panicking? What could possibly happen to him at home?”
I didn’t bother responding and slammed the gas pedal.
The moment I stepped through the Gardners‘ residence doors, I heard Yuna’s carefree laughter echoing from the garden. I followed the sound and saw Yael’s small body bent over the fish pond, his hands flailing in the water.
Yuna stood at the pond’s edge, laughing so hard she nearly fell over. “Left! No, more to the left! Ugh, too far–right! You’re so stupid!” she shouted gleefully.
Lily sat nearby, sipping tea leisurely, as though this were all a perfectly normal scene.
A loud buzzing filled my head; everything else faded into silence. I stormed over, pulled Yael out of the fish pond, and held him tightly in my arms.
The moment he realized it was me, Yael couldn’t hold it in anymore. He began sobbing quietly into my chest.
Yuna, still unfazed, only started panicking when she saw Silas emerge behind me. “U–u- uncle…” she stammered, her face draining of color.
1/2
Lily, startled, stood up abruptly, spilling tea all over herself.
Neither of them expected Silas to return at this hour.
Lily coughed nervously, trying to compose herself. “Silas, why are you back so suddenly?” she asked with a forced smile.
Silas’s expression was thunderous, his presence radiating a suffocating tension. “What were you doing?”
Yuna stammered, “Yael b–b–bumped my bracelet, and it fell into the pond. I just… asked him to get it for me.”
Silas glanced at the surveillance camera nearby. “Did Yael really throw it in?”
Yuna froze, her face turning white as a sheet. “N–no! It fell in… by accident…” she quickly corrected herself.
Lily stepped forward, trying to grab Silas’s arm, but he moved away. She forced a laugh They’re just kids, Silas. Let them handle their own little problems.”
Silas’s brows furrowed tightly. “Leave. Now.”
Lily tried again, her voice pleading. “Silas, I—”
“Get out!” Silas roared, his anger erupting.
Lily and Yuna fled in disgrace.-
