Absolutely Unacceptable as a Biological Father
“Abuboo!”
She was a baby loved just for breathing.
Born into a poor but warm household, her parents adored her whether she was eating, sleeping, or pooping.
They cheered when she could hold her head up for the first time, applauded like seals when she first started crawling, and cried while holding her hands when she took her first steps.
“Umma!”
“Oh my, our daughter must be a genius!”
Her clumsy babble made them laugh.
“Waaah. Mom! Dad! I can’t poop.”
“What do we do? Oh no! Oh dear!”
They even cried when she suffered from constipation.
Thinking back now, it was almost ridiculous how over-the-top they were. But thanks to those kinds of parents, she was happy.
That’s why this kind of biological father? Absolutely unacceptable!
“Janice, this man is your real father…”
Fernando tried to introduce them to each other.
“I won’t accept it!” “No way!”
Their answers came out at the same time.
“Why don’t you like me?!”
“Would you like a dad who acts like some random old man?”
The so-called biological father—was his name Geren or maybe Garbage?—snapped back, and Janice threw the question right back at him.
“What’s wrong with me? I’m pretty impressive, okay?”
“Oh, really?”
“Hey, I’ll have you know I’m a duke! Do you even know what a duke is?”
“Sure. A dumb bird that fans out its tail and shows off whenever it sees a female.”
“…You little—!”
Gritting his teeth, the man fumed.
So what if you grit your teeth? Pfft!
Janice rolled her eyes so hard they nearly flipped her head, mocking his whole demeanor.
“Stop it! Stop! She’s only seven!”
“Does she look seven to you? I’d believe it if you said she had a 70-year-old grandma inside!”
“She just lost her parents recently. How do you expect her to be okay? Why are you so immature? What’s with that temper?!”
Fernando intervened to hold back the “father.”
“Is she really my daughter? Who does she take after? Okay, let’s say for argument’s sake that I do have a kid—but she couldn’t have this kind of personality. The kid must’ve been swapped!”
“Stop with the nonsense.”
“I don’t want a dad like you either! Never! Never ever!”
“Janice, please!”
Fernando pleaded, even mimicking begging hands.
“Hmph!”
Hmph. I only held back because I like you, mister.
Janice snorted and turned away. Geren also huffed and turned his back.
There was no need for a paternity test. Anyone could see they were father and daughter just by how much their personalities clashed.
How could both of them be this stubborn? Fernando sighed.
Chloe had given birth to Geren’s child alone, and before dying, entrusted the baby to Fernando. Fernando had then placed the child with the Bakers, an old couple he trusted.
The Bakers, who had no children of their own, cherished Janice more than anything.
With their love, she grew up happy. Fernando would occasionally check on her and even considered leaving things as they were.
Geren didn’t know the child existed, and even if he did, he wasn’t in a state to accept it. He was suffering from amnesia, and such a shock could be dangerous.
Janice’s situation was heartbreaking, but Fernando was Geren’s friend.
And so, one day at a time, seven years passed.
Then one day, the Bakers sent a letter. They asked Fernando to take care of Janice if anything ever happened to them.
Just a few days later, he received news that the Bakers had been murdered.
When he rushed over, he found Janice left alone in an empty house, crouched in front of the doorway, waiting for her parents.
In her small hand, she held onto the hem of her parents’ clothing.
She hadn’t even been able to cry until someone tried to take it away from her. Then she finally broke down in sobs.
—Don’t take it! Don’t steal it! That’s my mom and dad’s! It smells like them!
Her pain was so vivid that Fernando hugged her and cried with her.
He planned to care for Janice until Geren recovered his memories—then he would return her to her rightful father.
But then a problem arose: Geren was about to adopt an heir.
If he officially adopted a child, that heir would gain the right to inherit Geren’s title and fortune.
Janice may be his biological daughter, but she wasn’t born in a lawful marriage.
If Geren adopted someone first and only then acknowledged Janice, she would be excluded from any inheritance.
Geren’s title and wealth were rightfully Janice’s. Fernando couldn’t allow her legitimate rights to be taken from her.
Even though the timing was terrible, Fernando had to act.
And that brings us to this moment—right after he decided to act.
—You can live with me. I’d be happy to take you as my daughter. A kind and pretty girl like you would make me so happy. At my house, there’s a kid about your age, so you might even make a great friend.
But Janice, won’t you please meet your father just once? I really think he might come to care about you too.
Despite how hard it was to accept, kind-hearted Janice understood.
The real problem… was Geren.
—Are you insane? Dream on! A kid? Me? I break out in hives just from making eye contact with women!
—Do you even know how old I am? She’s seven? You’re saying I had a kid back when I was in the Academy? Do you remember that the Academy didn’t even allow women?! Ask anyone—what’s more believable: that I had an illegitimate daughter back then, or that I’m gay?
Well, at least he was aware of the rumors about himself.
For years, the social world had been full of wild speculation about Geren.
His aging parents had only allowed him to adopt because of those very rumors.
—Bullshit! Are you after the dukedom and fortune too? If so, just say it. If she’s yours, I’ll gladly take her as my heir!
Geren glared at Fernando with disdain. But Fernando wasn’t lying.
Janice was Geren’s child, and Chloe was her mother.
After endless persuasion, Geren finally agreed to at least see the child’s face.
—How dumb are you? You got scammed!
Geren clearly thought Fernando was being conned. But Fernando believed that once he saw Janice’s face, he’d change his mind.
Instead, when they arrived, Geren surpassed all expectations.
—Hello…
—Scammers are impressive these days. She even looks like me. Where’d you even find something like this?
He sneered the moment he saw her face.
—Give me your hand.
—Ow! That hurts!
—You won’t die from this.
He drew her blood without warning for a paternity test.
Once the results proved the relationship—
—What if I’m not the dad? Maybe she’s my dad’s kid. Yeah, that’s it! She’s not my daughter, she’s my sister. I can accept that!
—Geren!
—It doesn’t make sense! How could I have a daughter I didn’t even know about? You know how much I hate women. Just touching them gives me hives! My body rejects them, you know that!
And it was true—he wasn’t just disgusted by women. His body literally rejected them.
—…What if she’s a chimera? A chimera, right? She’s not human. That’s it!
Geren’s imagination went off the rails.
Watching him, Janice’s face hardened.
Just as Fernando finally managed to calm Geren enough to introduce him—
—How stupid can you be? Can’t even tell a human from a chimera.
Janice, who had clearly inherited her father’s personality, launched round two.
Thinking back to that disaster of a moment just ten minutes ago, Fernando wiped his face in exhaustion.
“Okay, both of you calm down! Let’s try again from the beginning. Geren, this is your daughter, Janice. And Janice, this is your biological fa—”
“I don’t accept it!”
“No way!”
Not a single one of them cooperated.
Even Janice, who had initially agreed, now despised her father to her very bones after witnessing that ten-minute display.
Fernando wanted to cry.
The First Encounter Was a War
From the very first meeting, Janice came to loathe her father.
Human trash! If you didn’t want responsibility, you shouldn’t have done the deed!
Janice hated irresponsible men like that. He reminded her exactly of her father—her past life father, Min Kyung-tae.
Min Kyung-tae was trash among trash.
A married man who pretended to be single, he seduced an underage girl and got her pregnant, only to abandon her heartlessly.
If she had ignored the baby, maybe her life wouldn’t have spiraled so badly.
But the girl couldn’t abandon the only blood relative she had.
She did any job that paid—working at a factory during the day, at a restaurant at night, and hauling bricks at construction sites on weekends.
She worked herself to the bone. When her daughter entered high school, she was diagnosed with cancer.
Worried about her daughter’s future, she sought out Min Kyung-tae.
He cursed and humiliated them both.
The daughter watched with blood-red eyes as he insulted her mother. The mother died still worrying about her child.
Years later, the man came looking for the girl.
He wanted a liver transplant and offered money in return.
The girl, on behalf of her deceased mother, cursed him to his face.
In return, he insulted her and her dead mother.
Then one day, fate took a turn.
The girl became a prosecutor.
Min Kyung-tae was the son of a famous politician.
His father, born into wealth, had become a lawmaker.
Min Kyung-tae had lived under his father’s protection all his life.
But they both fell in an instant.
Strangely though, it brought her no joy.
All she felt was emptiness, futility, and numbness.
The accident happened right after that.
A car sped toward her—and she smiled when she saw the face of her biological father inside.
After all, the girl had lost all meaning in life the moment her mother died ten years ago.
