Beneath The Servant's Apron

A violent, agonizing cough tore through Lucas’s raw throat, shaking his shattered body with wave after wave of searing pain. He forced his swollen, heavy eyelids open, staring up as the blinding hospital lights slowly blurred into focus above him.  

Every single breath felt like jagged shards of glass scraping against his bruised lungs, drawing a weak, pitiful groan from his pale lips.

Just a few hours ago, a runaway vehicle lost control and charged straight toward his in-laws' car. Without a single second of hesitation, Lucas rushed forward and pushed them out of harm's way just in time. 

He also tried his best to pull himself back to safety, but it was already too late. The vehicle struck him, leaving him with painful injuries to his head, hands, and legs. 

Lucas blinked through his tears, trying to clear his blurry vision. As the room came into view, four cold figures loomed over his narrow hospital bed like wolves closing in on a wounded animal.

Standing before him were his father-in-law Raymond, his mother-in-law Mrs. Raymond, his sister-in-law Chloe, and his wife Elena.

As Lucas let out another painful, ragged breath, the heavy silence of the sterile room shattered into loud, cruel laughter.

Mrs. Raymond turned her face away in pure disgust, her harsh chuckles instantly turning into a hateful glare. She pointed a diamond-adorned finger straight at Lucas’s bruised, pale face, her voice dripping with malice. 

"Look at him finally waking up!" Mrs. Raymond sneered with bitter contempt. "Why on earth did you sleep for over four hours over a small injury in your leg, hand, and head while we stood here wasting our precious time waiting for you?"

Lucas weakly tried to move his arm, his dry lips trembling as fresh tears spilled over his swollen eyelids.

"Mother... my entire body feels like it has broken into pieces..." Lucas whispered softly, struggling to catch his breath.

"Don't you dare call me mother!" she snapped back viciously. "You made all of us wait four agonizing hours in this room just because of a few minor scratches!"

As Lucas opened his mouth to reply, Raymond stepped forward, slamming his heavy shoe against the floor to silence him.

"Don't even think about opening your mouth to complain!" Raymond roared, thrusting an accusing finger inches from Lucas’s face. "This is the fifth time you have coughed like a coward and fainted right in front of us! No one in this family has the patience to babysit a useless burden who wastes our time!" 

Lucas stared up at his father-in-law in total bewilderment, his heart hammering in terror against his fractured ribs.

"Father..." Lucas whispered weakly, his voice cracking with unbearable sorrow and confusion. "What are you saying?"

"Shut your filthy mouth!" Mrs. Raymond shrieked, pointing a trembling, hateful finger right back at his bruised face. "If you dare faint again, I swear we will have the nurses use cold water or whatever it takes to wake you up!"

Ever since the day he married Elena, his life under their roof had been a living hell filled with endless humiliation, cruel insults, and mocking. Even the household servants looked down on him, whispering behind his back, laughing at his expense, and treating him worse than a stray dog.

Lucas swallowed hard, an icy wave of terror freezing the blood inside his veins as he gazed at their merciless expressions. Instead of offering a single word of comfort after he risked his life to save them, Raymond and Mrs. Raymond turned their backs on him with utter disdain, shifting their cold eyes toward Elena.

Then came the sharp sound of designer heels clicking rhythmically against the hard linoleum floor. Elena stepped forward, her stunning face completely cold, entirely devoid of any warmth, love, or human empathy. 

She clutched a thick stack of crisp legal documents in her manicured hand and hurled them violently down onto Lucas’s bandaged lap.

"Sign those papers right now!" Elena screamed, her voice echoing off the sterile hospital walls like winter ice. She leaned over him, her eyes blazing with fury as she pointed right at his face. "Sign every single page without a second of hesitation and get out of my life forever and ever! I am done with you"

Lucas froze in absolute, paralyzing shock. His breath caught in his throat as his eyes locked onto the terrifying words printed across the top page.

DIVORCE AGREEMENT.

A violent tremor wracked his broken body as his mind desperately tried to comprehend the nightmare unfolding before him. For eight years, Elena had been his entire world—a woman he had loved, protected, and cherished with every ounce of his soul. Despite all the bitter insults and harsh humiliation he suffered from her family day after day, Lucas always held on to one foolish hope: no matter how cold and distant Elena seemed on the outside, deep down, she truly loved and cherished him. 

With a trembling, bruised hand, Lucas reached out toward hers, desperately hoping for a shred of reassurance, but her venomous glare pinned him in place.

Tears streamed down Lucas's bruised face, blurring his vision as he stared up at the woman he had given his entire life to. His heart felt like it was being slowly torn apart in his chest, hurting far worse than his broken bones.

"Elena..." he whispered, his voice cracking and trembling so hard the words barely made it past his dry lips. "Please... look at me. What did I do wrong? How can you throw divorce papers at me like that? After eight years of giving you my absolute everything, protecting you, and standing by your side... is this truly how you repay me?"

Elena scoffed, crossing her arms tightly over her chest, her face twisting into disgust, as if even looking at him was making her sick. 

"Are you seriously asking me why, Lucas?!" Elena's shrill voice sliced through the heavy room, her face contorting with unbearable disgust. "You have been nothing but a pathetic, freeloading parasite from the very second I was foolish enough to marry you! For eight miserable years, I have slaved away building my empire while you sat at home like a useless servant—cooking my meals, washing my feet, and accomplishing absolutely nothing! Do you honestly believe that wiping my floors and serving my tea contributed a single cent to making my company a top-ten giant in this city? You were never my husband, Lucas, you were just a glorified maid living off my charity!"

She stepped closer, jabbing her finger aggressively toward his forehead, her face contorted with rage.

"I am done with you!" Elena barked, her eyes gleaming with malice as she jabbed her finger into his chest. "You never deserved to breathe the same air as me, let alone call yourself my husband. While I am about to seal a two-billion-dollar future with the sterling group, the company of the richest man in the world, you are nothing more than dead weight dragging me down. You should be crawling on your knees, thanking me for wasting eight whole years tolerating a worthless loser like you!"

The Sterling Group?

A faint, bitter smile touched Lucas’s cracked lips. Isn't that just one of the small companies I own?

To everyone else—and to the wife he had given everything to—Lucas was just a poor, helpless nobody. But in reality, he was actually the richest man in the world. He had hidden his true wealth and power on purpose, simply because he wanted to find someone who loved him for who he was, not for his money. 

Lucas stared up at her, every cruel word piercing his chest deeper than his broken bones. This was the woman he had secretly bled for, the business he had quietly built from the shadows, and eight years of endless sacrifice. Elena stood over him, eager to discard him the second she had a little more money and her company reached the top ten. 

"Elena..." Lucas whispered softly, his voice trembling. "Were you pressured by your parents to do this? Did Raymond and your mother force you into this? I know you can be cold, but after eight years of marriage... surely you must feel something for me, even if it’s little."

Hearing those words made Raymond’s face turn a furious, angry red. He took two heavy, threatening steps toward the bed, towering over Lucas like a beast.

"Shut your filthy trap, you ungrateful parasite!" Raymond bellowed, slamming his heavy fist against the metal bed railing. "Does she look like a helpless child who can’t make her own choices?"

The violent shock rattled Lucas’s broken leg, tearing an agonizing scream from the back of his throat.

"You are going to sign those divorce papers right now!" Raymond snarled, leaning down until his angry face was inches from Lucas's. "Or did you really think I would let a worthless nobody get a share in my daughter’s company? We are running out of time, you loser!”.

Lucas looked up at his father-in-law.

"Father..." Lucas said, his voice shaking with disbelief. "I am lying here because I saved you and your wife from that accident. Instead of showing even a shred of gratitude, you are standing here yelling at me. You won't even pay my hospital bill, even though I got hurt trying to save the both of you!" 

Mrs. Raymond burst into cruel, mocking laughter, stepping up beside her husband with a sickening sneer.

"Pay your medical bills?" Mrs. Raymond cackled viciously. "Why on earth would we throw our hard-earned money away on a pathetic parasite who contributed nothing to my family? You got hurt because you are clumsy, weak, and stupid—not because you saved anyone! You are not worth a single penny, so find your own cash or rot and die in this hospital!"

Chloe, who had been leaning casually against the far wall observing everything that was going on, finally pushed off with an irritated sigh. She folded her arms tightly across her chest and glared at Elena with palpable frustration.  

"I told you this morning, Elena, that he would never just sign those papers without a fight!" Chloe complained loudly. "You should have let me handle him my way from the very beginning instead of dragging us through all this unnecessary stress!"  

Elena whipped her head back toward Lucas, her face twisted in malice as she screamed at him at the top of her lungs.  

"Just set me free, Lucas!" Elena shouted frantically. "Sign the paper right now and let me go to the person I truly love!"

Lucas blinked back in utter bewilderment, his heart seizing as a fresh wave of shock hit him.  

"The... the person you truly love?" Lucas asked, his voice cracking violently under the weight of his confusion. "Elena, what are you talking about?"  

Elena lifted her chin with arrogance, a proud, triumphant smile spreading across her painted lips.

"My company has skyrocketed and officially broken into the top ten corporations in the entire city!" Elena bragged with unbridled vanity.  "I am now a fabulously wealthy, powerful businesswoman, and I belong in elite high society far away from a penniless beggar like you! The man I chose is my brilliant childhood lover—the general manager of the legendary Sterling Group! He is the one who lifted my business to the top, unlike a stray dog who contributes nothing!"

Chloe suddenly shoved past Elena, her eyes gleaming with wicked, sadistic delight as she leaned directly over Lucas’s face.  She gripped the collar of his clothes tightly, hauling his bruised, aching body upward toward her.  

"Listen to me very closely, you pathetic piece of garbage!" Chloe hissed, her voice dripping with venom."If you do not sign those divorce papers within the next five seconds, do not be shocked if your sick mother's phone number stops ringing forever!"  

Lucas’s eyes dilated in terror, his blood instantly turning to ice in his veins. "What... what did you just say about my mother?"  

Chloe smirked devilishly, slowly dragging her sharp index finger straight across her own throat in a chilling gesture of execution.

"If you refuse to sign these papers right now, I will pull the plug on her life support! Sign the papers this second, Lucas, or watch your mother die!"