his own stupidity and arrogance. Did he actually think that after making such a huge mistake, he could just pretend nothing happened and walk away unscathed?
You must have realized that I was intentionally making things difficult for you before, right?" Finn asked hesitantly. Since he was already prepared to modify the plotline he had previously used to advance the mission, it naturally followed that he should no longer continue to torment Andrew. "I realize now that my previous attitude toward you was problematic, so I intend to correct this issue.
"There is no problem, there is no problem at all!" Andrew Damon shook his head urgently, his voice trembling slightly.
To him, Finn's words about "correcting the problem" sounded exactly like a signal that he was to be completely discarded.
Yesterday, in front of his father, he had even sworn with absolute certainty that he would follow Finn and rely on himself to become better, but now that determination seemed exceptionally ridiculous and fragile—it turned out he was even losing the right to be "made things difficult" for.
Haven't you always been making sacrifices?" Finn knew exactly what he had done. He had forced this sensitive and introverted INFP to do countless things he was unwilling and unskilled at doing, solely to torment him. "I have always been arrogant and harsh toward you, I always used money to throw at you. I admit it, I was intentionally trying to humiliate you. There's no way you couldn't feel all of that, right?
At the beginning, I did indeed feel humiliated, but that was also due to my own inferiority complex," Andrew Damon explained flusteredly, "But that has nothing to do with you; you didn't do anything to humiliate me!
"I will arrange a hospital room for your mother; I have already sent Butler Joseph to handle it as compensation for this period of time." Finn simply felt that Andrew was still making such concessions only because he needed money.
Andrew Damon fell silent, having no idea how to explain himself.
Perhaps he initially persisted in looking for stray dogs for the money, but now it is definitely not like that.
Unable to say a word, he could only keep his head bowed tightly as scalding tears fell uncontrollably.
"Don't cry!" Finn was the one who was truly startled; he hadn't expected Andrew to burst into tears right in front of him.
The emotions accumulated over this period were far too tense; Andrew, who was already not good at expressing himself, could only cover his face and cry at this moment.
[Misery Value detected rising, Misery Value +1%]
Finn: "!!" Is this even okay? Did that really hurt your feelings??
System PP responded at the appropriate time: 【It is all because the Host did a good job with the foreshadowing in the early stages of the previous plotlines; now, the Misery Value is indeed rising very quickly.】
Finn Osborn: "??" Where exactly did I lay all these seeds?
"So, you don't hate me?" Looking at the young man's breakdown, an absurd thought suddenly flashed through Finn's mind.
"Why would I hate you?" Andrew's voice was muffled, thick with a heavy nasal tone, filled with confusion.
"Then the purpose of you posting that video was—" Finn asked in confusion.
It was to support you." Andrew raised his head, his eyes rimmed with red, but his tone was incredibly firm. "I wanted everyone to know that you went on stage spontaneously without any preparation, that it was an opportunity you seized yourself and a reflection of your own brilliance. This wasn't the result of any patronage from Harry Osborn. It's just that the subsequent direction of public opinion wasn't what I expected.
I see.." Finn was stunned, his voice carrying a hint of realization. "I thought you posted it on purpose because you hated me, making yourself look quite clever.