Then, that small hand gently patted up through the covers.
Once, and then again.
Paige’s eyes opened at the pat, her heart and mind trembled hard, and without warning, tears were patted out of her eyes.
“Boo.”
The little one lifted her head and a kiss landed on her neck, then leaned back down and continued to pat her soothingly.
Paige stared blankly ahead.
The little one rubbed her little face against her head, and one little hand padded under her head, trying to hold her a little tighter.
Paige blinked away the tears and turned around in bed to meet Gabriel’s small, white face.
Seeing her turn her head, Gabriel immediately brought his little face to her eyes, cupping her face in his small hands and coquettishly flashing a big smile, “Mommy, you’re awake.”
Paige struggled to sit up, the covers vainly covering her body.
She looked at him and forced a smile, “Why are you up so early?”
Don’t you usually sleep in until late.
“I kinda missed you.” Gabriel said as he sat in front of her, blinking his pretty eyes, his soft voice sweeter than sugar.
Paige pinched his little face.
Gabriel rubbed into her hand, looked at her eyes that hid blood, and carefully asked, “Mommy, Olivia said you’re not happy, and asked me not to bother you, why are you not happy, is Gabriel not good at reading, Gabriel will read well and not be lazy.”
“Don’t think nonsense, it has nothing to do with you.” Paige looked at him with her back against the bed, her fingertips caressing his little face.
“…”
Gabriel looked straight at her, quite literally pursuing her.
Paige lowered her eyes, opened her dry lips, and whispered, “Mommy did something wrong, so she’s a little upset.”
How could his mommy have done something wrong.
Gabriel did not quite understand and rolled his eyes, moved a little closer in front of her and asked her, “What thing?”
“Just … very wrong, very wrong things.”
Paige didn’t know how to explain it to a child.
“So Mommy knew all along that it was wrong?” Gabriel asked again.
Paige froze at the question, her eyes grew even bleaker for a moment before she stiffened and shook her head, “I don’t know, I always thought it was right, so Mommy worked hard, very hard, to do such a thing, only to realize now that a lot of things aren’t as good as they try to be.”
She made a mess of it.
Gabriel was on the comforter, his two little feet together, and he cocked his head to listen, dumbfounded.
A lot of things weren’t done well by trying.
“Does that mean you don’t have to try hard to do anything?” Gabriel looked at her, big doubts etched in his eyes.
“…”
Paige was once again baffled by the question.
“Daddy says I have to have at least tried to read before I can say that reading isn’t fun, but you’re not saying the same thing as he is.” Gabriel looked at her a little confused, “So do I have to make an effort or not?”
“I …”
Paige looked at the child in front of her completely unable to answer, she was confused more like a toddler than he was.
Unconsciously she hugged herself tighter, both legs slowly scrunching up under the covers, curling herself up tight once more.
“…”
Gabriel stared at her in bewilderment, only feeling as if his mommy seemed very sad at the moment.
It made his heart ache.
As if he understood something, he leaned his little head towards her and clapped his little hands up again, one at a time, and said in a childish voice, “Good boy oh Gabriel don’t ask no more questions, Mommy ain’t sad.”
Paige hugged herself tightly, not knowing what to say.
“Mommy’s been great, give me a kiss.”
Gabriel lifted his little face and kissed her hard on the cheek and continued to pat her, one after the other, as if he was tireless.
…
At first light, massive marches erupted across the country.
Some demanded an accountability report from the Presidency, others were for Paige to come out and admit guilt.
Pundits appear on screen with righteous indignation, “Regardless of who the blame for this really lies with, Paige, as the person primarily responsible for pushing for the redevelopment of the slums, now has this obligation to stand up and take responsibility for everything, and it’s incumbent upon her to explain herself to the people and calm their anger, instead of hiding like a shrinking violet!”
Nick led the way from the bank, several money orders cupped in his hands.
Temple in Heaven’s money had been the first to flow to the major key hospitals.
Looking at the cell phone expert, Nick almost smashed the phone.
There were countless protesters in front of the Presidential Palace, holding up signs and banners, completely ignoring the advice not to congregate.
Carrie leaned back on the couch, having just taken a short nap, when she was awakened by the vibration of her cell phone.
She came back to her senses, only to see that coffee was still brewing in the coffee maker on the side, and hurriedly stood up from the sofa, no longer daring to sit down casually.
She carried the brewed coffee towards the presidential office.
Before she even entered, the old butler’s voice came from inside, “President, the current situation is very much like the one a few years ago, yet it’s even more serious than that one, it depends on how you choose to go about it.”
“…”
Carrie’s form froze, her eyes lifting toward the half-open office.
Rafael had taken his glasses off, and the man leaned wearily against the back of his chair without making a sound.
The old butler continued, “Virus prevention and control is greater than heaven, but the current situation is such that if the anger of the people in the country is not quelled, there will be no proper implementation of prevention and control, and no one will obey the Presidency.”
Rafael sighed softly, his voice a little raspy, “You mean you want me to push Paige out and use her to quell the public anger in the country.”
At that, he let out a low laugh in mockery, “Enrico would come after me for a fight.”
“Not through Mr. Gustin then.”
The old butler gave advice, “President Paige is a sensible person, she has the greater good and the country in her heart, why don’t I go and talk to her, and for the sake of smooth prevention and control, please ask her to condescend a little bit first, the Founder won’t really mess up a death sentence out.”
“Do you know what condescending first represents?”
Rafael tilted his head back and looked up, word for word extremely tired, “It means, that she was all wrong, and isn’t that too much of a blow for her”
Paige was desperate to rebuild the slums.
“President, this is not the time to discern right from wrong, the priority is prevention and control.” The old butler advised bitterly, previous presidents had never been so hesitant to do such things.
“Wait a little longer, until I can’t hold out.”
Rafael said in a low voice, sitting up straight in his chair, but as soon as he did, he locked eyes with Carrie outside the door.
Carrie stood there with her coffee in her hand, her eyes looking at him with little emotion.
Rafael, however, was looked at as if pins and needles were sticking out of his eyes, and he let out a low, self-deprecating laugh, his voice dripping with a sad sense of powerlessness, “I’ve let you down again.”
He was always doing a particularly frustrating job as president.
Surprisingly enough, the man whose mood usually changed drastically at the sound of Paige’s name was extraordinarily calm at the moment.
Carrie walked in with her coffee and set it down on the table, looking up at him with her eyes, “Are you going to last?”