I Refuse this Late

It had been nothing less than an absolute nightmare.

Nonetheless, I changed into fresh clothes and cleaned up my wounds before heading downstairs.

It just happened to be dinner, and my mother looked at me in disbelief, but soon beckoned while scoffing. "So you can find your way back. And you were gone so long without even calling home…"

My grief was ready to burst right then, but someone spoke before I could, "Mom, aren't you going to have tea with Mrs. Chandler?"

It was Uriah, dressed sharply in a suit as he strode in the door.

Mom quickly turned away from me, exclaiming, "Oh, right! I almost forgot—thanks for reminding me!"

Uriah shrugged and settled on the couch, grinning at me as he said, "Oh, you're finally back, John. It's high time you learned to fend for yourself and stop upsetting our parents."

Everyone turned toward me right then, while my heart skipped a beat when I saw Uriah's mocking grin.

But I didn't snap like before, and my mother didn't refute it.

Just one glance at Uriah, and she was shaking her head disapprovingly. "You're losing weight again, Uriah. You haven't been eating well, have you?

"Your health is always more important than work, and it's not like your dad resigned yet."

Hearing that, I quietly hid my hand behind myself.

I was barely a few feet away from my mother, but she never noticed my limp or my bruised hand.

And yet, she immediately noticed that Uriah wasn't eating well.

On the other hand, Uriah smiled. "Right, I should be more disciplined since John has made enough trouble for you."

Mom glanced at me, looking like she had much to say but only sighed.

-

As my mom tried to get me to eat more at the dinner table, I tamely thanked her. However, she still sighed wryly.

But thankfully, she didn't lecture me, even giving me the debit card she and Dad had confiscated before.

"Look, John—we were so worried when you left, so we decided we won't be so strict with you. Your dad deposited more money in the card too."

My fingers clenched around the card for a moment, but I soon let go.

The card came back to me way too late.

Somehow, I could feel Uriah staring at me throughout, but when I looked up at him, he turned and smiled at Stella who sat beside him. "It's like you're only capable of getting better. I can't even be mad about losing to you at that auction."

Stella rolled her eyes, but pulled out a gift box and spoke with a milder tone than usual, "Here's your birthday present. Sorry I couldn't make it since I was on a business trip abroad."

"Oh, and I thought you're so busy you've forgotten," Uriah chuckled, and opened the box to reveal a dark-green wristwatch.

I paused, as I had seen it on a list of auctioned items.

Back then, I had taken a liking to it right away, but I didn't have an invitation to said auction event.

Stella had noticed me staring, and told me coolly then, "Don't cause trouble, and I'll buy it for your birthday."

But now, she was giving it to Uriah—even if she said nothing, I knew that it was my punishment.

Nonetheless, I excused myself politely from my table after eating my fill and left the table, only for Stella to confront me upstairs.