( TW: mention of sexual harassment)
Ethan returned to the mansion with a pounding heart, his mind a swirl of anxious thoughts.
As he stepped inside, he called out to his stepmother in a voice quivering with uneasiness . "Madam?" he said, anxiety gripping his voice. She responded abruptly, "You are here, brat Now, go make tea and bring it to the garden." She left him with an angry stomp of her foot, her displeasure hanging in the air.
With a deep breath, he headed to the kitchen to prepare the tea. Gathering some snacks as well, he loaded a tray with the refreshments and made his way to the garden. Sinister laughter echoed in his ears as he approached the garden.
He set the tray on the garden table, and began to pouring tea into cups, his hands were trembling.
There were Four women, each of them in their forties, wearing elegant dresses, waiting for him to serve the tea while they talk each other .
He couldn't bring himself to meet their gazes, knowing how much they hate him and those stares held nothing but cold cruelty towards him . They were the sort of ladies who insulted him at every chance they got.
One of them, a woman in a purple dress named Lucy, spoke with displeasure, "How is he still here?" She had a history of cruelty towards him , he remembered the time when she poured hot tea over his head just because the tea wasn't to her liking ,The memory sent shivers down to his spine.
His stepmother, replied with disappointment, "What can I say? We haven't managed to get rid of him yet. He's good for nothing but still can do housework, so we've kept him till now." Her words hit him like a painful jolt in his chest.
He continued to serve the tea as the women continued to throw insults his way. It was like a daily ritual, whenever they visit the house they will turn his life into a living nightmare ,Throwing insults at him , Blame him for simple mistakes, just like that the list continue.
He was trying his best not to mess with them , he was lost in thoughts as he bending down to pour tea to the cups , keeping his hands steady so he wouldn't spill any tea on the table so they wouldn't have a reason to torment him.
That's when when he felt a hand on his thigh his attention snapped back to reality. and he knew who's hand it was , she was Eleanor, the one he despised most in the group.
Eleanor had tried to touch him his body forcefully when he was just 13 years old, she made hickeys on his delicate neck , than she forcefully grabbed his neck and tried to kiss him , his malnourished , skinny body couldn't even push her away, at that time he was so scared that she would do more this .
That's when His father had walked in on the situation but had left Ethan there without intervening , when his father left them alone she also left him , only after whispering sexual things in his ear , he was alone in there with tears rolling down his cheeks , bruise over his neck and body .
He remembered that day clearly even after years , he remembered how much he cried that day , he remembered how many times he washed his skin to stop feeling uncomfortable in his body .
when he told his step mother about it the next day hoping that she would at least understand him and take his side on this , but to his disappointment she only looked at him with a disgusting face and told him that lying is not gonna get him anywhere and punished him severely for that .
Since that incident , Ethan made sure never to be alone in a room with her , but that never stopped her , she always tries to touch him here there whenever she got a chance , she didn't care if it was infront of people or not , his stepmother once caught her doing this yet she blamed Ethan for seducing an elder women in her home.
Eleanor clearly know that this was sexual harassment towards a minor and she have kids the same age as him , yet she never felt guilty for it , she was just a disgusting human being
Now, she was in a public setting, and yet she was doing this , She whispered in a voice only he could hear, "You're such a beauty for a slut " . Her hands started to move towards his ass , His skin crawled with discomfort.
Quickly, he moved away from her, taking the teapot to serve the next person. But as he attempted to pour the tea, someone put a feet on his path, causing him to stumble and spill tea on the others. He Turn to see who's leg was that , there he met Eleanor's smirking face.
He was so embarrassed and scared about what happened, he was more scared about what was going to happen, but he tried to be brave tried to stand up, even though he felt like he wants to cry , he almost got up but that's when a sharp slap across his face sent him sprawling to the ground once more.
To be continued....
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Beneath The Surface
RandomWithin the imposing mansion, shadows concealed layers of secrets. Ethan, the hidden son, bore the weight of a stolen childhood, trapped in a life where he existed as a stranger in his own home. By day, he was a diligent college student, by night, a...
