chapter 1
The boy’s lips trembled.
He didn’t answer right away.
His eyes darted between the suited man, the worker behind the counter, and the glass case filled with food he couldn’t afford to even dream about.
His arms tightened around the toddler.
Then he whispered, almost breaking the words as he spoke them:
“Why…?”
The suited man didn’t react immediately. He simply studied them—really looked at them, like he was trying to understand something most people refused to see.
“Because you asked for yesterday’s bread,” he said calmly. “That means today you didn’t eat.”
The boy flinched at the accuracy of it.
Around them, the bakery felt frozen in time. The smell of coffee still drifted through the air, but now it felt distant—like it belonged to another world.
The worker finally spoke, nervous.
“Sir, if you want to buy for them, we can prepare a small package—”
“No,” the man interrupted gently.
He turned slightly toward the counter.
“Not a package.”
A pause.
“Everything.”
May you like
Then he looked back at the boy.
“And not just here.”
