Let’s start all over again,shall we?

Chapter 236 Food Snatcher

Maggie’s eyes shimmered with moisture as she gave a weak smile, shifting the conversation.

Leo shared a similar background with Maggie, yet their paths diverged.

His mother, once Joshua’s mistress, was a fleeting figure that disappeared soon in his life.

She had hoped to manipulate Joshua through Leo, using cunning ways to conceive his child.

But when she tried to leverage the child, Joshua had grown indifferent, showing no interest in the child she had schemed to bring into the world.

The woman’s efforts to manipulate Joshua blew up in her face, resulting in threats, bribes, and finally. expulsion with a stern warning.

This descent into madness left Leo to navigate a childhood marred by abuse.

In her rare moments of clarity, she’d shower him with maternal affection, but in her darker times, she’d unleash verbal and physical torment upon him.

Raised without a father and in such tumultuous conditions, Leo forged a resilient and hardened shell,

Yet, he quickly learned that sheer strength wasn’t enough without a solid support network by his side.

Hence, the lad who once frolicked in the mud mastered the art of projecting the image of a model. student, at least on the surface.

He realised that by adopting the persona of a courteous and capable individual, he could earn trust effortlessly, bypassing the necessity for physical confrontation.

Experiencing the dark side of human behaviour from an early age, he cultivated a frostier demeanour, seamlessly merging it with his natural aloofness.

His interactions were always polite, never condescending, yet his true essence remained veiled. He observed others discreetly, responding to provocation with calculated ferocity.

Similar to Maggie, he was thrust into maturity ahead of his time, relegated to the role of a supporting

character.

of affection exacted

flooded Leo’s mind of the moments when Maggie had been

days, she possessed a grace that seemed distant yet luminous, akin

into trouble?” she asked, a touch of exasperation in her

as he struggled to stand amidst

as a leopard, he found

236 Food

through him, sending him into a cold sweat

eyebrow as she observed. She commented, “Stubborn as a mule. No

deepened, beads of sweat

determined girl knelt before him, her eyes bright and unflinching, undeterred by the blood staining

kids they

of his fractured bones engulfing his

even feed bread crusts

squeezing his eyes shut

rest, a girl with a darkness that matched his own, a depth that drew him in.

Maggie teased, holding out a bag of warm buns.

the allure of the hot, fragrant buns, even though he didn’t meet her gaze.

he debated if he could grab the buns in his current condition, but the girl caught on with just one look. “Thinking about

few nice words, I’ll gladly hand them over. I might even consider bringing it to

even handle a twig,

casually nibbled on the bun. Leo quietly tallied how many she devoured. One,

had purchased five buns, and two remained

words of kindness might convince her to hand over the last two

vanished for five days, and every cent in his pocket came from his hard–earned job. He was accused of stealing

gnawed

to plead for help, but in the blink of an eye, she rose and tossed the last two buns in the bin.

heading out. Farewell, she/bid politely, yet

her past actions, Leo chuckled softly,