But now, the woman looked even worse than he did.

Because the surveillance footage clearly showed that it was her son’s marble that hit the car.

The woman had already knelt down, sobbing so hard she could barely breathe, pulling her child down to kneel with her. The five-year-old boy was wailing miserably from being beaten.

The woman kept crying, “It’s my fault, Miss Bennett, Miss Bennett, I’ll beat this disobedient child to death! I’ll vent your anger for you! It’s my fault! Miss Bennett, I can’t afford to pay, our whole family is crammed into a tiny house, even if you kill me I can’t pay.”

Julia Bennett sneered the whole time.

In the end, the woman cried herself unconscious, completely and utterly regretting it, her guts twisted in knots, but it was all too late.

After leaving the police station.

William Carter took Ethan Brooks to a small clinic to get some medicine.

“Can you still walk?”

After falling off the bike, Ethan Brooks’s leg was also injured. William Carter frowned, looking at his leg.

Ethan Brooks was holding a plastic bag of vegetables in one hand, his voice low and calm: “I should be fine.”

William Carter thought for a moment and said, “Let me take you home.”

Ethan Brooks looked stunned, his fingers unconsciously tightening around the handle, but seeing William Carter’s serious expression, he finally nodded after a long pause.

His dark, slightly curled lashes hid the faint chill in his eyes.

It was already night.

Starlight stretched across the road.

The shadows from the streetlights were elongated.

The July breeze carried a hint of restless heat.

William Carter’s previously irritable mood also calmed down.

He thought for a moment and asked, “You’re not working at Linshui anymore, right?”

Ethan Brooks gave a soft “mm.”

William Carter let out a sigh of relief: “Good, that place is a mess, you’re not suited for it.”

Ethan Brooks hesitated for a while, as if mustering up the courage to finally ask the question that had been circling in his mind for a long time: “You, why are you so…” The last three words, with his personality, he just couldn’t say.

Under the streetlight, the boy’s delicate, pale features looked a bit lost and confused.

William Carter finished his sentence: “Why am I so nice to you?”

Ethan Brooks’s voice was so low it blended into the wind: “Mm.”

William Carter looked up at the night sky, his hair soft and gently swaying.

“Probably… I’m just too kind-hearted.”

Ethan Brooks: “……”

What a truly unique answer.

William Carter felt he really was too kind. He could have spent five years idling away, eating and drinking, but instead he had to come to Jingcheng, tear into spoiled brats, and argue with shrews. He was almost moved by himself.

He scratched his head. “I just can’t stand seeing people get bullied in front of me, and as luck would have it, every time I run into you, it’s always some mess like this.”

Ethan Brooks couldn’t help but laugh.

But William Carter was lost in his own world and didn’t hear, continuing seriously: “I’ve saved you twice now, so I guess you could call it fate, we can barely count as friends. Don’t get the wrong idea, I’m like this with everyone.”

Ethan Brooks smiled, “Okay.” He didn’t believe it.

The The Carter Family treasured their son so much, there’s no way they’d let him come to Jingcheng alone.

Linshui could be called an accident, but William Carter showing up on Lianyun Street—there’s no way that was just “fate.”

William Carter had come for him.

So… why? Come to think of it, he and William Carter used to play together as kids, but that was before they were five—what did that even mean now?

With a mix of curiosity and caution, Ethan Brooks brought William Carter to his home.

The hallway where Grandma Brooks lived was very old, and the voice-activated light only worked sometimes. William Carter had to stomp several times before the dim yellow bulb finally lit up. The stairs were very narrow, and William Carter supported Ethan Brooks as they went up. The hallway was cluttered with flyers and smelled musty. Because the space was so tight, William Carter was almost pressed right up against Ethan Brooks.

There was a faint scent of grass and wood on his clothes, light and pleasant. Ethan Brooks lowered his head and saw the boy’s neck—so pale, so fragile—and for a moment, he was a little dazed.

“What floor?”

“Third.”

For this little building, the third floor was the top.

When they opened the door, Grandma Brooks had already fallen asleep waiting on the sofa, a blanket draped over her, the food on the table untouched. It looked like she’d been waiting for Ethan Brooks.

The soft yellow light filled the small but cozy room.

Ethan Brooks quietly put the vegetables on the table and walked to the sofa.

William Carter knew what he wanted to do and said, “Let me, your leg isn’t convenient right now.”

He picked up Grandma Brooks. She was old and her eyesight was poor. She woke up groggily: “…Ethan is back, why did you come home so late?”

William Carter said softly, “Grandma Brooks, I’m Ethan Brooks’s friend.”

Grandma Brooks, half-asleep, mumbled, “Friend, friends are good, Ethan has always been alone…”

William Carter thought for a long time, then said quietly,

“He won’t be alone anymore.”

The warm yellow light flowed over the boy’s brows and lashes, gentle as a moment frozen in time.

Ethan Brooks stood behind him, his features cool and noble.

After a long while, he let out a soft laugh, turned to wash his hands, and tossed the marble hidden in his sleeve into the trash.