But inside Richard, something long buried began to fracture.
When he finally opened his eyes, tears had already blurred his vision.
He turned his head slowly. The boy noticed immediately and froze, his face draining of color.
“I—I’m sorry, sir,” the child said quickly, panic rising in his voice. “I didn’t touch your things. I just thought you looked tired.”
Richard lifted a shaking hand, stopping him.
“No,” he said, his voice rough and unsteady. “You did nothing wrong.”
The boy stared at him, confused.
“You did more,” Richard continued softly, swallowing against the tightness in his throat, “than anyone has ever done for me.”
The boy didn’t understand the weight of those words.
But Richard did.
For most of his life, people had approached him with calculation—measuring what they could gain, what they could extract, what they could manipulate. No one had ever looked at him and thought first of his comfort.
Samuel returned moments later and stopped short when he saw his employer sitting with tears running freely down his face.
“I—I’m sorry, Mr. Holloway,” Samuel said quickly. “If my son—”
Richard shook his head.