Carlos said, "Sidney, eat your meal."
Despite it being a directive, Sidney stayed unruffled, as composed as a tranquil water surface.
Suddenly, Eddie called out, "Liar."
Carlos frowned. "I have sent for your mommy."
Eddie averted his gaze, refusing to trust anything the man said until he saw his mother. Carlos had no intention of persuading him.
The boy wasn't his son; why should he bother?
Sidney continued to sit in calm meditation, ignoring Sophia coaxing, "Sidney, you haven't eaten all day, aren't you hungry?"
Sidney glanced at the beef and chicken breast piled into his bowl as if they were invisible.
"What are we to do?" Madam Murphy was beside herself with worry, "Sidney, what do you want? Eat your meal, and I'll buy you whatever you wish, alright?"
"I want Angela," Sidney declared with determination, his small voice cutting through the room.
Sophia turned to Carlos, her expression a mix of confusion and concern.
Carlos furrowed his brow, asserting, “No tantrums”.
"I want Angela," Sidney insisted, his gaze unwavering.
Carlos maintained a stoic silence, his expression revealing little.
The room fell into an intense quiet, a tense standoff playing out between father and son. The air thickened with unresolved emotions, creating an atmosphere pregnant with unspoken words and unfulfilled desires.
Just then a vehicle was heard pulling up in the driveway.
Mike got out of the car, entered the house, and reported back to Carlos, "Mr. Murphy, she's here." He paused, as though something concerned him.
"What is it?" Carlos asked.
Mike whispered, "Ms. Parker is injured."
Wearing a deep frown, Carlos strode purposefully towards the exit, his determined steps echoing in the air as he left the room and ventured outside. The gravity of the situation was palpable, and the weight of unspoken tension lingered in the atmosphere.
Sidney's ears perked up, and he tried to follow, but Sophia grabbed him and carried him back to his seat like a kitten, "Be good, Sidney, don't run off."
Eddie, anxious, followed Carlos outside and saw the rear door of the car open. Angela was slumped in the backseat, unconscious and motionless.
"Mommy!"
Eddie climbed into the backseat, his heart racing, and held Angela's face in panic. Her body and face were bruised.
"Mommy!!" Eddie's pent-up anger roared out like a little tiger, "Who hurt my mommy?"
Inside, hearing Eddie's voice, Sidney also ventured out worriedly. Upon seeing Angela, injured and insensible in Eddie's tight embrace, he clenched his little hands to his chest apprehensively.
Carlos glanced at the scene, his expression shifting. "What happened? Did someone use unauthorized force?”
Mike explained, "Ms. Parker was put in detention. When the suspects inside heard she was a child trafficker, they got angry and beat her. Luckily, she's not seriously injured; it's mostly superficial wounds."
Furious upon hearing this, Eddie clenched his teeth, "Not seriously injured!?"
"How can you call these injuries not serious?"
This man was obviously telling blatant lies.
Mike, realizing his mistake, kept silent.
"It’s all your fault!" Eddie glared at Carlos with hatred, "You're the one who framed my mommy as a child trafficker; you're responsible for her injuries! What if she has lasting damage, are you going to take responsibility?"
Carlos answered firmly, "I will take responsibility."
There was no hesitation in his response. Mike was at a loss for words.
"How will you take responsibility?" Eddie asked coldly.
Carlos approached and asserted, "If she has any complications, I am responsible. I will support her for life."
Sidney looked at Angela with a pained expression, then back at Carlos, overwhelmed with remorse and guilt.
If he had not left school on his own, the Murphy family would not have gone to such lengths, and Angela would not have been suspected of trafficking and hurt so badly.
Carlos moved to lift Angela from the car, but Eddie was protective and wary, holding Angela tightly and staring down the man before him with distrustful eyes.
Carlos commanded, "Hand her over to me."
"No, you only hurt mommy, I won't give her to you!" Eddie retorted.
Carlos insisted, "I will let her stay with the Murphy family until she recovers. I will hire the best doctors for her and ensure she has no scars or complications."
Hearing this, Eddie's resolve wavered slightly. He watched as Carlos seemed sincere in taking full responsibility and his protective hands gradually loosened...
Angela regained consciousness with a throbbing pain at her temple and found herself looking up at an ornate, empty ceiling, disoriented and unable to recognize where she was.
Suddenly, a delicate child's face appeared above her field of vision. With earnest, shiny black eyes, Sidney gently placed his hand on her forehead.
"Sidney..." Angela recognized him.
Angela slowly sat up, and Sidney quickly brought her a cushion to lean against.
On the two meter wide bed, Eddie lay obediently at the edge, his delicate features revealing a tiredness he couldn't hide.
Looking out the window, dawn was breaking.
Next to the bed stood a solitary armchair where Carlos lounged, one arm supporting his chin. The morning light bestowed a gentle radiance upon him, softening the strong contours of his masculine features shrouded in shadows. This created a picture that was simultaneously delicate and sharp, less formidable and authoritative than his waking presence.
Sidney approached, tugging at his sleeve and patting his cheek.
Carlos, a light sleeper, awoke abruptly, his eyebrows arching as he locked gaze with Angela as she stirred.
His Adam's apple bobbed. "You're awake?"
Angela started to remember. She had been mistaken for a child trafficker and taken to the police station for a twenty four hour hold with other suspects. When they learned she was arrested for "child trafficking," they beat her out of righteous indignation, trapping her in a corner with slaps and punches.
Thankfully, she had instinctively protected her head or she would likely be lying in an ICU now.
And now she had been cleared of suspicion and was brought to the Murphy mansion by Carlos, who'd then watched over her all night?
Angela saw a hint of weariness in Carlos's brows and eyes, but on second thought, had this man not dragged her to the police station without distinguishing right from wrong, she never would have suffered such humiliation.
The atmosphere was subtly awkward.
Carlos parted his thin lips, at a loss for words. "You..."
"Do you wish to apologize, Mr. Murphy?" Angela spoke. “Let me be clear upfront: I reject your apology."
Carlos was speechless. Apologize? How did she come to that misconception?
Observing the frigid intensity in Carlos's stare, Angela couldn't help but scoff, "Am I deluding myself? Would a figure like Mr. Murphy, accustomed to navigating the tempestuous waters of politics, deign to apologize for a simple misunderstanding?"
Her words were laced with a mixture of defiance and sarcasm, challenging the notion that someone of Carlos's stature would entertain the notion of an apology for what might be perceived as a minor misinterpretation.