I Absolutely Refuse to Accept a Father Like This

“Abubu!”

She had been the kind of baby who was loved simply for existing.

She was born into a poor but happy family, and her parents adored her whether she was eating, sleeping, or even pooping.

When she first managed to hold her head up, they celebrated as though they’d won the world.

When she started crawling, they applauded so enthusiastically it sounded like a seal show.

And when she took her very first steps, her parents held hands and cried.

“Mama!”

“Oh my goodness! Our daughter must be a genius!”

They laughed over every clumsy attempt at speaking.

“Waaah… Mom! Dad! I can’t poop!”

“What do we do? Oh no! My poor baby!”

And whenever she suffered from constipation, they cried right along with her.

Thinking back on it now, they had been so overdramatic it was almost ridiculous.

But because she had parents like them, she had been happy.

Which was exactly why—

She absolutely refused to accept a father like this!

---

* * *

“Janice, this is your biological fath—”

Fernando tried to introduce them.

“I refuse!”

“No way!”

Their answers came out at exactly the same time.

“Why don’t you like me?!”

“If you were me, would you want a dad who looked like you, mister?”

The man who was supposedly her biological father—whether his name was Garen or some random mutt for all she cared—flared up in anger.

Janice shot the question right back at him.

“What’s wrong with me? I’m a pretty impressive guy!”

“Oh, sure you are.”

“Hey! I’m a duke, you know! Do you even know what a duke is?”

“I do. A stupid bird that spreads its tail and struts around showing off whenever it sees a female.”

“…You little—!”

Her father ground his teeth.

Oh? And what’s grinding your teeth going to do? Bleh!

Janice stuck out her tongue and pulled down one eyelid in a mocking face.

“Stop it! Stop it! She’s only seven!”

“You call that a seven-year-old? I’d believe there was a seventy-year-old trapped inside her!”

“She just lost her parents! Do you think she’s in the right state of mind? Seriously, why are you so immature? You’ve got such a rotten temper!”

Fernando hurriedly stepped between them.

“Is she really my daughter? Who in the world does she take after? Fine, let’s say I really had a kid. But there’s no way she’d have a personality like that. They must’ve switched children!”

“Quit talking nonsense.”

“I don’t want a father like you either! Absolutely not! Never! Ever!”

“Janice, please!”

Fernando practically begged.

He even clasped his hands together as though pleading for mercy.

“Hmph!”

Fine.

She’d let it go—for Fernando’s sake.

Janice turned her head away with an exaggerated huff.

Garen snorted and turned away as well.

Honestly, there was no need for a paternity test.

Anyone could see they were father and daughter.

How could they both have such terrible tempers?

Fernando let out a weary sigh.

---

Chloe had given birth to Garen’s child all by herself.

Before she died, she entrusted the girl to Fernando.

Fernando, in turn, had entrusted the child to the Bakers, an old couple he had known for years.

The Bakers had never been able to have children of their own.

They treasured Janice more than anyone.

She grew up surrounded by love.

Whenever Fernando secretly checked on how she was doing, he sometimes wondered if perhaps things should simply stay this way.

Garen didn’t even know the child existed.

And even if he did…

He wasn’t in any condition to accept the truth.

A patient suffering from amnesia shouldn’t be subjected to severe emotional shock.

Fernando pitied Janice.

But Garen was also his friend.

One day became another.

Then another.

Before he knew it, seven years had passed.

Then one day, the Bakers sent Fernando a letter.

If anything were to happen to them…

Please take care of Janice.

Only a few days later, Fernando received news that the couple had been murdered.

He rushed over immediately.

There, in the empty house, he found Janice all alone.

She was crouched beside the front door, quietly waiting for her parents to come home.

In her tiny hands she clutched pieces of their clothing.

She couldn’t even cry anymore.

When Fernando tried to take the clothes away, she finally burst into tears and desperately struggled to keep them.

“Don’t take them!

Don’t take them away!

They belong to my mommy and daddy!

They still smell like them!”

Feeling the child’s unbearable grief, Fernando hugged her tightly and cried with her.

His original plan had been simple.

He would raise Janice until Garen recovered his memories.

Then he would return her to her father.

But then another problem arose.

He heard that Garen was planning to adopt a child.

Once an adopted child was legally recognized, that child would become the heir to Garen’s title and fortune.

Janice might be Garen’s biological daughter…

But she wasn’t born within a lawful marriage.

If Garen adopted someone first, and only afterward officially acknowledged Janice, she would lose every right to inherit his title or estate.

That inheritance rightfully belonged to Janice.

Fernando couldn’t allow anyone to steal what was hers.

He knew it was earlier than he would have liked.

But he had no choice.

He had to act now.

And that decision had led to the current disaster.

---

“You can come live with me. I’d gladly accept you as my daughter. A kind, beautiful girl like you would make me very happy. At my house there’s another child about your age, so I think you’ll make a good friend. But, Janice… could you meet your father just once? I think… he would treasure you very much too.”

Even though it was difficult to accept, the kind-hearted Janice agreed.

The problem…

Was Garen.

“Are you dreaming? Have you lost your mind? What child? I break out in hives if I even make eye contact with women!”

“Do you even know how old I am? A seven-year-old daughter? You’re saying I got a girl pregnant while attending the Academy? Do you remember the Academy didn’t even allow women? Ask anyone! Which sounds more believable—that I secretly fathered an illegitimate child while attending the Academy, or that I’m gay?”

At least he seemed aware of the ridiculous rumors surrounding him.

In fact, high society had spent years spreading every imaginable rumor about Garen.

That was probably one of the biggest reasons the old Duke and Duchess had approved his decision to adopt.

“Stop talking nonsense! Unless… you’re after my title and fortune? If that’s the case, just admit it. Since it’s your kid, I’d happily adopt her.”

Garen looked at Fernando with open contempt.

But Fernando wasn’t lying.

Janice really was Garen’s daughter.

And Chloe really was her mother.

After Fernando persisted again and again, Garen finally relented.

“Fine. Bring the kid over. I’ll at least look at her.”

“What an idiot. You actually fell for a scam.”

Garen truly believed Fernando had been deceived.

But Fernando was certain.

Once Garen saw Janice’s face…

Everything would change.

He never doubted it.

Instead…

The moment Garen laid eyes on her, he reacted in a way Fernando had never imagined.

“Hell…”

“Scammers are getting pretty skilled these days. She does look like me. Wonder where they found a kid like this.”

He mocked her the instant he saw her.

Then—

“Give me your hand.”

“Ow! That hurts!”

“You won’t die from this.”

Without another word, he pricked her finger and drew blood for a paternity test.

When their blood confirmed they were related…

“Wait. What if she’s Father’s daughter instead of mine? That’s it! That has to be it! She’s not my daughter—she’s my little sister! Yeah, I can accept that!”

“Garen!”

“This makes no sense! How could I possibly have a daughter I don’t even know about? You know me! I can’t stand women! Just holding hands with one gives me goosebumps and hives. My body physically rejects them! You know that!”

It was true.

He didn’t simply dislike women.

His body literally rejected physical contact with them.

“…Unless she’s a chimera? A chimera, right? That’s it. She’s not even human.”

Garen’s imagination raced to increasingly absurd conclusions.

As Janice listened…

Her expression grew colder and colder.

Fernando somehow managed to calm Garen down and prepared to introduce them properly.

Then—

“Idiot. You can’t even tell the difference between a human and a chimera.”

Janice, whose personality was practically identical to Garen’s, immediately started Round Two.

Remembering the ten minutes that had felt like an entire century, Fernando rubbed his face with both hands.

“All right, both of you, calm down! Let’s start over. Garen, this is your daughter, Janice. And Janice, this is your biological fath—”

“I refuse!”

“No way!”

Not a single person was willing to cooperate.

Even Janice, who had initially tried to be understanding, had come to despise her biological father from the bottom of her heart during those ten minutes of arguing.

Fernando wanted to cry.

---

* * *

Their first meeting had been nothing short of a battlefield.

And from that very first meeting…

Janice hated her biological father.

Human trash.

If he didn’t want to take responsibility, then he shouldn’t have gotten someone pregnant in the first place.

Janice despised irresponsible men like him.

He reminded her so much of her father.

Her father from her previous life—

Min Kyung-tae.

Min Kyung-tae had been garbage among garbage.

Already married, he lied that he was single, seduced a young girl who hadn’t even reached adulthood, slept with her…

And abandoned her the moment she became pregnant.

If the girl had simply given up the baby, perhaps her life wouldn’t have fallen apart.

But she couldn’t abandon her only family.

So she worked every job she could find.

She worked in a factory during the day.

In a restaurant at night.

On weekends, she carried bricks at construction sites.

She worked until her body nearly broke.

By the time her daughter entered high school…

She was diagnosed with cancer.

Knowing she didn’t have long to live, she worried constantly about what would happen to her daughter after she was gone.

After searching for a long time, she finally found Min Kyung-tae.

Instead of helping, he showered them with insults and humiliated them.

The girl stood there watching through tears of blood.

Soon afterward…

Her mother died, still worrying about her daughter’s future.

Years later, the man came looking for the daughter.

He offered her money.

He wanted part of her liver.

The daughter cursed him with every insult she knew, on behalf of her dead mother.

In return…

He insulted her.

Then he insulted her deceased mother as well.

Then one day…

As the saying goes, life comes full circle.

An unexpected chance for revenge arrived.

The daughter had become a prosecutor.

Min Kyung-tae was the son of a famous politician.

The grandfather who had risen from a wealthy landowning family to become a member of the National Assembly…

And the biological father who had spent his entire life protected by political power…

Both fell from grace in an instant.

Yet strangely…

She felt no joy.

Only emptiness.

Only exhaustion.

Only a hollow sense of futility.

That was when the accident happened.

As she watched the car speeding toward her without hesitation—

And saw the face of her biological father behind the wheel—

She smiled.

Because the daughter had already lost every reason to keep living…

Ten years earlier,

the day her mother died.