Matthew, why did you come here? It's just a small matter."
Selena's slightly coquettish voice sounded. Flora was startled, turned around, and saw Matthew's smiling eyes.
He seemed to have seen her but did not pay attention, casually chatting with his fiancée.
"I heard you were here, so I came to see how things are going."
Just then, in the area where the models were being prepared, a voice full of arrogance and pretense sounded:
"I don't care who he is. He has no reputation and still dares to act arrogant in front of me. I don't want to shoot with him. If you want to keep him here, I will cancel the contract."
Emma, the hottest child model in the industry right now, was sitting with crossed arms, her small and beautiful chin raised to the sky.
A few steps away, an emotionless boy looked straight at her, unmoved by her criticism.
"Famous people are all like you, huh? Arrogant and foolish." After staring at her for a few seconds, he added, "And ugly, too. I don't understand what makes them think you're good-looking."
Flora was startled. This familiar voice... wasn't it Charlie, her son? He had mentioned working as an advertising model before. But she didn't expect it to be such a coincidence that the advertising he was shooting was the one she was in charge of for the educational device.
In a hurry, she ran over, and the little girl Emma was pointing angrily at Charlie.
"There's no need to be so arrogant with no reputation! And he dared to touch me too! I'm not going to take a photo with him!"
The children's argument scene was somewhat out of control. Flora hurriedly ran over, squatting in front of Emma.
"Emma, can I ask the little boy to apologize to you?"
"Who are you that I should listen to you?" Emma angrily threw her iPad to the ground, "He touched me!"
Her stern gaze fixed on the boy, who had a dark face, and she calmly replied, "Your skirt was caught in your underwear. I was trying to help you pull it down. If you don't thank me, then forget it. Why are you so angry?"
The boy's attitude only made Emma even angry.
As a famous little princess since childhood, Emma had always been pampered and praised wherever she went and had never been treated like this before.
In the stunned silence of those around them, Emma suddenly burst into tears, crying and screaming that she was being bullied.
The crying caught Selena's attention, and she pulled Matthew over, frowning and asking, "What happened?"
Flora sighed and replied, "The two children argued over a small misunderstanding, and Emma doesn't want to continue taking photos."
Selena's cold gaze fell on the emotionless face of the boy standing next to her.
Emma was a famous child model, and they had paid money to invite her.
No matter what happened, they had to stand with the little girl. Selena frowned.
"Who brought this boy here? He made a mistake and still refuses to apologize? How uncivilized!"
On the other side, Emma had stopped crying for a while, her eyes shining as she watched the adults arrive.
As if finding a place to rely on, the little girl crossed her arms and sat down on a chair, tilting her chin up and saying, "I can forgive him if I want to. You all should make him kneel and apologize to me."
"You're just arrogant and ignorant!" Before the adults could say anything, the boy casually dropped a bombshell as if pouring gasoline on the fire.
Selena's gaze at the boy looked like she wanted to eat him alive. "You, little brat, apologize by kneeling now!"
The story had gone too far, and even Flora couldn't help but frown.
Initially, there was no problem. The boy's actions were only based on good intentions. If Emma felt uncomfortable, she could ask the boy to apologize. But instead, she knelt...
"Director Selena, don't you think making a child kneel is extremely damaging? Kneeling is related to a person's dignity..."
Before she could finish her sentence, Selena made a cold "huh" sound, indicating she didn't think she was right.
"What does someone like him, born without a father to teach him, know about dignity?"
Selena had looked at the boy's profile, and it seemed that his father's information was missing, so it was sure that he didn't have a father. A child without a father was truly deficient in many ways.
She didn't think much before speaking those words, but to her surprise, the newly recruited secretary, Flora, reacted extremely fiercely.
"Director, there are things that adults can't just say..." Flora raised her head and looked at Selena with sharp eyes. "What do you mean by saying that?"
Her son didn't have a father, but that didn't mean a stranger like Selena could bring this up and casually insult the boy.
Selena seemed not to realize she was wrong and raised her voice in rebuttal.
"Did I say something wrong? This boy doesn't have a father. Who knows how his mother slept around with men to give birth..."
Sometimes, words can cause more harm than physical violence.
Exceedingly hurtful words aimed at a six-year-old child. The boy tried to control himself, but his voice still unconsciously trembled.
"That's enough. No need to say anymore. You win... I'll kneel."
He was clearly just a child, but his gaze made Selena take a step back in surprise, and her finger involuntarily clung tightly to the arm of the man next to her.
Before the boy could kneel, he was engulfed in a warm embrace.
Flora used all her strength to embrace the small body of her son tightly. From her brown eyes, a hot tear flowed down.
"No... we're not wrong. You don't have to kneel." She gently stroked her son's cheek. "You didn't do anything wrong. We don't need to earn this money anymore."
Taking a sum of money from the advertisement shoot, only to have them humiliate her son in such a senseless and cruel way, was something Flora didn't need.
She had remained strong until now, but as she hugged her son tightly, he couldn't hold back his tears any longer.
The little boy's eyes seemed to blur, and her embrace suddenly loosened.
Her mind suddenly became fuzzy, and Flora fell with a gasp.
"Mom! What's wrong?"
"Flora... what's wrong?"
Matthew quickly pushed Selena's hand away and rushed to embrace the tiny figure that had just fallen.
She was burning up, her bright face red.
He gently touched his hand to her forehead, recoiling from the burning heat.
As he lifted Flora, he spoke to the child beside him.
"Come with me. Your mom has a high fever and needs to go to the hospital immediately."
It was so difficult for this man to take a bold look at her work once, only to have it ruined like this. How could Selena bear it?
She reached out to grab his jacket.
"Matthew, the advertisement is significant. We can't stop like this." After thinking momentarily, she added, "Let me have someone take her to the hospital. We still have to shoot the advertisement, you..."
Matthew's eyebrows furrowed tightly, and his heart both panicked and worried. At this point, he was no longer interested in the unfinished advertisement.
But if Selena said so...
"No more shooting. Cancel all advertising contracts with Emma, immediately transfer compensation for the contract, and sue Emma's team for unprofessional behavior during cooperation."
Just from Emma's disregard for anyone earlier, he had decided to put this child model on his blocklist.
Fortunately, she was just his foolish secretary and had only caught a common cold and not some severe illness.
According to the doctor, she only needed a paracetamol bottle to relieve her fever.
After caring for Flora, he finally had time to pay attention to her son.
The little boy was staring at the person lying on the hospital bed, his face expressionless.
"The doctor said everything will be fine, don't worry too much." He absentmindedly rubbed the boy's head.
"Today was a real setback for you."
"Thank you. You helped me to pay attention to my mom for a bit so that I can call home," said Matthew with a slight smile as he nodded at the little boy before being stunned by his actions.
It had been a long time since he had felt optimistic about a little boy he had just met once like this.
Looking at the girl lying on the hospital bed with closed eyes, he couldn't help but think, who could have created such a wonderful child with her?