“Hi, Angela!”
At the sudden voice, Angela turned around in surprise. A group of children she had never seen before stood together, watching her. She tensed instinctively, confused, and glanced around, but all she saw were unfamiliar faces.
What do I do?
Fear gripped her for a moment before she realized she had instinctively searched for Winston. What am I doing?! Turning to him for help? Getting intimidated over something like this?
Angela straightened her posture with confidence, thinking of Yu-jin. There was no reason for her to be scared. What could they possibly do to her? If they hit her, she’d just hit them back. After all, she was four years old now!
She hopped off her chair, clenched her small fists tightly, and faced the group of children alone. Truthfully, she was a little scared. Just a little. As she remained on high alert, scanning her surroundings, one of the kids suddenly stepped forward. Without even realizing it, Angela swung her fist straight at their face.
“Hi, I’m— UGH!”
With a miserable cry, the boy went tumbling to the ground. The other children shrieked and scrambled backward in shock. Angela bounced on her feet, mimicking the clumsy footwork she had learned from the old man in her apartment complex, who used to be a boxer.
“What do you want?” she demanded. “If you’ve got something to say, stand ten steps away and say it! Unless you want to get hit!”
The kids froze in fear. The atmosphere turned icy as Angela kept hopping from foot to foot, determinedly showing off her moves. Then, all of a sudden, a shadow loomed over her. Before she could react, someone effortlessly lifted her off the ground.
“Ah!”
“What’s going on, Angie? Did these kids do something to you?”
Angela let out a short yelp but immediately relaxed at the familiar, gentle voice. Winston was smiling, but his gaze swept over the children with a chilling sharpness as he spoke. Even so, he kept his pheromones carefully suppressed—there was no need to intimidate mere children, especially since he was holding Angela.
The kids, overwhelmed by the sheer pressure of his presence, instinctively tried to step back. But they couldn’t. Just a short distance away, their parents were anxiously watching, making sure they didn’t flee. Trapped in a dilemma, the children hesitated, shifting uncomfortably with tearful expressions. Finally, the tallest among them mustered the courage to step forward.
“W-We… we just… wanted to be friends with Angela.”
The trembling voice revealed their true intention. Winston stared at the girl intently, his gaze unwavering. Like the others, she was visibly shaking. Then, he turned to Angela and asked in a completely different, gentle tone, “They say they want to be your friends. What do you think?”
Angela blinked in surprise. Friends? With me? Really?
She glanced down again, her eyes meeting those of the boy she had just punched. He flinched and swallowed hard, shrinking back. Guilt pricked at her.
“Put me down,” she said.
Without hesitation, Winston bent down and granted her request. Once her feet touched the ground, Angela started walking toward the frightened boy.
“Sorry.”
Angela stopped a few steps away and spoke clearly, enunciating each word. Under the startled gazes of the children, she looked straight at the boy and continued.
“I misunderstood. Does it hurt a lot? I’m sorry. You can hit me back. It was my fault first.”
Sincerely apologizing, Angela closed her eyes and turned her face, offering her cheek to the boy. This was the law of the streets—if someone did something wrong, they had to make amends. She braced herself, recalling the life lesson the old boxer had once told her.
“What do you mean, hit you?! We came here because we wanted to be friends with you!”
Suddenly, the girl from earlier cut in. Angela opened her eyes to look at her. The girl stood between them, grinning as she spoke.
“Brayden is fine. He’s a boy, right? This kind of thing is no big deal.”
Though she was smiling, her gaze was sharp—almost threatening, as if daring Brayden to disagree. He hesitated for a moment, then, looking utterly defeated, nodded hesitantly.
“Y-Yeah… I-I’m fine…”
“See? Brayden says he’s fine. So, that means we’re friends now, right? Right?”
The girl immediately turned back to Angela, her voice ringing with urgency. Angela hesitated, glancing up at Winston. He simply smiled, saying nothing, as if telling her to decide for herself. After a moment of hesitation, Angela made up her mind and nodded.
“Yeah, okay.”
The moment she said it, the girl threw her arms around Angela and exclaimed,
“Happy Halloween! And happy birthday! I’m Jordan Young!”
Then, pointing at the boy, she added,
“That’s my little brother, Brayden Young. Do you want to come over to our house sometime? We have a dog this big!”
As Jordan chattered excitedly, the other children, who had been hesitating, finally gathered around.
“I’m Patricia Turner! Let’s be friends!”
“I want to be friends with you too! Oh! By the way, my name is Sienna Malone…”
One by one, they eagerly introduced themselves, all talking over each other in their excitement. Angela, overwhelmed, could only look around at them in a daze.
***
It was about an hour later when Winston finally carried Angela out of the party. She had spent the time running around joyfully with the other kids, while Winston engaged in polite conversation with their parents. Their intentions were obvious, but that didn’t matter—after all, everything in this world revolved around personal gain. As long as Angela was happy, that was a benefit to Winston as well.
“Please come to our party next time. My daughter’s birthday is coming up soon.”
One of the parents, quick to take the opportunity, made the suggestion. Winston responded with a gracious nod.
“Send us the invitation, and we’ll be sure to attend. Angela would love that.”
“Oh, of course. My daughter would love that.”
“This would be a great opportunity to start a parent gathering as well.”
“That’s right! Since our children are all friends, it would make for a special group.”
The parents wasted no time in pushing their agenda, but Winston merely sipped his champagne in response. His silence was a subtle warning—an unspoken boundary they dared not cross. Realizing this, they exchanged awkward glances and quickly shifted the conversation.
Even as he entertained their small talk, Winston never let his attention stray from Angela. The moment she stopped running around and let out a sleepy yawn, he seized the opportunity.
“My daughter is getting tired. I should put her to bed now. Please excuse us.”
“Oh, of course. It’s about time for our children to sleep as well…”
“We had a wonderful time tonight, Mr. Campbell.”
“See you next time. Thank you again.”
Leaving behind the chorus of polite farewells, Winston made his way toward Angela—just in time to catch the tail end of a conversation.
“What? Kindergarten?”
“Yeah, that’s right.”
Jordan glanced around at the other kids as if seeking their agreement before continuing.
“We could all meet up and play together every day. Wouldn’t that be fun?”
The children who had been standing idly behind her quickly chimed in.
“Y-Yeah, of course!”
“You should come! Play with us!”
“We all go to the same kindergarten. If you come too, it’ll be amazing!”
The kids clapped and cheered enthusiastically, and Angela’s face flushed red. She fumbled for a response.
“Uh… okay. I’ll think about it.”
It wasn’t something she could decide on her own. Just as she was about to change the subject, Winston conveniently swooped in and lifted her into his arms.
“That’s enough fun for today. Let’s go upstairs and get some sleep. We have to meet Daddy early tomorrow.”
“Okay!”
Angela responded without hesitation. Winston had briefly worried she might want to stay and play longer with her new friends, but thankfully, that wasn’t the case. She waved at the children as she nestled into Winston’s arms, and they all waved back with bright smiles.
But as soon as Winston and Angela disappeared from sight, the cheerful faces of the children turned eerily blank.
“Tch. Who does she think she is, acting all high and mighty?”
The remark was followed by a chorus of complaints.
“Our parents told us to get close to the Campbells, so we had no choice but to play with her. She doesn’t even realize it.”
“Right? I wouldn’t normally waste my time with someone so tacky.”
“Jordan, why did you even tell her to come to our kindergarten? I don’t want to play with her!”
Faced with their grumbling, Jordan answered nonchalantly.
“She won’t be able to enroll anyway. It’s not the kind of place just anyone can get into.”
Their kindergarten required reservations before birth, and Jordan herself had been registered before she was even born. And now some nobody was supposed to attend the same school as them?
Not a chance.
Scoffing, Jordan crossed her arms and said,
“She’s just not on our level. She doesn’t belong with us.”
Everyone nodded in agreement. They had spent the entire time pretending to like Angela, lying through their teeth.
All except for one.
Thump, thump.
Brayden stood silently, his hand pressed against his swollen cheek, staring in the direction where Angela had disappeared. His sister’s words faded into the background, completely unheard.
Horrible little toadies. I was tricked thinking they were cute little kids…