The Unwanted Son

I placed the two plates of freshly made breakfast on the dining table. Thomas still had a class to teach at 8:30 am. After breakfast, he helped me clear the table and do the dishes before leaving the house.

After that, I turned on the television and sat on the couch. Once I increased the volume to a certain threshold, I started waiting for Mathias and Pamola to leave their room.

When the hour hand of the clock was almost done with its third lap, the door of the silent room was finally opened from the inside.

I raised my head to look at the time. It was almost 10:00 am. It seemed that Mathias didn't plan on going to work again today.

A figure walked past me without even glancing in my way. He made a beeline for the kitchen right away.

Soon, an impatient voice sounded. "Mom, where's my and Pamola's breakfast? Why isn't there any food in the kitchen?"

I didn't even avert my gaze from the television screen as I replied casually, "I thought you two weren't going to have breakfast again, so I didn't prepare anything for you. Otherwise, it'd be too big of a waste."

Mathias and Pamola kept emphasizing that they needed to have breakfast at 7:00 am. But in reality, they only woke up around that time a handful of times.

The breakfast that I had made for them in the past was either thrown into the trash or abandoned by the couple simply because they thought it was left cold for far too long.

In the end, I'd be the one eating the remaining food for lunch while smelling the nice smell of takeout that Matthias and Pamola ordered for their lunch.

Mathias rushed over to my side angrily. He barked out, "Mom, hurry up and fix two more plates of breakfast for me and Pamola! We stayed up till 3:00 am last night playing games! It's been almost 20 hours since we last ate!

"Besides, are you saying that you won't make breakfast for us just because we don't eat it? You still have to take care of us if we collapse from starvation anyway!"

I didn't say anything. My gaze was firmly trained on the television screen.

Mathias realized that I plainly ignored him, so he moved to stand in front of the television. Disgust and disdain were apparent on his face as he glared at me.

It was as though he was glaring at a slave instead of his own mother.

Soon, I turned to look at Mathias. "Are you a big baby? Why must your father and I do everything for you? You could've used the time questioning me to whip up a meal by now!

"Do you know what you look like right now? A sloth who has hands but doesn't know how to use them to make his own food!"

Mathias never expected that I had such a mean side to me. He was already used to me obeying his every whim and command, after all.

He remained rooted to the spot, clearly stunned.

A while later, the room door was opened once again. This time, Pamola walked out of the room.

"Honey, is breakfast not done yet? I'm so hungry!"

She paused for a moment when she noticed how tense things were between me and Mathias.

"Honey, are you and Mom…"

Only then did Mathias register what was going on. He turned around to look at Pamola.

"Honey, let's go out for lunch! I'll take you to the best restaurant in town! Tch! Does she seriously think her cooking's the best? She can just stay at home and eat all that garbage on her own!"

I just shook my head. To think that Mathias even jeered at me.

Idiots would always be idiots. They'd never be able to gain a brain cell, no matter how hard they tried.

When Pamola heard that they'd be dining at the best restaurant in town, she was so delighted that she went off into her own little world.

She didn't even hear the rest of Mathias' words. All she said was, "I'm going to get dressed and put on makeup!" before leaving.

Meanwhile, I thought sardonically, "Go on. Keep eating out a few more times. Right now, you still have money given to you by me and your father. Let's see how you, a lazy bum who doesn't show up for work, and that jobless wife of yours maintain your current level of expenses once you run out of money."

I lowered my gaze after that. Suddenly, I remembered the house Thomas and I had bought for Mathias and Pamola.

Recently, Pamola had given it to her younger brother.