chapter2171

Charlotte had only meant to teach Felix the little tyrant a lesson. She never expected his mother to burst in and accuse her of trying to hurt him.

"Ms. Miranda, you've got it wrong. Your son was bullying another child. I stepped in, he cursed at me, and that's why I..."

While she explained, she gently lowered Felix until his shoes touched the floor, her grip loosening but her gaze still stern.

Charlotte wasn't afraid of Miranda herself. What worried her was the headache this incident might dump onto Cecilia later.

She had barely finished half a sentence when Miranda cut her off with an icy slash of words.

"That's your excuse? He's a child he doesn't know any better. You, an adult, put your hands on him. Don't you think you've gone overboard?"

Charlotte's jaw tightened. These little monsters get away with everything, and somehow I'm the villain?

"If you think I've gone overboard, then you ought to start by teaching your son some manners."

Miranda had expected contrition, maybe tears. Instead, she got calm defiance-and it stoked her anger like gasoline tossed on glowing coal.

Her nostrils flared. "Ha. Fine!"

She whipped out her phone, thumb flying, ready to call the police.

"Let's see what the police say about an adult assaulting a child."

Charlotte stayed rooted, arms loose at her sides, making no move to stop Miranda. The optics, she knew, already looked bad.

On the surface, I'm in the wrong. This won't be easy to explain later.

Down the hall, Elliot bolted into the room where Cecilia worked at her laptop, words tumbling out of him almost faster than his breath.

"Mommy, Ms. Talbot's in trouble!"

Cecilia shot to her feet, chair rolling back, her expression flipping from concentration to alarm in an instant as she strode for the doorway.

By the time Cecilia reached the play area, Miranda had already finished the call; the faint echo of a dispatcher's voice still hung in the air like smoke.

Miranda knelt beside Felix, scanning every inch of his designer shirt and tiny limbs. "Felix, sweetie, does it hurt anywhere? Tell the doctor when they arrive, all right?"

Felix understood the assignment. He pressed both palms to his stomach, face scrunching in theatrical pain.

"Mom, everything hurts. My head's spinning too."

"I barely touched you," Charlotte blurted, exasperation leaking through her steady tone.

Felix burst into loud, hiccupping sobs. "You hit me! And you said next time you see me, you'll kill me!"

Framing people came to him as naturally as breathing.

"I never said that—stop lying!" Charlotte retorted. Her voice trembled, not with fear, but with disbelief at how effortlessly a child could twist the truth.

Felix wept harder. The sobs hit him in ragged waves, shoulders jerking each time he tried—and failed to draw a steady breath.

Tears streaking his flushed cheeks, he hid half his face behind his mother's skirt and trembled. "Mom, look... I'm scared," he whispered, the words bumping against one another like frightened birds.

Miranda stepped in front of her son, heels grinding the gravel as she planted herself between Felix and Charlotte. Her eyes flashed. "What?

lay

Do you really think you ca

hand on my child while I'm standing right here?"

Charlotte's jaw tightened, but she forced herself to stay still-even as the sting of Miranda's accusation burned hotter than sun-baked stone.

A short distance away, Cecilia listened while Jonathan hurriedly recounted every detail of the scuffle.

From an adult's vantage, she knew Charlotte wasn't wrong. Someone had to stop Felix before he hurt the other children.

Cecilia squared her shoulders and walked toward the standoff, each step measured, calm, deliberate—yet beneath that composure sparked a coil of protective heat.

She halted at Miranda's side and offered the faintest nod. "Miranda."

Miranda turned, voice dripping with false warmth. "Oh, Ceci, I thought you weren't home."

"I was in my study working," Cecilia answered evenly. "Jon just told me what happened out here."

Miranda's smite vanished, and her words fell like stones. "Really? Your subordinate hit my son, and you're nowhere in sight, but the moment t demand accountability suddenly you appear? Felix is a Rainsworth. Being biased toward your staff isn't a great look, is it?"

Cecilia inhaled once, slowly. "I'm sure you've heard the whole story, Miranda. Felix bullied the other children first, and Charlotte stepped in before things escalated. Besides, she never actually harmed him."

"She dangled my boy upside down

and smacked his backside. How is

that not harm? If it were your son being swung around like a rag doll, would you stand there and do

nothing" Miranda eyes

shock

narrowing on Cecilia.

Charlotte felt guilt coil in her gut at the sight of Cecilia being berated for her sake.

She stepped forward, chin lifted.

"Jon and Eli aren't spoilt brats," she said, voice steady. "They won't bully or lie the way your son just did."