Apocalyptic Rebirth: With a repairman system space, she rises again.-Chapter 609: Take the apology or not.

Beside him, Sunshine’s eyes flashed with a dangerous, golden light. She pulled Ariel closer, her arm around him like a shield of reinforced steel.

"Hey kid, that is not nice!" Sunshine said, her voice deceptively low. "If you throw another bun at my son, I will make you eat it."

Caden’s wailing multiplied. Elijah glared at Sunshine; blame coated his eyes. If he had something to throw at her or Ariel, he would have done so too.

Ariel’s hand clenched Sunshine’s and she withdrew her anger. She took a breath and recalled why they had come over: to smooth over the jagged edges of the tension. This incident was not allowed to ruin Ariel’s reputation. If Elijah had his way, he was going to tell everyone about the incident.

She looked at Elijah and Amber, her expression shifting from warrior-mode to something resembling a very tired diplomat. "Look," Sunshine said suddenly. "We aren’t here to cause more trouble. We’re here to apologize. On Ariel’s behalf I am sorry. As his mother, I expect better from him. What happened here will never happen again." Ariel would never step into this part of the base without her being informed first.

Elijah let out a dry, hacking scoff. "A small apology? You think that cuts it? He slapped my wife, smashed our house. He broke my kids’ toys. He’s a menace and you want me to let him off easily. Why, is it because he’s a Quinn? You think because you people are ’untouchable’ and rich that you can just walk into people’s homes and reset the scoreboard with a ’sorry’?" He paced the length of the rug, his eyes manic. "We’ll see about that. I’m taking this to the police. I don’t care how many lawyers your family has. Assault is assault. Even if you kick us out, I will tell everyone what he did."

"Elijah, stop talking before I slap you." Amber snapped.

The room went dead silent. Elijah froze mid-step.

"Stop," Amber repeated, her voice softer now, filled with a sudden, crushing realization. "What happened was my fault, not Ariel’s and not Sunshine’s. My impatience... my need to force these children back into my life caused this. I pushed too hard. I made rush decisions, Elijah. I treated them like pieces of a puzzle I could just shove into place as I wished.

I left and assumed things would be the same just because I had returned. I should have known better. The slap Ariel gave me woke me up." She turned to Ariel, her eyes brimming with tears. "Ariel, I am so sorry. I shouldn’t have cornered you."

Elijah’s jaw dropped. "Still, you are not interested the wrong here! The boy slapped you! He had no right to do that despite what happened in the past. It is not as if you ever hit them. Why are you obsessed with these kids? Why can’t you just forget about them since they don’t want you anymore?" He stepped closer, his voice dropping into a hiss that tasted like poison. "Is it even about the kids, Amber? Or is it their father you’re really missing? Is this just a pathetic way to get back into his orbit?"

The slap didn’t come, but the silence that followed the accusation was just as violent. Amber teared up, a single sob escaping her throat. "How could you say that? How could you even think that?"

Sunshine watched the domestic meltdown with a look of profound boredom, though her grip on Ariel remained firm. She nudged the boy gently. "Ariel. Now."

Ariel looked up, his eyes red-rimmed. He looked at Amber, then at the floor. "I’m sorry," he whispered. "I shouldn’t have... I shouldn’t have hit you or scared the children. My mother is not to blame; she taught me better than that. I am angry with Mrs. Harrington, that is what caused my outburst. Even though I am still angry, I promise that what happened will never happen again."

Elijah opened his mouth to scoff again, but Amber cut him off with a sharp look. "It’s okay, Ariel. Thank you for apologizing. I am sorry as well, for everything...for the past and how I have been behaving."

"Well, I don’t care, I am going to report this to the police." Elijah threatened.

Sunshine stepped forward, her heels clicking ominously on the floor. She locked eyes with Elijah, and for the first time that day, she smiled. It wasn’t a nice smile. It was the kind of smile a shark gives a surfboard.

"Elijah, if you tell anyone what happened here," Sunshine said brightly. "I will throw you out of the fortress and not because I want this to remain a secret but because you broke the base laws and used your little ’invisibility’ trick to sneak through the walls and take a pathetic gift to Earl."

Elijah turned pale. His untouchable rant suddenly felt very ironic.

"Breaking and entering is a bit of a hobby of yours, isn’t it?" Sunshine continued, tilting her head. "I wonder why you didn’t reveal that you are a superhuman.... I really wonder why. We could consider you an enemy of the base and just execute you like we do all traitors."

Elijah gasped.

She leaned forward, grabbed his hand and shook it as if they had made peace. But she threatened softly, "Accept the apology. Move on. I’ll even send you some new furniture to replace the stuff Ariel broke. Some toys too for the kids and five tins of ice cream. That ought to make them happy. In my opinion that should settle this."

Without waiting for a reply, Sunshine took her hand back. spun on her heel and walked back to Ariel. She took his hand and pulled him out with her. They marched toward the door, leaving the wreckage of a marriage.

As they crossed the threshold, the sound of Amber’s muffled sobs echoed through the hallway. "Ariel!" she called out, her voice breaking. "Ariel, please! Can we talk? Sunshine! "

Sunshine didn’t let him turn around. She kept walking until the warm evening air hit their faces and the heavy thud of the car door muffled the world.

Inside the vehicle, the silence was different. It wasn’t tense; it was just... empty. Ariel slumped into the leather seat, the custard stain on his shoulder starting to dry and crust. He stared out the window as the engine hummed to life.

"Is it over mom?" Ariel asked, his voice sounding younger than it had in years.

Sunshine reached over, ignoring the cream, and ruffled his hair. She shifted the car into gear, the headlights cutting through the darkness of the road.

"You did what you had to do," she said firmly. "So, yeah. It’s over. Do not spend another moment agonizing over it again." She glanced at him and cracked a small, weary grin. "But next time? If someone throws a bun at you, catch it and throw it back. I don’t care if you started the fight, defend yourself. Of course, make sure your opponents are not toddlers."

Ariel let out a tiny, shaky breath that might have been a laugh. "Let’s just go home, mom. But what should we tell everyone?"

"That we had the most wonderful time ever on our date. It was just shorter than we expected because you threw up." She suggested.

He nodded firmly.

As she drove off with a light spirit, Sunshine received an alert from the system.

[Host, you are to appear before the repairman council in two hours.]

Sunshine sucked in some air. Was it her turn to apologize, deny or tour the vault of riches she had inherited?