The Credentials of a Couple (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 196

“It was selfish of me from the start to expect the two of you to live together. Your decision to accept Meriel despite the awkwardness—that’s what’s truly remarkable. So—”

“You might spend your whole life like this.”

“Yeah.”

“Honestly, I don’t think some miraculous bond will form just because time passes. If anything, now that we’re aware of this awkward tension, our relationship might become even more uncomfortable.”

Calix stopped there and clicked his tongue briefly.

It was a little amusing that Liviana’s bad habit—becoming anxious over unpleasant memories—had become his own today, yet he also understood exactly how she felt.

It had been a long time since he’d felt so overwhelmed by an uncertain future.

“Even so, the reason I accepted that child was because I want to be with you. And enduring the discomfort I feel toward her isn’t all that different from that reason. And yet…”

[I just wished you’d smile. That’s all.]

Why, at that moment, did the child’s face from earlier flash through his mind?

Calix swallowed a bitter smile as he glanced at the slightly widened gap in the door.

As he’d repeatedly told himself, he never believed he’d make a good father. To him, the child was neither more nor less than an inconvenience he had to tolerate for Liviana’s sake.

And in a world without Liviana, that would have been even more true.

He could never show the kind of affectionate words and actions that Liviana now offered Meriel.

Yet despite that, the child still looked at him with blind devotion. No matter how much she pretended otherwise, her eyes always craved affection.

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