“How long have you known my son?”
Maya frowned. “Not long.”
“And in that short time, you managed to make him hate his own home.”
“I never told him to hate anyone.”
“Yet he wants to live with you.”
Thomas took a step forward.
“How much are you asking for?”
Maya fell silent.
Evan lifted his face.
“Dad!”
Thomas kept his eyes on Maya.
“Fifty million? A hundred million? Or do you want to become part of the Mahardika family?”
Maya stared at him in disbelief.
Then she let out a small laugh.
Not because it was funny.
Because the accusation hurt too much.
“Now I understand,” she said softly. “Evan isn’t afraid to go home because the house is big. He’s afraid to go home because his father always assumes everyone has a price.”
Thomas narrowed his eyes.
“Don’t change the subject.”
“I’m not asking for anything.”
“Everyone says that before getting what they want.”
Maya crouched beside Evan.
“Evan, your dad is here.”
The boy looked at Thomas with tear-filled eyes.
“I want to stay with Maya.”
Thomas clenched his jaw to keep it from tightening.
“She’s not your family.”
Evan gripped Maya’s hand more tightly.
“She makes me feel like I’m family.”
His words plunged the room into silence again.
Thomas looked at his son.
For the first time, he saw something Evan had never shown him before.
Not anger.
Not mischief.
But the fear of being abandoned.
Thomas shifted his gaze to Maya.
“You must have said something to him.”
Maya stood.
“No. I only listened.”
“Evan has never talked like this before.”
“Maybe that’s because no one ever really listened to him.”
Thomas eyed Maya with growing suspicion.
He didn’t believe she was sincere.
There was no way someone Evan had only just met could change his son so much in such a short time without some ulterior motive.
Thomas held out his hand.
“Evan, come with Dad.”
Evan stepped back.
“No!”
“Evan.”
“I want to stay with Maya!”
Thomas stared at the boy with a rigid expression, but his eyes darkened.
“That’s enough.”
Evan began to tremble.
Maya immediately stepped in front of him.
“Don’t yell at him.”
Thomas raised his head.
“You really want to interfere?”
“Yes.”
“You’re not even family.”
Maya met his gaze without flinching.
“Maybe I’m no one to you. But tonight, I’m the only person who makes your son feel safe.”
Thomas fell silent.
Outside, his phone began to ring.
Raka answered it at once, and his expression turned tense.
“Sir, we have a problem.”
“What?”
“We found security footage from the area where Evan was last seen before he reached Ms. Maya’s house.”
Thomas was still looking at Maya.
“Play it.”
Raka opened the footage on his phone and handed it over.
On the screen, Evan could be seen walking alone along the side of the road. A few seconds later, the boy was nearly hit by a car.
Maya appeared from the opposite direction.
She ran without regard for the other vehicles, pulled Evan into her arms, then stood in the middle of the road and yelled at the driver.
Thomas stared at the footage without blinking.
Raka spoke quietly.
“According to the timestamps, Ms. Maya didn’t take Evan. She saved him.”
Thomas looked at Maya again.
For the first time, his suspicion cracked.
However, he still didn’t completely trust her.
“Even though you saved Evan,” he said, “I still can’t let him stay with you.”
Maya nodded slowly.
“I know.”
“Evan is coming home with me tonight.”
Evan immediately burst into tears.
Maya closed her eyes for a moment. She wanted to hug him, but she knew she had no right to keep a child from his father.
Thomas held out his hand once more.
“Evan.”
The boy didn’t move.
He looked at Maya with pleading eyes.
Maya knelt in front of him.
“Go with your dad.”
“I don’t want to.”
“Listen to me. Go home tonight.”
“Can I come back tomorrow?”
Maya fell silent.
Thomas cut in immediately.
“No.”
Evan looked at his father in disappointment.
Maya stroked his head.
“If your dad allows it.”
Thomas frowned.
“Don’t give him false hope.”
Maya looked at Thomas.
“Then don’t make him feel like he’s losing the only place he considers home.”
Thomas didn’t answer.
Evan finally released Maya’s hand, but before walking over to his father, he whispered,
“Don’t forget your promise.”
Maya held back her tears.
“I won’t forget.”
Thomas took Evan’s hand.
However, after they had taken only a few steps toward the door, Evan suddenly stopped.
He turned to Maya.
“Dad.”
“What?”
“I want Maya to come with us.”
Thomas shot him a sharp look.
“No.”
“Then I don’t want to go either.”
“Evan.”
“I’m serious!”
Thomas drew a long breath. He looked at Maya, then at the small house.
“Tomorrow,” he said at last. “Maya can come to our house.”
Maya frowned.
“What for?”
Thomas answered coldly,
“To prove that you really aren’t taking advantage of my son.”
Evan looked at his father.
“If Maya isn’t using me, can I live with her?”
Thomas looked at Maya.
“No.”
Evan puffed out his cheeks.
Thomas continued, “But if she really doesn’t want anything from the Mahardika family, I’ll consider letting you see her.”
Maya knew it wasn’t a promise.
But for tonight, it was all she could get.
Evan finally walked out with Thomas. Before getting into the car, he kept looking back toward Maya’s small house.
Maya stood in the doorway until the car disappeared at the end of the road.
Inside the car, Thomas watched his son remain silent throughout the drive.
“Evan.”
The boy didn’t answer.
“That woman might only be using you.”
Evan looked out the window.
“She bought me the cheapest ice cream.”
Thomas fell silent.
“If she wanted to use me, she would’ve asked for Dad’s money.”
“She might be waiting for the right time.”
Evan turned to him.
“Then why have you never waited for the right time to listen to me?”
Thomas had no answer.
Evan turned his attention back to the houses they passed.
“I want to live with Maya.”
Thomas clenched his fists on his thighs.
He didn’t know Maya.
He didn’t trust Maya.
But for the first time, he realized that his son had found something in that small house that he had never managed to give him.
Warmth.
Meanwhile, Maya closed the door to her house and leaned against it.
The room fell silent again.
There was no Evan complaining about his ice cream.
No little footsteps running in from the living room.
No voice calling her name.
“Maya.”
Maya turned around quickly.
But there was no one there.
She smiled bitterly, then lowered her head.
At the Mahardika family’s big house, Evan was also standing in front of his bedroom window.
His hand clutched the now-empty little ice cream wrapper.
For the first time in a long while, he missed someone.
Not his father.
Not his home.
But Maya.
And that night, Evan made a promise to himself.
No matter what happened, he would return to the woman who had made him feel like he had a mother.