In the Grip of king Roderick

The last summer break of high school was the shortest summer break in a student's life. I was very excited and happy because after studying so hard, I had finally been accepted by the National University of Economics.

Going to this university was my goal and also my deceased father's dream. In order to pass the entrance exam, I had to put all my effort and never stop trying.

Other kids just had to focus on their studies, but I couldn't. Outside school hours, I had to help my stepmother take care of the family's shop. The shop was crowded and I couldn't return home until ten o'clock at night. I could only study at midnight, the study time was too little while my books were very thick, so I felt exhausted sometimes. I had been afraid that I could not pass the entrance exam to get into the National University of Economics.

My mother passed away when I was a little kid, my father got a new wife, and then he also left this world in a tragic accident. Since then, I have lived with my stepmother and my younger brother.

I always felt that I was an unlucky person. I envied my friends and my younger brother because they had a peaceful life with their parents loving them. There were so many times when I resented my stepmother because she always took care of my younger brother and ignored me.

The link between me and her was my father. Since the day my father left this world, I knew she had no more obligations to me, she was kind enough that she didn't leave me alone.

Since summer break, I started to do a part-time job. My stepmother said that she only raised me until I finished high school. If I wanted to go to college, I had to earn money to support myself. She wouldn't help me pay my tuition fees. Fortunately, I found a job with a good salary. 

As usual, I started work early in the morning and returned when it was already dark. If I had to work overtime, I would get paid a lot more. For a person who was in dire need of money like me, overtime was a good thing.

When the bus stopped at the side of the main road, I got off the bus and walked for a long time before I got to the mansion where I worked. Since my boss, Matthew, had an accident and his legs injured, he wanted to live in a quiet place, so his mansion was located quite far from a residential area.

I walked on the familiar road leading to the mansion, while walking, I listened to music with my headphones. This was the only time when I felt relaxed and forgot about all of the burden of money.

Matthew was a man with an injured leg, temporarily confined to a wheelchair. He did surgery a month ago. Luckily, The surgery was successful. He was in convalescence to recuperate. Every day a rehabilitation doctor would come here to treat him. My boss's temper was not very good. There were times when he didn't want to eat and even rejected doing therapeutic exercises adamantly. 

My job was quite simple, just following Matthew. When he asked me to do something, I would do it. Because Matthew's leg was injured, he had to hire another person to follow him closely, and that was me. I felt quite licky about that.

Gradually, Matthew's leg got better and better but he still needed a wheelchair. I felt happy for him, but I couldn't help but worry. Because his leg was injured, he hired me. If he recovered, I might lose this job. It was really hard for me to find a job as good as this one. So I didn't want to lose it.

The first time I met Matthew was in the flower garden behind the mansion, he was only wearing simple black clothes and he was sitting in a wheelchair with messy hair, long beard and deep eyes. He looked at the flowers soullessly.

Despite appearing in such a shabby appearance, he was still extremely handsome and attractive. He exuded a cold breath that no one dared to approach.

His assistant, Brian, introduced me to him, he didn't say a word in response and didn't even look up at me. He just nodded slightly as if he had accepted me to work here.

I stood at a distance and quietly watched him. Brian told me that I was extremely lucky because that day his mood was much better, he was even willing to go outside to get some fresh air. That's why I got this job so easily.

Like always, after I entered the mansion, I would prepare breakfast downstairs. But suddenly I heard a loud "bang" coming down from upstairs.

The loud sound coming from the second floor made me startle, I was just afraid that something bad had happened to Matthew.

I immediately put down the plate in my hand and then quickly went upstairs, going straight to his room. Through the open door, I saw a man lying on the ground, his whole body shaking, and behind him was a wheelchair.

I quickly ran up to help him get up. Normally, I wouldn't stand too far from him. But when I got here in the morning, I saw his assistant coming to find him, so I went downstairs to prepare breakfast. However, I didn't see his assistant anywhere in the room now. Why would he leave without even informing me?

I had made a huge mistake, perhaps before Matthew recovered, I was fired because of my negligence.

I had never seen him in such a bad situation, he tried to reach for his wheelchair but there was no way for him to get up. 

I took care of him for such a long time, but I had never seen him fall before.  Previously, he was confined to a wheelchair, but he still exuded the arrogance of a successful man, sometimes that aura even made me forget he was an injured person.

I hold out my hand to help him. Unexpectedly, as soon as I got close to him, he coldly said, "Don't touch me."