I Picked Up the Trash Others Threw Away - Chapter 32.1

Chapter 32.1

“After the meal, let’s take a boat ride on the lake. It will help with digestion.”

“What? Why are you changing the topic?”

“Let me finish. I thought you might get an upset stomach if we talked while eating, so I was going to tell you when we were outside.”

“How about you tell me just the main point first?”

I tore the bread in half, feeling embarrassed.

“Unless you’re planning to cut ties with your family and never see them again, wouldn’t it be better to clear up any misunderstandings or whatever it is quickly?” I asked after popping the piece of bread into my mouth.

“Are you saying you’re going to help me with that? To be honest, I don’t understand. You don’t need to meddle in my family’s problems to that extent.”

“Why not? We’re family now.”

Being stuck in the middle of a messy family dynamic could also affect me, so it was better to try to solve conflicts beforehand if they could be resolved.

Even if we’re family for only one year.

“You know I’m good at persuasion, right?”

“That’s true. Except for the fact that even the Delphonies don’t have good family ties.”

“… I admit I can’t trust them. But! Trusting someone once isn’t the end of the world, so just leave it to me. As long as you want to reconcile, you can improve your relationship. It’s not difficult.”

I bumped my chest with my fist confidently, and Trish laughed.

“I trust you.”

He didn’t seem to trust me that much, but at least I felt that he was willing to reconcile.

After finishing our meal, we headed to the lakeshore near the villa as planned.

The small boat anchored on the pier was wide enough for four people to sit on, so even with a small basket containing water and handkerchiefs, there was a lot of room to sit.

After settling down, Trish grabbed the paddles and began rowing. Seeing that his movements were smooth and he was quite good at rowing, he must have enjoyed going on boat rides here a lot.

“The water is really clear. Is the lake also maintained by the villa?”

“There’s someone in charge of it. I used to swim here for hours during the hot summers. It’s much cooler than sitting inside the mansion.”

“We really need to come back here in the summer. I can’t swim, though.”

I dipped my hand in the water and played with it.

My mood lifted instantly as the cool, clear water flowed through my fingers.

“Be careful not to fall in. The middle of the lake is quite deep, so you’ll just sink if you can’t swim.”

“Didn’t you say you know how to swim? You can save me if I fall in.”

“Why should I?”

“Because it would be troublesome for the people here if a dead body were found in the lake?”

“Wouldn’t most people say, ‘Because you’re my husband,’ or ‘Because you’re a gentleman?'”

Trish clicked his tongue at me, saying I was really weird.

Has he ever considered that he’s the one who doesn’t act like a typical gentleman?

The boat reached the center of the lake.

When the distant pier and the villa looked as small as the palm of my hand, Trish, who had been paddling silently, opened his mouth.

“You know this since you already met them, but my parents aren’t bad people. On the contrary, they’re such good people that I can’t even hate them. It’s frustrating.”

“People are complicated. You can be a good person to someone and an enemy to someone else.”

“But what would other people think if their children treated their parents like enemies?”

“Well, wouldn’t they think that something probably happened?”

“You’re too optimistic. Everyone I know just assumed it was my fault before even hearing my side.”

Trish’s rowing slowed.

The boat, now standing still in the middle of the lake, just floated with no destination.

“When you’re a kid, you just want to be loved and cared for by your parents. But I didn’t get much attention. My parents’ focus was always on something else.”

“By something else, do you mean your brother?”

“Yeah. He’s three years older than I. Not that big of a difference, but not that small either. He is the family’s successor and very talented, so it was only natural that everyone would pay attention to him.”