The Miracle of You

‘The audacity of this girl.’

This was what Christian thought immediately as a response to her blatant insult.

No one had ever dared to say that to his face before. This was certainly a first.

The silence between them became tense, like the formation of a dense cloud. He was seething inside, but he didn’t want to explode like an irrational person on this woman, no matter how foolish she was.

He would handle this situation calmly. He would be the better person instead of her. He had been taught by his father to remain calm in any situation. Rationality over emotions, as Greg often liked to call it.

“…You’re a pretty brave girl for saying that,” he finally said in an impassive tone.

Hailey only scoffed. There seemed to be no hint of fear in her eyes.

A brave girl, indeed.

“I am always brave enough to stand up for injustice whenever it’s needed,” she pointed out. “You’re the one in the wrong and yet you refuse to acknowledge it.”

“I was merely being honest,” he said as calmly as he could. “She is my sister, not yours. You should learn not to poke your nose in someone else’s family matters.”

“Being honest doesn’t mean that you get a free pass to be an asshole,” Hailey snapped. “You can be honest and also considerate or empathetic at the same time. You don’t have tact. I’m telling you, your arrogance is going to bring you down one day, I bet.”

That made Christian’s blood boil. “Who do you think you-”

At that moment, Gregory entered the room.

“Where is Patricia? Lunch is ready,” he said as he looked around, almost expecting his daughter to be where he thought she was.

When he focused on the two in front of him, surprise flickered across his features. Hailey was practically glowering at Christian, all vestiges of her typical calm gone from her expression.

His son, on the other hand, was gritting his teeth, almost snarling at her. His fists were clenched at his sides and they were both breathing heavily, as if they had just had a heated argument before Greg came in.

Greg frowned. He didn’t like this kind of atmosphere, especially in his own house. “What is going on here?” he asked.

Christian was the first to speak. “Nothing, Father. We just had a small disagreement,” he said.

Gregory could tell that his son was doing his best to keep the anger from seeping into his tone.

He raised an eyebrow. This was interesting. It usually took a lot to make his son so upset like this.

Hailey took a deep breath before turning to Greg. She bowed politely with an apologetic expression.

“I’m very sorry for being rude in your own home, Mr. Callahan,” she said calmly.

Her words almost made Christian scoff out loud. “You should be apologizing to me, not to my father,” he couldn’t help but remark.

But Hailey was unfazed. “I did not do anything wrong, and I will certainly not apologize to a young, immature, and arrogant boy who thinks that it’s fine to say harsh words to his own little sister without so much as a flinch.”

That made both of Greg’s eyebrows lift upwards.

Well, this really was interesting.

Just as Christian opened his mouth, seemingly to protest, Greg quickly took the opportunity to intervene.

“Whatever the problem is, I will leave it to the three of you, including Patricia, to deal with it yourselves. There seems to have been a war of words when I wasn’t here,” Greg said sternly.

He then turned to his son.

“Christian, you will be eighteen in a few months. Haven’t I always told you to handle things like an adult?” he continued on. “If you really said something to your sister, you need to talk to her about it. Act your age. She’s still young and has a lot to learn. Don’t be unreasonable. Is that understood?”

Christian’s eyes narrowed, but he said nothing.

Finally, he looked away and sighed.

“Understood, Father.”

Greg then turned to Hailey. “Young lady… I admire your sense of justice. But perhaps it would do you better to remember that there is a time and place for such things, yes? Just like I told my son, you should talk it over like adults. Let’s not allow bad blood to fester within us, especially when we’re supposed to have a good relationship with each other.”

Hailey lowered her head. “Understood, Mr. Callahan,” she said.

With that, Greg nodded. “Now, I will personally go and fetch Patricia from her room. The two of you should go ahead and sit at the dining table. We cannot possibly let the food grow cold.”

Hailey and Christian nodded in response and obeyed, not wanting to make any more trouble.

Lunch went surprisingly well. After Greg went to fetch Patricia, she came to the table in a more somber mood than before. She refused to look at Christian or even acknowledge his existence and just ate her food.

Christian, on the other hand, was silent and ate his meal with finesse.

Meanwhile, Hailey tried to strike up a conversation with Patricia from time to time. Occasionally the young girl would respond, much to Hailey’s delight.

Greg kept the conversation going by asking question after question, as if trying to keep the atmosphere from becoming too tense and awkward.

“Have you thought about where to go for college?” he asked.

Hailey shook her head. “I’m not planning to study as of now. I’d like to work for a while in order to build up my savings for a college fund.”

“I see.” Greg looked at Christian, who was not even the least bit interested in their conversation.Property belongs to Nôvel(D)r/ama.Org.

Later, after lunch, Greg took his daughter back upstairs, presumably to talk to her alone, leaving only Hailey and Christian in the living room.

Christian started to leave when Hailey’s voice suddenly stopped him.

“I’m sorry.”

He stopped in his tracks. He almost thought that he had been hearing things.

But when he turned around, Hailey was standing there, looking at him. There was no hint of displeasure or embarrassment in her expression. In fact, she was strangely calm, as if she had not called him an asshole earlier.

“Pardon?” he said, raising an eyebrow.