Returning to the Clayton Health Center after half an hour, Viona left there. Or to be precise, after Sammy woke up from his long sleep.
Currently, the atmosphere in the cold room tends to feel stuffy as the two men of different ages there exchange annoyed glances.
Sammy, with a red face after crying so hard, now crossed his chest, casting a sharp gaze at Joe, his father. Meanwhile, the handsome widower looks more relaxed, even though he doesn't want to give in to his son's ego.
"So, you still don't want to accept your mistake? Are you still stubborn like this?" Joe broke their silence.
"I'm not stubborn, Dad. You're wrong because let Aunt Bee go!" Sammy's tears broke out again along with the repetition of his question.
He wanted to talk to his auntie again after Viona woke up from her fainting, but after he managed to call his father and take Viona to the hospital, the sedative he usually gave him to prevent tantrums made him sleep for a long time.
Sammy was disappointed when he woke up, it turned out that his father had let Aunt Bee go. So, his anger that had broken out was now difficult to calm.
Joe massaged his temples before answering, "I didn't kick her out either, Sammy. The woman went alone." he explained, "And now I should be the one angry with you, right? But why are you the one angry at me?" he continued asking for clarity.
"You were wrong for skipping school and going without my permission. Alone too. Don't you think about what I'll do if you're in trouble?" he continued lecturing, but this did not succeed in reducing the little one's anger.
"But I already told you that I don't want to go to school, Dad. You keep forcing me to go to school, but I don't want to!"
"Yes, but why, Sammy? Give me a reasonable reason and don't continue to follow your excessive desires like this. I don't like you continue to be like a child who has over tantrums like this." slightly raising his tone, which was already very firm, Joe widened his eyes, causing his only son to shrink.
Sammy's violent whimpering suddenly stopped, leaving behind sobs that were hard to contain. Now the favorite of the Clayton Family looked down deeper.
"There is a Mother's Day competition at school. All my friends bring their mothers, but I don't have a mother. Am I wrong if I don't want to go to school and just go to Mom's place?"
Deg...
Joe's heartbeat suddenly weakened him. His consciousness was suddenly hit by Sammy's words. Feelings of guilt suddenly destroyed him, making him reflexively get up from the sofa, and walk over to the bed where Sammy sat crying.
Joe immediately hugged his poor son, and kissed the top of Sammy's head with mounting feelings of guilt, "You're not wrong. My son wasn't wrong, I was wrong, Sam. I should be the one apologizing to you…"
The stiff atmosphere due to both of their high egos has now ended sadly. Sammy's cries made Joe face the reality that his son was the true victim of fate which required his mother to die.
***
Little Sammy looked gloomy looking at his dinner. Joe and Ben noticed Sammy's continued silence after Viona left this morning.
"Sammy, why don't you finish dinner? You have to eat a lot to get healthy quickly." Joe asked the little guy. Even though his father already knew the cause of Sammy's silence.
Sammy showed no reaction or response to his father. Joe directed his gaze at the man whose face was not much different from his. He is Ben Clayton—the second son of the Clayton family—Joe's little brother.
"Benyamin told me that he had sent the profile of the woman I was looking for, but it got stuck with you. Quick, send it to my number now," exclaimed Joe in a slight whisper.
"Wait a minute. I'm hungry, I want to eat first." This handsome man, who is 3 years younger than Joe, looks indifferent, more busy panning rice in his mouth.
"What do you mean?" Joe immediately glanced sharply at him.
Noticing his brother's murderous gaze, Ben snorted as he put the spoon on the plate, "Why are you patient? I'm still eating, bro. I'm really tired because I've been taking care of the office all day. You're not coming in." He grumbled, "I forgot to share Benjamin's message in your email."
Seeing that his younger brother had started fiddling with his cell phone, Joe lowered his sharp gaze.
"So slow!" Joe shouted at him, "Why do I have a useless brother like you?" he muttered again. His headache was getting worse when facing Sammy and Ben tonight.
Joe looked back at Sammy's gloomy face, who was lazily playing around with his food like a toy. Even though Sammy hasn't shown this kind of attitude for a long time, 'Why is it like this again, Sammy? Do you like that woman?' he said to himself.
Joe was still silent watching his son, Ben's call interrupted his thoughts, "I've sent it to you." said Ben after fiddling with his smartphone for some time, and not long after waiting, a short tone sounded on Joe's cellphone.
After seeing the contents of Ben's short message, Joe immediately raised an eyebrow before glancing again at Ben, "Ben, the land on the outskirts of Yellow District is ours, right?"
"Hmm, that's it. So what?" Ben asked nonchalantly, returning his focus to his food.
"You've made sure all the shop buildings there are ours, right?" Joe asked again.
"Hmm, that's it. What's going on, anyway? Your question is really strange." Ben frowned at his older brother's attitude.
"Oh, okay."
"That's all your answer?" Ben continued to ask questions and his attitude now looked curious, but what annoyed him was that his older brother just nodded and didn't care.
"Sammy, do you want to eat again?" Joe ignored Ben and asked Sammy. Getting the answer with the little one's short shake, Joe got up and approached him, "Just go to your room, come on. I'll read a storybook for you, okay?"
"Bro!" called Ben who managed to stop Joe's steps, making his brother turn around, "Answer me first!"
"I want to put Sammy to sleep in his room, after that I want to continue working. You said there's a lot of work at the office, right?" Joe answered calmly before walking back toward Sammy's room on the second floor.
"What's wrong with him? What a strange widower!" grumbled Ben, who had now lost his appetite. His brother's sometimes confusing attitude made him sigh heavily.
***
'The Eye God Tower invites Miss Viona Bharadja to come to the main office of The Eye God Tower 10th floor regarding INTERVIEW, on the following date and time…'
The sentence above is a small piece of the content of the message in the email that came to Viona's cell phone, and that is what landed her in the office of the President of The Eye God Tower at this time.
The atmosphere was quiet for a few minutes after Viona entered and was asked to sit down by Ben who was also there, "Sir, do you want to just be quiet, huh?" she said, intending to break the silence. And it worked.
Viona, who felt like she was receiving a sharp gaze from Joe from the start, started to feel bored, "Is it wrong for me to come here? I was invited here to do an interview, right? But why have I only been stared at sharply by you, Mr President Director?" Viona asked bravely. Her aura of anger was aroused again remembering Joe's painful words at that time.
Ben pinched the bridge of his nose before responding to Viona, "You're not wrong, Miss. It seems like there's just a misunderstanding here," he tried to correct as a mediator.
"I think so, sir. I came to answer the call for an interview, but I'm still here and still involved in the matter of the little guy who came to my shop yesterday. I thought everything was finished, but instead, it became a continuous soap opera like this."
"Where did I go wrong if I rejected the President Director's offer yesterday? I already said that I helped the little guy sincerely and everything was finished with the help of the President Director in bringing me to hospital." Viona repeated the essence of her argument with Joe.
Ben turned to his brother, shaking his head. He approached his brother while whispering, "Joe, please don't show that scary face like you want to eat someone. Your expression isn't like someone who wants to repay a favor, you know!"
Ben warns Joe to relax. After receiving a soft sigh from his brother, he turned back to Viona, "Sorry, Miss, please don't get me wrong. My brother just wants to thank you for helping our child. And we don't like being indebted to other people. You should state any requests and don't hesitate." Ben spoke slowly to Viona.
"What? I'm not embarrassed. But why do you keep forcing me to make requests? Are you trying to frame me or what? It's not enough to listen to my explanation if I'm helping the little one, huh?"
Joe, with an expression on his face that was bored with this drama, said briefly, "No need!"