The sharp sound of breaking china echoed across the sunny outdoor patio.
Toby stood completely frozen as warm sauce dripped down his clean pants.
The red tomato sauce splashed across the smooth white stone tiles everywhere.
Several guests turned their heads to see what caused the loud crash.
Toby: My lunch... it fell all over the ground.
A soft whimpering sound came from the frightened young boy's throat.
Beatrice did not even slow down her pace or look back down.
She adjusted her green sleeve and smirked at her daughter Victoria instead.
Beatrice: Clumsy little boy, just like his mother used to be.
Victoria: He clearly lacks proper manners for a high-society luncheon.
Toby looked up with big watery eyes filled with confusion and shame.
He thought he had done something terrible to ruin the nice party.
He knelt down on the stone patio to pick up a piece.
His small fingers reached out toward the ruined food on the floor.
Toby: I can fix it... I can clean it up.
Leo turned around from the bar counter when he heard the crash.
His eyes widened in shock as he saw his son kneeling down.
He rushed across the open patio with fast and heavy footsteps.
Leo: Toby, stop right there! Do not touch that!
Leo reached his son in seconds and gently lifted him upright again.
He pulled the little boy away from the sharp broken porcelain pieces.
Toby: Papa, my spaghetti is totally ruined!
Leo wiped a smudge of red sauce off his son's pale cheek.
Leo: It is okay, buddy, you did not do anything wrong.
Toby: She bumped into me, Papa, I tried to hold it.
Leo: I know, Toby, I know you were being careful.
Leo looked across the patio at Beatrice and Victoria standing together.
Neither of them showed even a single trace of regret or concern.
Victoria took another slow sip from her expensive crystal glass of wine.
Victoria: He should have watched his step in New York.
Beatrice: Children who do not look where they walk get nothing.
Leo felt a cold ball of pure rage form in his chest.
He had spent years tolerating their quiet insults toward his own life.
He had stayed silent when they excluded him from family business decisions.
But seeing them humiliate his innocent four-year-old child crossed every line.
Leo: You did that on purpose, Beatrice, do not deny it.
Beatrice: Watch your tone with me in front of these guests.
Leo: You deliberately kicked the plate right out of his tiny hands.
Beatrice: He was standing in my way like an untrained street child.
Victoria: Do not make a scene over a cheap plate of food.
Leo set Toby down gently behind his trusted bodyguard standing near.
Leo: Stay right here with Marcus for just one minute, son.
Toby: Papa, please do not be angry.
Leo: I am not angry with you, my brave little boy.
Leo turned around and faced his stepmother with cold fierce determination.