TOOAFP Chapter 123: The End of a Wretch (3)

The truth was that Simon had never been interested in this child to begin with.

Every time he looked at it, he felt a deep, grinding anger. It reminded him of himself — given away to a grand house, like something surplus — and of the humiliation of knowing he was there as a cover for Odette's scandal.

When the midwife had tried to hand him the child after its early birth — satisfied that it was breathing properly — he had refused. Without hesitation.

This foundling child, born from Odette, would one day inherit everything that was House Tyrot. And on that same day, Simon would once again be untethered, cut loose, irrelevant.

"Noisy little thing."

The baby had cried itself into a thin, rasping sound, hunger and exhaustion wearing down even its wailing. Simon's patience was thin, but he could not simply set the child down and walk…