New Life : A Second Chance

Xing Han bit his lips, looking at his forlorn friend who was looking out the window.

"I\'m just too angry right now," came Kyle\'s voice.

Xing Han sighed, went to Kyle\'s side and hugged him, saying, "I know. That\'s precisely why you need to talk about it. That was quite intense and it\'s best you let it out rather than keeping it in."

Kyle closed his eyes and simply allowed himself to be hugged.

His heart was heavy, truly.

"I can\'t be the sort of son he wants," Kyle said softly, "But I am doing the best that I can, as me. Why can\'t that be enough?"

To Kyle\'s surprise, he felt tears prick at his eyes.

Why? Why would he feel so upset over this? It wasn\'t as if he was that close to Patrick. So why would Patrick\'s words, and actions, cause this sort of reaction?

He frowned.

He angrily turned away to face the window, fearing that they would see should the tears fall.

Xing Han saw as Kyle turned away, but he had already caught the expression. The way his eyes seemed to glisten with unshed tears but the unsatisfied and angry look remained on his face.

He sighed inwardly, knowing that for Kyle, what he was doing as a Smith was enough. The usual spiel of \'family piety\' and \'filial son\' wouldn\'t work as he viewed things differently. He performed as what one should, as a son: never got into trouble (no drugs etc), top student, performed well in everything.

What more could one want, right?

Xing Han understood Patrick\'s point of view well, so he couldn\'t fault Patrick for it. After all, Kyle was not the typical son who would often act without taking his father\'s point into consideration.

Kyle does come off as an ungrateful child, simply because he acts on his own and does not listen to his parents who have provided him with everything (even if he never really used it). Patrick had been working hard to provide for Kyle and Kyle showed him attitude? What father could stand it?

Kyle, on the other hand,?with his \'old lady\' soul, could hardly look at Patrick as someone above him that he had to obey. He saw Patrick as an equal, and to Kyle, that was already showing respect. After all, if push-comes-to-shove, Kyle\'s performance was far better than Patrick, at his age.

He neglected the fact that Patrick is a powerhouse in his own right. It wasn\'t so much that Kyle thought he was better than Patrick but, he just couldn\'t stomach having to quietly obey his demands. He was already giving concessions by trying to find \'the one\', so to speak. Why wasn\'t that enough?

Both were highly egoistical as well and with the infamous Smith Anger, it would be very hard for the two to ever see eye-to-eye.

?.?.?.?

Once they left the hospital, Delilah pulled her hand away from Patrick and stomped off, ignoring him. Patrick took several deep breaths as he tried to calm himself down. He turned to look back at the hospital, his steps slowing down a bit.

Then Kyle\'s words, and his angry face, filled his mind, \'Perhaps if you had actually acted like a father.\'

Gritting his teeth, he pressed on forward.

\'Well, I am acting like father now, aren\'t I?\' Patrick thought to himself, \'See how long you can keep up your arrogance without your family by your side.\'

He watched as his daughter, Kay, went to comfort his wife.

He knew Kyle was capable of living by himself, as was evidenced by him being at Sakura Academy. However, everything was easy for him. Everything had been provided. He even had his twin sister and the Elite Five with him - his so-called family.

His son had to learn.

Friends are friends, sister is sister. Sooner or later, they will part. However, Kyle is part of the Smith household, the future heir. He could not act as willful as he had always done.

So long as he lived under his roof, Kyle needed to follow the rules.

His rules.

Patrick regretted never sending Kyle to military school from the start.

He should have done so the moment Kyle gave this ridiculous wish to go to Sakura Academy. He just didn\'t have the heart then to refuse Delilah, who had been the one that raised them when he had been busy at the company.

Patrick wasn\'t belittling Delilah, but a mother was just too weak. She catered to his whims. No longer. His son needed to be strong, but he also had to listen to others.

Military school was the best. It had certainly instilled strict discipline within him and straightened him out. Patrick had certainly caused a lot of headache with his rebellious nature, and he only saw this in his son now.

He had been too lax with his son.

It was just that Kyle never showed any real rebellious behaviour, so he had been lenient. It was against his better judgment, and he regretted it so much now.

It was a mistake. He now had to be firm and strict.

Taking out his phone, he called up his personal assistant, "Derek. Send someone to shadow Kyle. Yes. Just shadow but do not do anything. Yes. Daily reports."

Delilah and Kay were too far to hear Patrick\'s conversation, as he made his plans.

After making his arrangements, Patrick felt satisfied.

It may take a bit of time before the men arrived to shadow Kyle, but he had time.

He had already talked to the doctors in charge of treating Kyle, and knew that Kyle did not suffer from any internal damage. He would, however, be required to be warded for a few days. Patrick didn\'t need to make any payments, as Kay had already handled the deposit during registration. The rest would be made upon discharge.

Patrick smiled at that thought.

He didn\'t cut off the credit card that he had given Kyle, but he knew Kyle would be too proud to use it since they fought. Imagine his face when he was handed with the hefty bill. He would probably borrow from Xing Han or something.

If Kyle did use the credit card, Patrick would still pay. However, he would then lower the limit as long as Kyle didn\'t come home.?He wasn\'t going to make it easy for Kyle but he wouldn\'t cut him off. Not yet, anyway.

Sooner or later, Kyle will crumble when he slowly ran out of money, or when he finds working as a \'normal person\' becomes too hard. He would definitely come crawling back.

Patrick snorted. He definitely would not be the one that would offer the olive branch. That was the role of the son.

He was sure that it would not be long before his son would call him, seeking forgiveness and promising to be obedient.

There was a huge smile on his face as he thought about that day.