“You’re punishing the wrong person!”
The maid was crying openly now, shaking where she stood. The whole courtroom stared between the child and the man trying to silence him.
The boy looked at the maid one more time, and his voice dropped for a second, softer, almost breaking.
“You saved me.”
That line changed everything.
The room went colder. Stillness spread across the benches. Even the older man’s face flickered with panic now.