Hugo let out a slow sigh. “You’re still too young to understand how things work between adults.”
But Jasper refused to back down.
“What don’t I understand? Aunt Ava only left you in the past, right? Everyone makes mistakes. She already came back and admitted she was wrong; what more do you want?”
Everyone makes mistakes.
The words echoed in my mind, a lesson I had once taught him.
When he was four, he had been too busy playing to eat. In his excitement, he knocked over a cup, spilling boiling water across my hand. The pain shot through me instantly. I sucked in a sharp breath, but before I could say anything, he burst into tears.
“I’m sorry, Mommy! Jasper was wrong! Jasper didn’t mean to!”
Despite the burning ache, I pulled him into my arms and soothed him. “Don’t cry, Jasper. Everyone makes mistakes. As long as you realize it and make it right, you’re still a good boy.”
With tear-filled eyes, he had asked me what that meant.
I had told him that mistakes weren’t scary as long as he was willing to learn from them.
He nodded as if he understood.
I thought he had learned the lesson. And he had.
I just never expected him to use it to defend Ava.
After he finished speaking, Hugo didn’t argue. He simply kept driving, his hands steady on the wheel, but his eyes flickered toward me now and then as if trying to read my reaction.
I gave him nothing. My face remained impassive, my gaze fixed straight ahead as if their conversation hadn’t touched me at all.
By the time we arrived home, Ava had already set the table. A feast awaited us, dish after dish, carefully prepared.
Her hair fell loosely over her shoulders, her eyes red-rimmed, as if she had been crying.
The moment she saw us, she forced a smile.
"I just made a few simple dishes. I don’t know if they suit your tastes."
My gaze swept over the table.
Every dish was something Jasper and Hugo liked.
Hugo's favorites are spicy diced chicken and boiled pork slices especially.
But I couldn’t eat a single bite.
The doctor had warned me to avoid spicy food after the miscarriage.
Silently, I picked up some vegetables and sipped my soup.
Jasper, unaware, kept piling food onto Ava’s plate. "Aunt Ava, eat more. You’re too thin. You need to nourish yourself."
Ava’s eyes shimmered with emotion, turning red once more.
She picked up a piece of meat glistening with chili oil and placed it into my bowl.