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Hope stopped her pace and looked at Homelander with a face full of guilt.
"He's still sticking to his stubborn ways. He won't let me participate in the synthesis process. He still doesn't trust me; even at a time like this, he's still guarding against me."
Looking at Hope's self-reproachful appearance after coming up empty-handed, Homelander secretly cursed Pym as a white-haired old fool and a gray-bearded old thief.
But his face showed an incomparably gentle expression as his hands lightly cupped Hope's cheeks.
"Hope, look at me."
"Pym Particles aren't that important to me."
Hope was stunned, looking at him in confusion.
"Really." Homelander's gaze was so affectionate it seemed like it could drown a person.
"The greatest gain from my trip to San Francisco wasn't some technology at all."
"Meeting you, Hope. That is the greatest gain of this trip."
"Even without Pym Particles, as long as we are together, with the chemistry between us, I believe we can definitely create a miracle of our own."
These words were like a shot of adrenaline, dispersing the gloom in Hope's heart.
Hope looked at the deeply affectionate man before her.
He didn't covet her father Pym's technology, didn't care about gains or losses, and only cared about her as a person.
In this World full of calculations and exchanges of interests, this purity was simply irresistible to her.
Hope's heart fluttered; the grievances she had suffered from her father for so long were all healed by Homelander's tenderness at this moment.
"Daniel..." Hope's eyes shimmered as she looked directly into Homelander's eyes.
"I don't want to deny my fascination with you. It's crazy, but I really can't control myself."
She took a small step forward, shortening the already minuscule distance between them.
"I want to know you better, Daniel. To know everything about you."
"Can you tell me your story?" She tilted her head slightly, her eyes filled with an inquisitive longing.
Hearing this request, Homelander knew in his heart that he was just one final push away from closing the deal.
After this, even without the aura effect of the Arsonist of Hearts, she would be completely devoted to him.
"Action!"
Homelander silently clapped the slate in his heart. His emotions switched, and his best actor mode came online.
His gentle smile slowly faded as he turned and walked a few steps toward the boundless sea, his back looking somewhat lonely under the moonlight.
"That isn't a very pleasant memory, Hope. It's even... a bit unbearable to look back on." As the whistling sea breeze heightened the atmosphere, Homelander spoke, his voice tinged with loneliness.
Seeing this, Hope's heart tightened, and she immediately stepped forward to take his hand. "If it makes you feel pain, you don't have to say it. I just..."
"It's okay." Homelander held her hand back and shook his head gently.
"I never met my parents." Homelander's voice carried a perfectly measured tremor.
"When I was still an infant in swaddling clothes, they died in a bizarre accident."
"After that, I was sent to my aunt's house. She was my only relative besides my parents."
He gave a self-deprecating laugh, one filled with bitterness.
"But my aunt and uncle, they didn't welcome me. To them, I was just an extra freak."
"They weren't even willing to give me a proper room."
"Since I was a child, I lived in a tiny cupboard under the stairs, filled with clutter and spiderwebs."
Hope's grip on Homelander's hand tightened, a flash of heartache in her eyes.
"As I grew up, things didn't get better. My cousin was a spoiled fat boy; his greatest pleasure was bullying me. He'd kick me like a soccer ball and punch me like a boxing sandbag."
"And my aunt and uncle turned a blind eye. They pushed all the housework onto me. If even the slightest thing wasn't to their satisfaction, it would result in endless verbal abuse and withholding of food."
"I had no friends growing up. Every day I asked myself, why did I come into this World? Why does nobody love me?"
Homelander's shoulders trembled slightly, as if he were lost in grief.
Hope's heart was breaking.
She couldn't imagine that this confident, elegant man before her had actually experienced such inhumane torture during his childhood.
She thought her own childhood of losing her mother was unfortunate enough, but compared to Daniel, the grievances she had suffered were simply insignificant.
"Until my eleventh birthday."
"I received a letter, an admission notice for a private boarding school founded by the Starr Group."
"That letter changed my life, pulling me out of the darkness."
Homelander described the moment he was reborn.
"I couldn't believe it at the time. It wasn't until a Professor from the school knocked on my aunt's door on a rainy day and took me away by force that I found out my parents had also been the school's most outstanding students. The Academy's Foundation had been watching over me in secret."
"There, I gained knowledge, regained my dignity, and stepped by step, I reached the position I am in today."
Hope listened, enthralled.
"You are truly so strong, Daniel," Hope encouraged.
"You pulled yourself out of the abyss with your own strength."
"No, Hope. I didn't come out alone."
Homelander looked at Hope with a solemn expression.
"In my life, there was someone who gave me the greatest help, and he is also my best friend for life."
"Who is it?" Hope asked curiously.
"Anthony Starr." Homelander slowly uttered the name.
"Or, you might be more familiar with his other name."
"Homelander."
Hearing this name, Hope gasped.
Homelander! That great hero who fought desperately against powerful alien enemies in space to save all of humanity and whose whereabouts are still unknown!
"It was him?" Hope looked at Homelander in shock.
"Yes." Homelander nodded, his tone full of nostalgia.
"He didn't act superior; he even taught me personally, funded me, and gave me everything I needed to grow."
Homelander said to Hope solemnly.
"Hope, believe me, he is a truly good man, a good man who is willing to give everything for his friends and for the weak."
"You can trust him one hundred percent."
Hope was deeply moved as she watched the man she loved defend Homelander from the bottom of his heart.
She nodded heavily.
"I believe you, Daniel. He is a great hero; I've always thought so."
"And I am truly grateful for the help he gave you in your life!"
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"The timing is right," Homelander thought to himself.
He lowered his head slightly, as if letting down all his guards.
"So, when he went missing, I vowed to protect everything he left behind for him. I had to appear strong, had to be impeccable. But..."
Homelander raised his eyes and looked deeply at Hope.
"...I also feel tired and lonely. Until I met you, Hope. You make me feel like I'm no longer alone."
A tragic childhood, rising from adversity, loyalty to his benefactor, and the vulnerability shown at this moment.
Every side this man showed perfectly hit the softest part of Hope's heart.
Maternal instincts and admiration erupted like a volcano at this moment.
"You're not alone anymore, Daniel."
With tears in her eyes, Hope pulled Homelander into a tight embrace.
"I will stay with you, always!"
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