Chapter 54

"Mommy, can I stay with you?" David looked up with sparkling eyes.

Emily Johnson set down her pen and ruffled his hair. "Do you know how to write yet?"

"I do!" David puffed out his chest proudly. "I can count too!"

Not to be outdone, little Tommy chimed in, "Me too!" He began counting on his fingers, "One, two, three... twenty!"

Emily couldn't help but laugh. "Tommy, you still only know up to twenty?"

Seeing neither child wanted to play outside, Emily had an idea. "David, how about I give you a special mission?"

"Yes!" David immediately stood at attention, his small face serious like a little soldier.

"Teach your brother to count from one to fifty. Can you do that?"

"Mission accepted!" David declared loudly, grabbing Tommy's hand as they scampered off.

Watching their earnest little figures, Emily smiled warmly before returning to her exam papers. The afternoon faded into evening.

After reheating leftovers for dinner and bathing the boys, Grandma Mary arrived.

"Mother, you're here," Emily greeted her.

Grandma Mary beamed at her grandsons in their new clothes. "I'll sleep with the boys tonight."

The night grew still—except for the train, where chaos erupted.

"My grandson is gone!" A shrill scream pierced the quiet.

Samuel Bright and the others jolted awake to find the grandmother of the unruly child from earlier wailing. The boy had spent the day kicking seatbacks, nearly injuring the still-recovering Michael Stone.

"Serves them right," someone muttered.

The carriage erupted into commotion. Some went to alert the conductor, while others watched coldly—the pair had made plenty of enemies that day.

"Michael..." Samuel turned to his friend.

Michael frowned. "Help search."

"But that brat—"

"Find him first," Michael cut in. "Could be kidnappers."

The three split up, combing every corner of the carriage—but the child was nowhere to be found.

"Same age as David, but not half as well-behaved," Daniel River sighed.

Dawn was breaking when they finally located the boy—drugged and barely conscious. Only then did the grandmother remember to thank them, bowing repeatedly.

"Where was this gratitude earlier?" Charles Clark scoffed. "Spoiling a child ruins them. Now you know regret."