All Chapters of The Five-Year Scam: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

When everyone finally left, I forced myself upright and limped back to the reeking stable that had been my “room” for five years. It was a filthy room where I had spent five long years sleeping beside horse manure.I was still dizzy when footsteps approached. It was Melissa. She appeared in the doorway with a food box in her hand, then she set it down as if nothing had happened. “Here, leftovers from tonight’s banquet, eat it while it’s still warm.”The memory of her laughing with Connor earlier twisted in my gut. I turned my face away, but she didn’t notice. She kept talking and explaining how Connor hadn’t meant to punish me, how I’d spoken out of turn, and how I should behave next time.She frowned when she saw me stay silent. “Doesn’t suit your taste? I can ask the kitchen to make something else.” She started to turn, but I rasped, “No,” and pushed the box back toward her.“A lowly servant like me doesn’t deserve food this fine… let alone the honor of my lady delivering it hers

In the days that followed, the abuse only grew worse. Connor never ran out of excuses to accuse me. The way I bowed wasn't low enough, my eyes wandered, I breathed at the wrong time… Every accusation ended with another round of blows. My old wounds barely scabbed before new ones split open, a cycle that never stopped.One afternoon, just like always, they sent me to haul hot water for their bath, but my legs gave out after several buckets. My vision went black, and the handle slipped, causing the entire bucket of water to splash on Connor's face. I stumbled forward and crashed right into Melissa's arms. She caught me on reflex, stunned.Connor was already blazing before I could steady myself. He kicked me so hard, and I hit the floor again. "You useless dog! First you fake a fall to throw water at me, then you try to touch my wife? Do you want to die?"Melissa stood in his arms with her expression iced over. "Seems like you're tired of living, huh?" she said coldly. I tried to ex

"How could he escape with guards posted everywhere?!" Melissa's voice cracked into a sharp scream as she glared at the trembling servants. No one dared answer until the final search party returned. "Ms. Shaw… we found a dug-out hole behind the bathhouse. There were tracks outside. Someone crawled through." They were pale and out of breath.'He escaped?' Melissa couldn't breathe knowing he had really escaped! Panic stabbed through her chest, and the feeling was overwhelming."Lock this place down! No one leaves until I'm back!" she snapped before sprinting out of the estate. She raced through the mountain roads until she reached her city home, but only to find it already stripped bare.Everything valuable was gone but only the large furniture remained. Every trace of Ethan had been erased, as if he had never lived there at all. In the study, shattered monitors littered the floor like broken ice. Her heart sank. She grabbed her phone and sent message after message."Ethan, are you

I moved to another city and spent half a month trying to stitch myself back together, convincing myself I could start all over again. But the moment I stepped into the real world, I realized how broken I really was because the five years gone had stripped me of everything. From my dignity to my confidence, and even my instincts... They were all gone.Phones, screens, voices, and traffic felt foreign to me now. Even the smell of warm food could make my stomach twist. Sleep never came no matter how exhausted I was. Whenever people argued outside my window, my body reacted before my mind did. I would drop to my knees and beg for mercy.“Is he okay…?”“He looks unstable.”“Is he… mentally ill? Should we call someone?”Strangers stared as if I’d lost my mind… or maybe they were right. I sprinted home and curled into a corner like a terrified animal. I realized I wasn’t a normal person anymore because even sunlight felt unbearable to me now. There were a thousand times I wished they cou

I didn't answer her plea to start over. Instead, I asked, "What happened to Connor Hayes?""He's still locked in the estate!" Melissa rushed out to explain. "I made him pay for everything you suffered!" She shoved her phone into my hands, "Look. He's suffering a thousand times worse than you ever did!"Afraid I wouldn't believe her, she opened video after video: Connor being whipped until the ground beneath him turned red… dragged into the stables and forced to sleep beside damp manure… hauled onto his feet before dawn and worked until he collapsed face-first into the dirt.Two weeks had turned him into something barely human, skin stretched tight over bone, eyes sunken and empty, almost like a skeleton.However, watching him in agony didn't give me any satisfaction, only emptiness. No amount of torture could return the five years they had stolen from me."Send me the videos," I said."Of course!" She sent everything instantly, mistaking my calm for forgiveness, believing I wante