Free Web NovelChapter 123: Chapter 124: Only Sonia Quincy Can Let Felix Preston Be Himself
"To ease my burden, Felix has always been far too sensible for his own good. He hasn’t shed a single tear since he was eight, and he never complained to me about being tired or in pain. He would only ever tell me good news, never the bad, and refused to tell me about any of his difficulties."
"I remember when he was in middle school, the class troublemakers bullied him because his grades were too good. They thought he was being pretentious, that he was acting all high and mighty and looking down on them for their poor grades. So they got some other delinquents from outside the school to help, and they cornered him in an alley after school and beat him up."
"What?" Sonia Quincy’s heart clenched the moment she heard that.
Mrs. Preston patted the back of her hand reassuringly, a bitter smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. "I was swamped with work those few days, and on top of that, Lynn got sick. I was running back and forth between the hospital and her school, so I didn’t notice anything was wrong with Felix."
"It was only after Lynn recovered and was discharged from the hospital that I could finally relax a little. That’s when I noticed that Felix had been covered in cuts and bruises for quite some time."
"I went into teaching right after college, so I knew exactly what those injuries meant the moment I saw them on Felix. But when I confronted him about it, he absolutely refused to tell me the truth."
Sonia frowned, her voice trembling slightly. "He didn’t want you to worry, did he? Is that why Felix wouldn’t tell you the truth?"
"Yes." Mrs. Preston nodded, her red-rimmed eyes instantly welling up. "Felix is terrified of making me worry. So terrified that even when he was getting beaten up, he wouldn’t breathe a word of it to me."
"But I’m his mother. How could I possibly not worry when I saw what was happening to him? He wouldn’t tell me the truth, so I contacted his homeroom teacher and went to his school to watch him in secret. It took several days of staking out the place before I found out he was being bullied."
"All those boys, ganging up on him. But he wasn’t a complete fool; he knew enough to grab their leader and fight back hard. He landed a few punches and knocked the kid’s front teeth out."
"Good, at least he fought back." Sonia breathed a quiet sigh of relief.
"Sigh..." Mrs. Preston shook her head, the sorrow in her eyes deepening. "He knew how to fight back, but that’s all he did. I dragged him home from school and pleaded with him for hours, asking why he didn’t just come and tell me the moment it started. But he refused to say a single word."
"I was furious. I blurted out that I wouldn’t look after him anymore! That startled him, and he finally, reluctantly, started to talk. But what he said nearly broke my heart."
"What did he say?" Sonia asked, her own eyes red.
Mrs. Preston blinked rapidly, forcing back the tears that threatened to spill, but she couldn’t conceal the choke in her voice.
"He said they were minor problems and that he could handle them himself. He said he couldn’t bear to make me worry about trouble he’d caused when I was already so exhausted."
"He also said that the most important thing for him was his studies, and he wouldn’t let any trouble get in the way of that. He said he didn’t care about the bullies; he just wanted to study hard and get ahead, so that one day, Lynn and I wouldn’t have to worry about making ends meet."
Mrs. Preston’s words were like a dagger, arriving late but sharp. Now that the barrier between worlds had been broken, they traveled across the river of time to pierce the heart of Sonia Quincy, the woman from another world.
Sonia felt as if her own heart was being torn to shreds by Felix Preston.
Mrs. Preston wiped her eyes and continued, "Felix used to be a normal kid who would cry, throw tantrums, and be completely unreasonable. But after his father and I divorced, and his dad ran off with all our money, he went from a little rascal to a little man overnight."
"He stopped caring what anyone thought of him. It didn’t matter who bullied him or hit him; he just buried his head in his books and acted like nothing fazed him."
"After that incident, he went back to school as if nothing had happened and didn’t let his grades slip one bit. But from that day forward, he never told me what was going on at school again. Whenever I asked, he would just smile and say everything was fine."
"Mm-hmm." Sonia nodded, the corners of her lips lifting in a faint smile. "That definitely sounds like Felix."
Mrs. Preston said, "He forced himself to be that way. For years, he’s always acted so calm and composed, as if he wouldn’t bat an eye if the sky were falling. His friends say he’s laid-back and unflappable, but I don’t think that’s it at all."
"Felix isn’t laid-back at all. In fact, he’s wound incredibly tight. For so many years, he’s been binding himself in layer after layer of shackles to appear composed, sensible, and easygoing."
"But that’s not who he really is."
"Then what is he like?" Sonia asked curiously. "What is the real Felix Preston supposed to be like?"
Mrs. Preston looked at her, a genuine smile spreading across her face. "The real Felix... is the one you’re seeing now."
"...Huh?" Sonia was stunned.
Mrs. Preston wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes, her heavy tone gradually lightening. "The real Felix Preston is the one you see now—part childish, hard-to-please brat, and part prickly little hedgehog."
"I think the car accident must have frightened him. Frightened him so much that he’s no longer willing to keep himself so wound up. He just wants to use his injury as an excuse to finally let his true self out."
"Sonia, thank you."
"Th-thank me?" Those two unexpected words left Sonia completely baffled. "What are you thanking me for?"
Mrs. Preston smiled and squeezed her hand. "Thank you for letting Felix be his true self again. He’s been wound up for over twenty years. Not even I could get him to relax. Only you have that power."
"I..." The credit was too much for Sonia; she was at a loss for words.
"I... I don’t think I really did anything."
Mrs. Preston said, "You don’t have to do anything special. Just being there for Felix, giving him a sense of security and a warm home... that’s more than enough for him to open up to you completely."
"..." Sonia looked lost, as if she understood Mrs. Preston’s words but didn’t fully grasp their meaning.
Mrs. Preston tilted her head to look at her. "Sonia, I know this might not be the best time to bring up the past, but there’s one more thing I want to say."
Sonia nodded. "Please, go on."
Mrs. Preston said, "Do you know why he shamelessly begged you to stay, no matter how badly your former self treated him?"
Sonia answered honestly, "I don’t know. Maybe because he has a strong sense of responsibility? He didn’t want to end the marriage so easily?"
"No." Mrs. Preston rejected her long-held theory.
"Felix was so stubborn about keeping you here not just to save your marriage, but also to give the child in your womb a complete and happy home."
"Felix grew up in a broken home. He didn’t want his own child to go down the same road he did. That’s why he was willing to sacrifice his own dignity to fight for his child."
