CLEAN MY SHOES

"What!!!"

Victor, who was busy washing plates at the restaurant, exclaimed as he heard the startling words from the person on the other end of the line. 

In a swift move, he picked up the phone, turned off the loudspeaker, and pressed it to his ear.

Just then, the restaurant manager walked in and, upon seeing Victor making a call during work hours, erupted with anger. 

"Victor Parker, what are you doing making a call during work hours? Don't you know there are many customers, and plates need to be cleaned fast? I will cut your salary for it."

Although the manager tried to snatch the phone from Victor's hand, Victor seemed oblivious to the situation and accidentally knocked the manager to the ground while hastily leaving the restaurant.

"You bastard, you are fired from now on." 

The manager shouted at Victor as the other workers tried to help him from the ground.

However，Victor did not even hear the manager's words. 

"Yes, I'm headed to the hospital now, I'll be right there," 

Victor said with anxiety evident in his voice. The phone almost slipped from his hand several times as he rushed to catch a taxi.

Victor received an urgent call that his six-year-old daughter, Amanda, had been rushed to the hospital and had been diagnosed with a severe illness.

Reaching the hospital, Victor rushed hurriedly to the ward his daughter was in. He saw his wife, Diana seated by her looking lost. 

However, as he was about to enter the ward, he was welcomed with a loud slap.

"You useless waste as a husband and father," 

Gina, his mother-in-law spat on him. 

"Do you find any joy in your daughter's suffering? Amanda is gasping for life, desperate for urgent surgery, and yet you, a pitiful broken man, can't even muster the courage or capability to do anything to help her. You are nothing but a pitiable disgrace to manhood, a burden on our family."

She leaned in, her voice dripping with disdain, intent on further humiliating him. 

"Look at yourself, a mere restaurant laborer, wasting your life scrubbing dishes and cleaning up after others. Is that the best you can do ? Pathetic!"

Her words cut deep, striking at the very core of Victor's self-esteem.

"My daughter deserves a better husband and your daughter a better father than you," Gina continued, her voice rising in scornful delight.

" A father who can support her medical fees, who can give her the life she deserves. But no, all she got was a spineless loser like you, unable to even scrape together enough money to save her."

Gina's parting words were the final blow, leaving Victor emotionally battered and broken. 

"You're a stain on our family, and I won't rest until you're out of our lives for good. You're nothing but a burden, and I can't wait for the day when Diana realizes the mistake she made marrying you."

Even others at the hospital who heard Gina's loud words began to look at Victor with disdain.

In the past, when Victor was scolded by anybody, including his mother-in-law, his wife would always support him. However, she remained silent this time, showing her disappointment at him.

Victor and his wife, Diana, had known that their daughter Amanda was sick, and Victor had been doing his best to earn some money for the treatments. 

He had promised not to disappoint them. 

However, he had not even gathered a tenth of the money, and Amanda's situation became extremely serious. Even Diana gathered much more money than him but it was not enough. 

Surgery needed to be done within 24 hours for her to survive.

Victor, a small restaurant laborer who washed plates and cleaned the restaurant, knew that the money he made, even if gathered for a whole year, would not be enough to treat his daughter.

As sadness enveloped his face, Victor walked into the hospital room and looked at his sleeping daughter on the bed. 

He tried to reassure Diana, saying, "I'll make sure to get the money, I won't let you down."

Diana, however, did not pay him any attention, her disappointment evident. 

Victor knew that if anything happened to Amanda, she would never forgive him.

Stepping out of the hospital, he put his hand into his pocket and took out a cigarette, lighting it up. 

As he smoked, several thoughts went through his head, and even tears were beginning to form in his eyes. 

However, he held back his tears, focusing on a new idea.

He decided to beg the Gardner family for help. 

Victor, a poor loser in their eyes, had married one of the special beauties of the Gardner family, Diana Gardner. 

As a result, the Gardner family despised him to the core.

Having made up his mind, he decided to head to the Gardner family's residence.

…… 

The residence was lively. It was as if someone was having a party. 

Seeing Victor walking over, a young man with two girls each by his side walked towards him and spoke with a smile.

"I know your poor daughter is sick and you're probably here to beg for money. I can help you."