He decided to let Elsie meet his son and see what his son would like to do.
Robert arranged the meeting to be in a park this time.
However, not long after Freddie took his son to the park, he took his son to a community next to the park.
In the end, everyone met in an apartment.
This was the first time that Georgia and Elsie had met Benton. He always walked with his head down. His hair was a bit long, and the hair in the front was long enough to cover his eyes. He did not raise his head, so Georgia could not see his face clearly.
She could only be sure that this was a person who was autistic and quiet but shy and refused to approach the outside world. He would only listen to Freddie. When Freddie told him to have a seat and have some tea, Benton did so obediently.
"Benton, I took you here today to meet some people. They'll talk to you later. If you don't like it, just come out, and we'll leave together. Do you understand?"
Benton didn't speak and only sat here quietly. Freddie's eyes were full of worry for his son.
But in the end, Robert, Georgia, Freddie, and those bodyguards all went away. Only Benton and Elsie were left.
Some things were privacy. Some scars could only be shared among themselves.
After everyone left, Elsie squatted directly in front of Benton.
Benton was sitting on the sofa, and Elsie sat on the floor, beside Benton's feet. This way Elsie could see Benton's eyes and all his reactions when she looked up.
"My name is Elsie. Maybe you don't know me. Maybe we met at the orphanage before. But it's too far away, and I'm not sure whether we've spoken back then."
After she finished her words, Benton's eyes were still motionless like a doll. Elsie lowered her head and smiled, then she looked up again and continued.
"It doesn't matter whether we've met or not, but I've lived in the same orphanage as you. Chase was the director of the orphanage. He always bullied us, and the orphanage was in a bad atmosphere. Everyone fought for food to survive. Older children beat younger children. Younger children depended on older children to bully even younger children. I'm sure you've experienced it too, right?"
Benton still did not respond when he heard her. He seemed lost in his own world, unable to hear any words from the outside world. Elsie neither fell silent nor felt discouraged. Instead, she started to mutter to herself.
"I've been living in the orphanage since I was a child. A lot of people bulled me. If you don't believe me, you can move your eyeballs and see if I look pretty. You know what it means to be a good-looking child in that orphanage.
It means jealousy, pain, and exclusion, but so what? I was hungry and cold. Later, I was sent to Chase, the director of the orphanage. Do you know what happened afterwards?"
After Elsie finished speaking, she smiled and looked at Benton.
"I know, you must understand what happened to me, you must understand the pain. It's a nightmare we both have."
"He sent me to a middle-aged man with a fat belly. At that time, I was only ten years old, and I was assaulted without realizing it. At that time, I didn't even understand what was going on, but I was hungry. Just because I served this man, I could have snacks and fruits. How about you? How old were you when you experienced it? You are also very good-looking. Perhaps we experienced similar things. We both suffered..."
When Elsie got to this point, her eyes looked sorrowful, and she looked lost in her thoughts.
It didn't feel as painful for her to talk about these things now. Benton finally moved his eyes and glanced at Elsie seriously before he became lost in his own world again. Elsie smiled and continued.
"I think you probably understand what kind of life someone like me lived later. I often went to the director's office and served a lot of middle-aged men. Some young and some old. Some gentle and some gentle. But that doesn't matter. Because my life has been ruined since then... But I didn't think it was fair and I didn't think I should continue living that way. I should escape, and in fact, I planned to escape. When I was a teenager, I got to understand that what I experienced was injustice. They were breaking the law. I wanted to escape. I couldn't give myself up to fate, but I failed..."
At this moment, Benton glanced at Elsie again.
"There was a girl named Millie. She was a few years older than me. She was paying attention to me and discovered my secret. She later informed Chase. Do you know what happens to someone like me who wants to escape? It was worse than your days in the orphanage."
With this, Benton finally looked at Elsie seriously. He seemed curious because his life only consisted of his time at the orphanage and his return to the Jimenez family.
As for the lives of those children who tried to escape, perhaps he knew that they would be miserable. But he didn't know how miserable they were. But Elsie looked healthy in front of him and had a smile on her face. Did she push through adversity? Benton showed a curious look, and Elsie smiled.
"I failed to escape, so he sold me to a red-light district. I don't know if you can understand. I was sold to a place where I could only serve men every day, and the money that I earned didn't belong to me. I could only sell my body every day and endure beating from customers. I spent several years there until I saved a man. He was very accomplished. He saved me, and I was freed. Otherwise, I would've died there a long time ago. That was my life in the past. It was more bizarre than you think, but now I'm alive and healthy. Just like you, I found my relatives and friends, and my life is on the right track."
"But I know that I'm not fine on the inside. I can't save myself. Like you, I try hard to live like a normal person in front of my family and friends, but I know that some things can't be done. I know that after you returned to the Jimenez family, you had to be considerate of your parents, so you kept quiet. You know some things, but you can't tell them, so it's better to be mute for life. But I know that we both have things that we want to do, right?"
Benton didn't look at Elsie, but he stood up and seemed like he wanted to leave.
"Do you know what kind of life Chase is living now? He is married, and his wife is the same woman who informed against me back then, Millie. He has adopted two children and brings a child to parties from time to time. Just like what you might imagine, there are many people like Chase there. They bully those children. That was our life back then. They are evil people who are committing crimes again and again... I wanted to meet you because I want to save those children. I know what you think inside. You want to save them too because they are just like us back then. You want to save yourself, right?"