1: Ill-stinking Luck

"Ha! Fifty bucks and you think you can lecture me?" sneered sixteen-year-old Daisy as she dangled the rope out the window.

Liam interrupted her, "It's not right. You should be focusing on your studies, not sneaking around." He grabbed the rope she had left behind and pulled it inside. "What if your parents find out? You have a curfew."

Daisy rolled her eyes, "Who cares about being right? Just help me down or I'll tell everyone you tried to harass me." She grinned as she crossed her arms over her chest. "I'm sure my dad would love to press charges for juvenile abuse."

Liam was trapped. He couldn't say no or risk his reputation. "You're blackmailing me, Daisy. That's low."

She just shrugged, "You're just a lowly gardener. Do you really want me to ruin your life?"

He gritted his teeth in frustration. She was right. He had no choice but to meet her demands.

"Now, here's fifty dollars to keep your mouth shut," Daisy slipped the money into his pocket, "and stay in my bed with the sheets covered. I'll be back in three hours."

The door burst open and a red-faced, seething Mrs Brewer burst in. It was obvious she had overheard the conversation between her youngest child and her most hated gardener. And the first person she approached was Liam.

"How dare you?" She slapped Liam hard across the cheek, leaving her handprint.

Liam held his breath and stood still in the midst of the sharp and stinging pain. He was used to it. There hadn't been a day when he hadn't been hit by this woman. She took every opportunity to abuse him.

"You persuaded my daughter to jump through her window to attend a late night party?" Mrs Brewer glared at him spitefully, ready to hit him again.

"I.." Liam wasn't even given the chance to defend himself when she stomped hard on his foot, drawing a groan from him.

"Bastard! Worthless piece of rubbish. You did all this for money, huh?" Mrs Brewer took the money from Liam's pocket and threw it in his face without a trace of remorse.

Liam held his breath and watched as Mrs Brewer walked away from her daughter.

"I told him I didn't want to go but he made me," Daisy blatantly lied and Liam just swallowed. Had he known, he would have pretended he was still pruning the rose bushes with his gardening shears.

"Wait till my husband gets back, he'll deduct fifty per cent of your wages if you don't hand in your resignation," Mrs Brewer shouted at Liam, who remained still. His cheek and foot hurt.

Other servants poked their heads out of doors and windows to see what was going on as Mrs Brewer had left the door ajar.

"Someone has stolen my new shoes!" Mathew, the eldest Brewer sibling, ran towards them, panting heavily.

"You told me to take them, that you didn't like them," Liam managed to say.

"Bullshit, he's lying!" Matthew accused, shaking his finger in Liam's face.

"That's not true, you..."

"You steal from my children too, huh?" Mrs Brewer interrupted him and tried to hit him, but he dodged. It was too much in one evening.

"Now you want to fight me?" A look of disbelief flashed through Mrs Brewer's eyes as Liam had never flinched when she tried to hit him.

"No, I would never," Liam wanted to disappear into the wall behind him as things were about to go from bad to worse.

"Guards!" Mrs Brewer yelled at the top of her lungs and they immediately rushed to her side.

"Teach him a lesson!" she ordered authoritatively.

"No, please. I am innocent. Don't do this," Liam pleaded as the burly bodyguards surrounded him and they hesitated for a moment.

"Beat him up or consider yourselves fired," the angry woman ordered and the guards obeyed.

They beat the shit out of Liam amidst his pleas. His phone kept ringing and he couldn't even answer it because of the roundhouse, earth-shattering punches he was taking that made him see stars until he passed out.

*

Liam woke up half an hour later to the sound of dogs barking. He was in so much pain from the beating he had received and when he turned to the other side he found a pile of dog poo beside him.

"Shit!" He hissed in disgust and quickly got to his feet and backed away from the irritating sight and stench. He couldn't believe they'd dumped him next to dog poo. It was so disgusting that he almost gagged.

Suddenly he remembered something. Liam pulled his phone out of his pocket and saw that the screen was cracked, but fortunately not broken.

And of course he had missed several calls.

His heart swelled in his chest as he thought it was from his girlfriend.

He abandoned his gardening gloves and ran like a madman all the way to his girlfriend's house, ignoring his pain even though it was killing him.

He finally reached her door and pounded on it with his fist.

"I'm sorry I'm late," Liam was out of breath as the door creaked open to reveal a blonde girl, all dressed up.

"You're always late, today's my birthday!" the girl huffed, flicking her hair, but suddenly her eyes shot up and she recoiled, stepping back to examine him, "black eye, swollen cheek and a bruised lip. You've been hit again."

"I fell, Chloe," Liam lied, not wanting to tell his girlfriend that she was actually right.

"Good thing you're in denial and saving your sob stories, I wouldn't want them to bore me anyway," Chloe frowned at him, refusing to let him in when he tried to make his way inside. Her hand held the door shut protectively, showing him that he was clearly uninvited.

"I know you're angry with me, you have every right to be," Liam scratched the back of his head, "but I've got something for you," he forced a smile on his face, dipping his hand into his back pocket and pulling out a small box. Thankfully it was still intact and not crushed despite the way he had been kicked in the bum earlier.

Chloe gasped and pulled her hand away.

"I don't want any of your cheap presents!" Her hand hit the box and it fell out of Liam's hand.

"You haven't even opened it to see what's inside," Liam was hurt by her actions, but he wanted to believe that she was having a hard day and was taking her anger out on him, "It's the jewellery you've always wanted. I got it for you."

"It doesn't matter. You could've bought a more decent shoes with that money," Chloe shouted at him, her voice dripping with disdain, "I can't believe you have the nerve to show up wearing those disgusting shoes. Don't you have any self-respect?"

And that was like a blow to Liam. He swallowed hard and hurt because she had literally just insulted him. After two years together, she sounded no different to his boss's wife, Mrs Brewer.

"As you can see, I am on my way out," Chloe stepped out and closed the door behind her.

"Out where?" Liam couldn't help but ask. It was one thing for her behaviour to make his mood worse and another for her to leave when he had just arrived.

"It's none of your damn business, Liam," Chloe side-stepped him and headed in the direction, where a Rolls-Royce was packed.

Liam didn't want to jump to conclusions, he believed Chloe would never cheat on him. But even though he trusted her, something just didn't seem right.

Before he could look at the owner of the car, his phone started ringing, drawing his attention away.

And then he saw that it was his neighbour calling.

'It's your sister, Liam. She's had another seizure,' came the response from the caller and Liam‘s heart in his throat, "I called the ambulance,  they're taking her to the hospital because it's life-threatening!"