The expression of "appreciation" and "pride" on Frank's face couldn't hold up for long, quickly cracking to reveal the humiliation and anger underneath.
He acted like a "good man" who had been deeply offended, clutching his chest with a heartbroken expression.
"Is this... is this how you perceive your father's good intentions? God as my witness, I just didn't want to see my son waste his... his talent!"
Seeing Frank's self-righteous posturing made Shane feel even more disgusted, especially with the original owner's memories flashing through his mind.
Before crossing over, when Shane watched clips of the show, he used to think, Frank, that old bastard, sure he has flaws, but he's kind of a legend.
But now that he was living it—now that Frank was actually his "dad" and pulling these insane stunts on him—he just wanted to beat the hell out of him right then and there.
Thinking of this, Shane raised his voice, cutting through the noise:
"Stow that nauseating 'for your own good' act, Frank. Did you forget? I already experienced your 'good opportunities' when I was a kid. What, are you switching to introducing me to sugar mamas now? Did you burn your bridges with all those 'quality families' from back then?"
As soon as the words left his mouth, Fiona's face went pale. She remembered those incidents too, and her eyes looked like they were about to shoot fire at Frank.
The people in the room stopped dancing again, stunned by Shane's sudden outburst.
Frank choked on his own words, blindsided by the dredging up of old debts. It was especially embarrassing to have his history exposed in front of his current "financiers" (meaning Kevin and V, who let him drink on a tab), even if his reputation was already in the gutter.
His fake indignation frozen on his face, a trace of panic leaked through. Frank roared, trying to mask his fear with bluster:
"You... what nonsense are you spouting! I have no idea what you're talking about! I was trying to find a way out for this family! Paving the way for your future!"
"Oh God, look at this! This is how the hardworking 'pillar of the family' is treated..."
As he spoke, Frank swiped a bottle of vodka and scurried into a corner.
Everyone knew exactly who Frank was, so no one wanted to listen to his bullshit. Only Debbie remained standing there, trying to defend him:
"That piggy bank... I... I gave it to Frank-daddy myself! He didn't steal it!"
Shane couldn't be bothered to spare Frank another glance. He walked to the side, picked up his tank top and jacket, and put them on crisply.
He hadn't felt it earlier due to the adrenaline and the room temperature, but now the cold wind drafting in hit his sweat-dampened skin, raising goosebumps.
After the brief interruption caused by Frank, the party atmosphere kicked back in. The music took over once more.
Except for Debbie, who occasionally handed Frank some food, no one was willing to spare another look at the "father" slumped in the broken chair by the door.
Frank was like a forgotten, smelly stain on the background. He could only guzzle booze and watch the liveliness before him with cloudy eyes, scheming up god-knows-what kind of "great" idea next.
Shane wanted to go back to the corner and continue his world of two with Karen, but the moment he sat down, Kevin blocked his path.
"Coach!"
Kevin's voice was thick with excitement. He completely ignored Frank's disgusting speech earlier—or rather, the visual impact of Shane's muscles had completely overwritten that little drama.
"When do we start? Tomorrow? No! How about right after the party?"
As he spoke, he slapped his slightly jiggly belly hard, making a loud thwack-thwack sound.
"I can't wait to evict this 'keg' from my gut! What do you need me to do? I've got some equipment at home..."
Kevin's oblivious third-wheeling made Karen pout in dissatisfaction. She hugged Shane's arm tighter, using her eyes to say, This big idiot is really in the way.
Shane found Kevin's eagerness funny, but he was also satisfied that his plan was moving forward smoothly.
He patted Karen's hand to soothe her, then said to Kevin:
"Chill out, Kev. Training isn't something that happens overnight. Tomorrow. Come to my place tomorrow afternoon. We'll do a simple physical assessment, and I'll draft up a basic plan for you."
He needed time to organize the knowledge from his head into a routine that Kevin could understand and actually execute.
"OK! OK! Tomorrow afternoon! It's a date!"
Kevin excitedly chugged a huge mouthful of beer, finally allowing himself to be dragged away by a perceptive V.
V even shot Shane an apologetic look as she hauled her man away.
---
The next day's sunlight struggled to penetrate the greasy windows of the Gallagher house, sprinkling onto the messy living room floor.
Fiona struggled out of bed. She was wearing wrinkly pajamas, her hair was a bird's nest, and she had dark circles under her eyes. Since she blew up at her job yesterday, she actually had a rare Sunday off.
But when she swayed unsteadily down the stairs, Shane was already cleaning up the living room.
Karen hadn't stayed the night. Her religious nut of a father would never allow her to stay out all night, so young Shane had to suffer a bit of loneliness.
However, thanks to the fusion, Shane's body was full of energy even without much sleep.
He was already sweeping empty bottles and paper cups into a massive trash bag, his movements efficient and practiced.
"Ugh..."
Fiona rubbed her temples as she appeared at the top of the stairs. Seeing the busy Shane, she froze for a second before a gratified smile appeared.
"Whoa... looks like our house has its own Magic House Elf."
"I just don't want to eat breakfast in a landfill," Shane said without looking up, sweeping several flattened chip bags into the dustpan.
Soon, the other family members were called out of their respective nests by Fiona like groundhogs, carrying varying degrees of hangovers and lethargy.
What? You ask where Frank is? He disappeared long ago to go mess around who-knows-where.
Lip had a messy head of hair and unfocused eyes.
He kicked an empty beer can aside, walked up to Shane, crossed his arms, and used that tone of his that was full of probing skepticism:
"Hey, 'Muscle Man.' That show you put on last night, and this sudden 'High-Efficiency Training Method'... You better not have joined some cult. or worse, you're actually being kept by some sugar mama—or sugar daddy."
Shane stopped what he was doing and straightened up.
He knew he had to get past Lip. In the original show, Lip would always dig to the bottom of the family's plans, offering advice or sarcasm. Usually well-intentioned, but the delivery was almost always sarcastic.
That was just Lip's personality—"shouting" care, with kindness hidden inside mocking jabs.
Shane put on a helpless expression:
"Relax, Lip. Do I look like that kind of person? I learned it from books, and there's plenty of info online. You just never paid attention to that stuff."
He pointed to his head. "Training with your brain is better than wasting time blindly in a gym. As for the money..."
Shane threw out the familiar excuse.
"I helped a few rich trust-fund kids pass some major exams. Their 'scholarship' is a hell of a lot more generous than writing homework."
Lip squinted. He clearly didn't fully buy it, but the "trust fund kids" and "scholarship" explanation plugged his mouth for now.
"Better be true. Also, if you have a line on rich kids, why didn't you tell me..." he grumbled, turning around to grab a trash bag and help clean.
Ian didn't offer an opinion, silently cleaning up the grossest food scraps.
Unlike Ian's quietness, Carl was full of energy. He was rolling empty bottles like bowling balls and throwing pizza boxes like frisbees until Fiona roared at him to settle down.
Debbie was carefully putting away some decorations that could be reused, her face still holding the excitement from last night's party.
...
"So," Fiona said, scrubbing dried alcohol stains off the table as she looked at Shane.
"Kevin is really coming over this afternoon? Are you sure you know what you're doing, Shane? Being a fitness influencer sounds... a bit unlike you. And, you really aren't being a sugar baby?"
Clearly, the past events Shane mentioned last night, combined with his unusual behavior over the last few days, had connected in Fiona's mind.
Most importantly, Shane had been spending money lavishly lately. It really looked like he was being kept...