NEXUS TRIAL: The Rise of Liam Parker

Humiliation and Powerlessness

Collins grabbed Liam by the collar of his shirt before he could react, and the older man’s grip was so tight that the fabric cut into the back of his neck painfully. Liam struggled against his uncle’s hold but it was like trying to move a mountain, and he quickly realized that years of office work hadn’t made Collins any weaker than he had been in his youth. The businessman Gordon watched the scene with detached interest while Mrs. Parker continued to sit in her chair with that same cruel smile on her face, clearly enjoying watching her grandson being manhandled.

“Let him go Collins,” Alice cried out as she jumped up from the couch and tried to pull her son away from his uncle’s grasp. “He’s just a boy and he doesn’t know what he’s saying.”

Collins shoved Liam backwards with enough force to send him stumbling into the coffee table, and pain shot through his hip as it connected with the hard wooden edge. He barely managed to catch himself before falling completely to the floor, but the humiliation of being tossed around like a ragdoll in his own home burned worse than any physical injury. His mother rushed to his side and helped him steady himself while shooting terrified glances at Collins, clearly afraid of what he might do next.

“This is exactly why I never liked your side of the family Alice,” Collins said while straightening his expensive jacket and looking down at them both with disgust. “Always so dramatic and emotional about everything instead of understanding how the real world works. My brother was a fool for marrying you and an even bigger fool for wasting his money on this house instead of investing it properly.”

The words hit Liam like physical blows and he wanted to launch himself at his uncle again, but his mother’s hand on his arm held him back. She was shaking her head at him with tears still streaming down her face, silently begging him not to make things worse than they already were. He knew she was right because fighting Collins physically would only end with him getting hurt more seriously, but accepting this defeat felt like swallowing poison.

Gordon checked his watch again and made an impatient sound in the back of his throat. “Collins if you can’t handle your family issues then perhaps we should reschedule this meeting for another time when you have things under control,” he said with clear annoyance in his voice. “I’m a busy man and I have three other properties to look at today.”

“No no, we’re finishing this right now,” Collins said quickly, clearly worried that his buyer might walk away from the deal. He turned to Alice and Liam with a threatening expression on his face. “You two have exactly ten minutes to pack whatever personal belongings you can carry and get out of this house. Anything you leave behind becomes property of the new owner.”

Alice’s face went pale and she looked like she might faint right there on the spot. “Ten minutes?” she whispered in disbelief. “Collins we need at least a few days to find somewhere else to stay and arrange for a moving truck. You can’t expect us to just leave with nothing.”

“I can and I am,” Collins replied coldly, crossing his arms over his chest. “You’ve had six months to figure out your living situation since my brother died, so don’t act like this is coming as a surprise. I already told you last month that I was selling this property.”

Mrs. Parker finally spoke up from her chair by the window, and her voice was like ice cutting through the room. “You should be grateful Collins is giving you ten minutes instead of calling the police to have you forcibly removed,” she said while examining her manicured nails. “After all the money my son wasted on you and that boy, the least you can do is leave with some dignity.”

Liam felt his hands curling into fists again and his whole body was shaking with suppressed rage. These people were his family, his own blood relatives, and they were treating him and his mother worse than strangers on the street. His grandmother had never even tried to hide her contempt for them, had made it clear from the beginning that she thought her son had married beneath his station, but Liam had never imagined she would be this cruel.

“We don’t have anywhere to go,” Alice said quietly, her voice barely above a whisper. “Collins please, just give us a week to find a shelter or a cheap apartment. I’ll start working double shifts at the restaurant and we’ll figure something out.”

“Not my problem,” Collins said with a dismissive wave of his hand. “You made your choices in life and now you have to live with the consequences. My brother spoiled you both and made you dependent instead of teaching you to stand on your own feet.”

Gordon cleared his throat again and this time there was a note of finality in the sound. “Collins I’m leaving,” he announced while pulling his car keys from his pocket. “Contact me when you’ve actually cleared the property and we can schedule the final walkthrough and signing. I don’t have time for this circus.”

Collins’s expression shifted to panic and he quickly moved to intercept Gordon before he could reach the door. “Wait Mr. Gordon, they’re leaving right now,” he said desperately. “Please just give me five more minutes and this will all be sorted out.”

Liam watched this exchange with a growing sense of despair settling over him like a heavy blanket. His uncle was so focused on closing this deal and getting his hands on the money that he didn’t care about destroying their lives in the process. The house was probably worth at least three hundred thousand dollars given the neighborhood and the current real estate market, and Collins would undoubtedly pocket the majority of that money while claiming it was his rightful inheritance.

“Mom we need to go,” Liam said quietly to Alice while gently pulling her toward the stairs that led to their bedrooms. “Let’s just pack what we can and get out of here before things get any worse.”

Alice nodded numbly and allowed herself to be led away, though she kept looking back over her shoulder at the living room as if hoping this was all just a terrible nightmare she would wake up from. Liam’s mind was racing as they climbed the stairs together, trying to figure out what they could possibly take with them and where they would go once they left this house. His mother’s salary from her waitressing job barely covered their food and utilities, and there was no way they could afford first and last month’s rent on an apartment.

They reached the second floor landing and Liam guided his mother to her bedroom first, knowing she would need help deciding what to pack. The room looked exactly as it had when his father was alive, with his clothes still hanging in the closet and his reading glasses sitting on the nightstand, and Liam felt a fresh wave of grief wash over him. His mother had kept everything exactly the same as a way of holding onto his memory, but now even this shrine to his father was being taken away from them.

“What are we going to do Liam?” Alice asked as she stood in the middle of the room looking lost and overwhelmed. “Where are we going to sleep tonight?”

Liam had no answer for her because he honestly didn’t know, and the helplessness of their situation made him want to scream until his throat was raw.