The Servant Son

It was quiet for a moment. Then, the man burst into shrill, deranged laughter.“What a joke! You’re the son of the owners of this place? If you are, then I’m the king of the world!” The man laughed so hard that he was shaking all over. He pointed a finger at me and said, “Listen, punk, you shouldn’t mess around so much. Although I’ve never met the guy, Professor Corleone told me her son is a king among men. He’s studying abroad! He doesn’t wear no-name trash like you! I’ve met a lot of your kind. You think you can pretend to be rich and powerful just because you’re not as good as others. Do you really think that will get you anywhere?”The man’s laughter died off, and his gaze became something vicious. “I sympathize with you. It’s hard to find work when you’re young. You should just do your work diligently, and I’ll pretend you didn’t say any of that. If you keep going on this way, you won’t get a single cent. Worse, you’ll have to pay me compensation for the stress you’ve put

The older man at the door looked back and forth between my tormentor and me. His kind eyes were filled with confusion. It was clear that he did not know what to do.“This… He…” The cleaner pointed at me. My tormentor remained stunned for a moment. Then, he seemed to think of something, and his expression relaxed. His tone became arrogant as he said, “What are you looking at? Have you never seen someone discipline their servant?”He pointed at me too, the gold ring on it gleaming, and shot me a warning gaze. “The mistress of the house is too good to me. She even hired two cleaners for me. This punk just got here as well. He’s prone to stealing and slacking off. I’m just teaching him a lesson.”As he spoke, the man glared fiercely at the cleaner, trying to intimidate him. “You’d better be smart, too! Since you’ve accepted this gig, you’d better do a good job. See this? This is what happens if you don’t do a good job! If you don’t clean well, you’re not leaving here without being d

“Oh my darling grandson!” My paternal grandmother came over, crying relentlessly. She took her own coat off and tremblingly wrapped it over Angus’ coat. “What a horrible thing to happen! How can Victor be so heartless? Oh, my precious Xavier. It’s the middle of winter. Was he trying to kill you?”My paternal grandfather was shaking from rage as well. He was usually a collected person, but he was presently shouting at Victor. “You’re a father, too! How could you do such a thing? It’s so cold out, but you threw water at Xavier and tore his clothes off. Are you trying to kill him? You’re going to hell!”Victor panicked. He looked at all these people, who were rich and powerful, and who currently looked like they wanted to eat him alive. He realized just how big of a mistake he had made. He had thought that I was a worker who would not have anyone to back him up, or perhaps someone easily manipulated and scared off. But it was clear that I had the support of people who would make

I took the phone and opened WhatsApp. The family group chat was in chaos. It seemed that my parents had gotten some staff to patch through the house’s security footage while they were on the way home. The security system we had was equipped with superior audio capabilities. Thus, it captured not only Victor’s image in HD but also all his taunts and insults toward me. Everything had been recorded, including me being splashed with water, dragged by the hair, and humiliated. It had become evidence.In the group chat, Rose, my paternal grandmother had sent a sixty-second voice note. I played it, and her angry voice came through, so loud that I could feel the speakers of my phone vibrating. “How dare that man! The audacity of him! I’m eighty years old, but I have never seen such cruelty! You listen to me, Angus, you have to make him pay no matter what! And Gwen, you said the person who recommended him is a distant uncle? Well, he’s never welcome at the house. And don’t you ever g

Two days before the new year, I was finally discharged from the hospital. Back home, I pushed open the door and took in the familiar, warm scent. The house had been thoroughly cleaned, and the carpet Victor had stained had been replaced. All of the furniture was free of dust, and the place smelled of my favorite pine scent. The person busying themself about the kitchen was someone familiar. “Xavier’s back!”Mr. Lowe had an apron on as he rushed out, hand still holding a pan. His eyes were red-rimmed.Mr. Lowe was the family’s long-standing butler and had watched me grow up. He was a nice man and very diligent. It was only because he had been taking care of his wife in the hospital that Victor had been hired to replace him.When he saw the news about the incident, he immediately recognized the house, even with the blurred details. He could tell that I was the one being tormented. He had been so worried when he heard that, once his wife was stable, he quickly rushed back. He