Chapter 23

Reincarnated as a Fisherman and a Dad Chapter 23

"This place is getting dirty. Ivana! Get back here and sweep the floor! The floor is too dirty!"

A fat woman with pink hair in her 40s shouted angrily from the living room, her voice echoing throughout the entire house.

"I don't want to! You've always bossed me around since Karlos went to the Timog-Kanluran province! If you want the floor cleaned, then do it yourself!" a young girl with the same pink hair, aged 15, replied with frustration. Her voice shaking from pent-up anger.

"You! How dare you talk back to your mother like that!? You don’t have any sense of filial piety! I carried you in my belly for nine months, and this is how you repay me!? You fucking bitch!"

The middle-aged woman roared in rage, but her daughter slammed her bedroom door shut and locked it. Barricading herself inside to stop her furious mother from barging in.

"So be it! You treated me like a slave for years! Now I finally understand how hard it was for Karlos! I hope he's doing well in the province."

"Shut the fuck up and come out! I swear I’ll beat you so badly that you won’t be able to walk for a week!"

"Why don’t you clean the floor yourself instead of forcing it on me! I already cooked earlier, I washed the dishes, and I even did the laundry! My knees and arms hurt from overworking all day!"

"Because you're a woman! You should know how to do chores!"

"You're also a woman! You're my mother! Why can’t you do it instead if you’re so bothered by the mess?"

"This bitch—!"

The middle-aged woman was Delilah Alejandro, Karlos’ mother. Right now, she was so enraged that she began kicking her daughter’s door with all her weight, stomping furiously. She gasped for air with every kick, and her entire fat body trembled with anger and exertion.

"I feed you, I buy your clothes, and this is how you repay me? I just ask you to do some chores and you act like a bitch! Ivana Alejandro! Come out of your room!"

"I don’t want to."

It had already become the norm in their house that Delilah ruled like a queen, a self-proclaimed tyrant who cursed and screamed whenever she pleased. She was sweating heavily, her rage pushing her fat body to the brink.

Three years ago, Delilah and her husband had sent Karlos to the province because they no longer wanted him in Maynila. Unfortunately, by doing so, they lost their personal house slave without even realizing how much they had relied on him.

Just a week after Karlos left, they began to notice how dirty the house had become. Piles of unwashed laundry stacked up. They had to cook for themselves, something they hadn’t done in a long time because Karlos used to handle all the household chores while juggling college and part-time jobs, all without complaint.

"You're also a woman, though an old fat hag, so why don’t you clean the floor yourself instead of yelling like some lazy entitled queen?"

"Ivana Alejandro!"

"Delilah! What are you doing!?"

Suddenly, a man with black hair entered through the front door, a bag slung over his shoulder. He was in his 40s and had a noticeable belly from years of sitting at a desk and drinking beer. He wasn’t obese like Delilah, but he certainly wasn’t fit either. This was Manuel Alejandro, the father of the family.

Manuel’s face darkened the moment he saw his wife kicking their daughter’s door like a madwoman. He was clearly exhausted from work, and the chaos that greeted him made his blood boil.

"I just got home from work and this is what I walk into? Look at the floor! Everything’s filthy! What the hell is going on here!?"

"Papa!"

At that moment, Ivana opened the door and rushed to hug her father tightly. Her tears soaked his shirt as she buried her face into his chest, sobbing uncontrollably while pointing at her mother, who glared at her like a demon.

"It’s because of that old fat hag! She and her friends played mahjong and left the house a mess! Now she’s forcing me to clean it!"

"Of course you should clean it! Why else did I give birth to a girl?" Delilah replied with shameless confidence.

"If this is how you're going to treat me, then just ask Karlos to return to Maynila instead! It was his responsibility to do the chores anyway!" Ivana cried loudly.

Ivana was never close to Karlos. Their parents and grandmother had brainwashed her into avoiding him as if he were some kind of disease. She didn’t hate him like the others did, she had always seen Karlos as her second brother, but the one the family never loved.

"Ah, so that’s what this is about," Manuel said, finally understanding.

"Papa, please help me."

"You call your father Papa, but you’ve stopped calling me Mama! You don’t love me anymore!" Delilah screamed in melodramatic hysteria.

"How can I love a mother who does nothing but gamble every day and dumps all the housework on me!? I am not your slave!"

"You—!" Delilah lunged toward her daughter, but Manuel quickly stepped between them. He grabbed Delilah’s wrist and pushed her back, stopping her from escalating things further.

"Enough! Stop this nonsense! Ivana, clean the floor. I need to talk to your mother."

"But Pa—"

"I said clean!"

"..."

Ivana clenched her fists, tears welling up as her lips quivered from the injustice. She stared at her parents and finally realized something, she had no allies in this house.

Her eldest brother was an unemployed bum. Her second brother, Karlos, was off in the province, no one even knew if he was still alive. Her mother was a gambling addict. Her father tolerated everything. And her grandmother, who visited every week, clearly preferred boys and treated them like golden children.

Left with no other choice, Ivana picked up the broom and began sweeping the floor, her shoulders drooping from exhaustion.

Manuel watched her for a moment, then let out a sigh. He walked over and awkwardly patted her shoulder in an attempt to comfort her.

"Ivana, I’ll give you some money later. Buy yourself some nice clothes or something to cheer you up."

"Hm." Ivana nodded weakly without looking him in the eyes.

"What? Why bother giving her money? Give it to me instead!" Delilah snapped, but Manuel's cold glare silenced her instantly.

"Let’s talk in our room."

The couple went to their bedroom.

"That daughter of yours! I swear! Why do you even tolerate her? She changed after Karlos left. She’s always grumpy and acts like some brat."

Manuel didn’t even respond. He simply loosened his tie, stared blankly at the floor, and sat heavily on the bed. He sighed, long and deep, wondering how his life had ended up like this.