Leo fell to his knees on the cold patio stones with tears streaming down his cheeks.
He reached his small hands out toward a large slice of ruined blackberry cake.
The sweet purple berry jam was spread all over the gray stone ground.
He gently touched a tiny piece of the crust he had baked so carefully that morning.
Soft whimpering sounds came from the poor boy as he wiped his wet eyes.
His heart was completely broken because he had only wanted to bring joy to his family.
Evelyn stood above him with her arms crossed tight against her royal blue outfit.
She did not show a single drop of regret for hurting her young grandson's feelings.
Victoria adjusted her sparkling emerald dress and shook her head with a cruel sneer.
Victoria: Children should know their place during an important formal family event.
Evelyn: He needs to learn proper manners instead of running around with messy food.
Several wealthy relatives gathered in a small circle to watch the sad scene unfold.
None of them stepped forward to comfort the innocent ten-year-old boy on the ground.
They were all too afraid of losing their spot in Evelyn's rich estate inheritance will.
Leo tried to gather the broken pieces of porcelain so nobody would trip on them.
His fingers trembled as he held the sharp white edges of the shattered plate.
A shadow suddenly fell over the stone patio as fast footsteps approached from the side doors.
Arthur had just walked out onto the bright terrace after finishing an urgent business phone call.
He saw his young son kneeling in the dirt surrounded by crushed cake and shattered china.
Arthur rushed across the patio in his tailored navy blue suit before Leo could cut himself.
He grabbed Leo's wrist gently and pulled the boy safely away from the sharp edges.
Arthur: Stop touching that sharp glass right now, Leo!
Leo: Dad, they ruined everything I made for us today!
Leo buried his tear-stained face right into Arthur's clean navy blue suit jacket.
Arthur looked at the crushed blackberry cake he had helped buy ingredients for yesterday afternoon.
He knew how many hours his young son had spent working happily in the hot kitchen.
A deep anger began to boil inside Arthur as he held his crying son tight.
He raised his head and locked eyes with his cold-hearted mother standing right above them.