?<strong>Chapter 1006:</strong>


    Feeling a little embarrassed, Rnd retorted, “Is that a problem? I’m an adult.”


    Dunn didn’t respond. He set down the food and went into the bedroom. When he returned, he tossed Rnd a pack of cigarettes. It was from a brand Rnd didn’t recognize, and it looked quite expensive.


    “If you’re going to smoke, might as well puff on the best ones.”


    Rnd snorted, pulling out a chair and sitting down at the dining table. “My dad and I didn’t have the luxuries you guys have, so we smoked cheap ones. Clearly, you have no idea how badly we had it back then.”


    Despite the disdain in his tone, Rnd opened the pack of cigarettes and sniffed it. The faint minty aroma was a delight to inhale.


    Dunn flicked his gaze at him. “If you had a choice, would you rather be with your dad or live in luxury with us here?”


    Rnd’s expression soured. “Why do I have to choose? Why does it feel like my life has to be an either-or decision?”


    Although he felt deep gratitude toward Wade for raising him the best he could, a part of him longed for a peaceful life.


    Did those two choices conflict?


    Why couldn’t he just have both?


    “This is the rehab where Katie stays. You can visit her.”


    “I don’t want to—”


    “You need to uncover the truth for yourself,” Dunn said, cutting him off. “If you keep listening to what others say, you’ll never get there. I believe that’s why Joelle has been hesitant to share the details of the past with you.”


    Rnd had to admit that if anyone else had said these things, he wouldn’t have paid them any mind. But Dunn—just a couple of years older yet far more mature than most—had a way of cutting through the noise.


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    Reluctantly, Rnd found himself listening.


    “Go see your mother. She might tell you the truth or lie to you. But learning to discern between what’s true and what’s a lie is what you need to focus on now.”


    Rnd’s eyes dropped to the business card in his hand. Was he really going to see his mother? The woman who had brought him into the world, only to leave him behind? The thought twisted something deep inside him. He didn’t even know why he still carried that old photo of her. Maybe it was just a way to remind himself that, somewhere out there, he had a mother.


    “Alright,” Rnd said, his voice barely above a whisper.


    When Rnd arrived at the sanatorium, gaining entry was surprisingly smooth. Dunn had likely spoken with Aurora, who in turn had arranged for Adrian to grant him authorization.


    The facility housed severely ill patients, and while it wasbeled a sanatorium, it bore an unsettling resemnce to a prison. The staff showed littlepassion, providing only the bare minimum of care—just enough to keep the patients alive.


    “0176, you have a visitor.”


    Katie slumped onto the yellowed bed sheets, a shadow of her former self. The tag on her wrist read “0176,” a cold number that stripped her of any identity in this ce. But the real thief of her vitality was liver cancer, which had left her frail and her eyes vacant, like a dimming me on a cold night.


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