It turned out that Julia often hung her sheets out the window upstairs, and to avoid blocking her own light, she hung them very low.
Bennett's room was right below hers, so his room was dark all day long.
Moreover, Julia believed in hand-washing clothes without wringing them too dry, so water dripped continuously, and Bennett couldn't open his window all day.
In the previous life, after six months of rehabilitation with me, he finally managed to say a complete sentence, and the second sentence he said was, "I need sunlight."
Today, Madeline was home alone with Bennett and got punch several times. Eventually, she couldn't take it anymore, locked Bennett in the house, and went out dancing.
Bennett, taking advantage of Julia's nearly dry sheets, set one corner on fire. The flames quickly spread to the twenty-fifth floor, and the waste piled up in Julia's home acted as an accelerant, soon engulfing her house in flames.
When the firefighters arrived, Bennett was hiding in the bathroom with a wet towel.
Fortunately, there was no one at home on the twenty-fifth floor, so there were no casualties. However, after the fire was extinguished, the property damage was estimated to be over a hundred thousand dollars.
Julia, in a rage, followed the police to find Madeline, who was dancing fervently with an elderly man.
Without a word, Julia slapped Madeline hard. By the time we got home, Madeline's face was already swollen.
Since she was Bennett's guardian, the police required her and Bennett's parents to compensate the neighbors for the losses.
Naomi screamed, "Compensate for what? Don't you know he's a fool? Fools aren't responsible for killing or setting fires."
Madeline agreed, "Yes, if you want compensation, go after him. Do whatever you want."
But their ignorant arguments were quickly stopped by the police, and the once close mother and daughter began to blame each other.
"Zoey took care of him for so long without any issues, and you messed it up in just one day. You're asking for trouble!"
"And you're his biological mother. I've never seen you take care of him for a single day!"
"At least I didn't go out flirting with old men at your age. Do you have any shame?"
"I have no shame? Do you? You also..."