Jon kept still, answering silence with silence.

Irritation flared in Felix's eyes. He reached out. "Hand over the mask now."

Jonathan rolled his eyes, turned his back, and folded his arms as if Felix had vanished into thin air.

Felix's cheeks burned. This kid is ignoring him on purpose.

"How dare you ignore me!"

He lunged, fist closing on thin air, intent on ripping the mask away.

Jonathan reacted fast, shoving Felix aside with a single firm push.

Caught off guard, Felix staggered back several steps and landed hard on the polished floor.

Eyes wide, he sputtered, "Y-you pushed me!"

Still sitting on the floor, Felix craned his neck toward the showroom and hollered, "Mom! Mom! Someone's bullying me!"

The instant Miranda heard her son's panicked cry, she let the silk blouse slip from her fingers and charged toward the break room. Felix was on the polished marble, legs splayed, tears and screams ricocheting off the mirrored walls.

her arms. "Sweetheart, what happened? Tell me who

a pudgy index finger toward the lone child standing by the door, his voice a wail of

that trembling finger. Behind a comic monkey mask stood a boy about Felix's age-calm, silent, unreadable. Rage flashed across her eyes like lightning over dark water. "Staff! Someone get in here, now!" she barked, her voice slicing


three sales associates appeared, the store's pastel uniforms fluttering

their commissions and, more importantly, her family

to the staff like the barrel of a gun. "Is this how you run a luxury boutique? Letting some unwanted child in and hurt my

words echoed in the air, sharp enough to

turned glacial,

looks, wondering who had brought

Noting Jonathan's neatly pressed

polished

level. “Hi there kiddo. Where

thick

tried again, softer this time, but

counter, two clerks whispered. "Maybe he can't talk. Could he

offered, as though


labels-mute, deaf-made Miranda's confidence swell. A powerless boy, she concluded, and her disdain

out! If anything happens to Felix, this store is finished!" Miranda

torn between decency and job

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