When everyone finally left, I forced myself upright and limped back to the reeking stable that had been my “room” for five years. It was a filthy room where I had spent five long years sleeping beside horse manure.

I was still dizzy when footsteps approached. It was Melissa. She appeared in the doorway with a food box in her hand, then she set it down as if nothing had happened. “Here, leftovers from tonight’s banquet, eat it while it’s still warm.”

The memory of her laughing with Connor earlier twisted in my gut. I turned my face away, but she didn’t notice. She kept talking and explaining how Connor hadn’t meant to punish me, how I’d spoken out of turn, and how I should behave next time.

She frowned when she saw me stay silent. “Doesn’t suit your taste? I can ask the kitchen to make something else.” She started to turn, but I rasped, “No,” and pushed the box back toward her.

“A lowly servant like me doesn’t deserve food this fine… let alone the honor of my lady delivering it herself.” Her expression turned cold. “ You ungrateful wretch.” She kicked the box over, sending its contents spilling across my legs and chest. “Still acting stubborn? Looks like you’re not hungry after all. Get to the front courtyard and serve.”

I got dragged out before I could say a word. The servants changed my clothes, shoved me into the manor’s private quarters, and ordered me to haul bucket after bucket of boiling water for Melissa and Connor’s bath. Everyone had been instructed not to help.

“You filthy servant! Don’t you dare slack off!” Any delay earned a lash across my back.

By the time I finished, my shirt was soaked through with blood. I could hear Melissa and Connor teasing each other in the bath behind the curtain. Their laughter mixed with splashes and breathless moans. She had once made those same sounds with me. However, the memory made bile rise in my throat now.

After a long while, they finally remembered I existed. “We don’t need you anymore,” Melissa called lazily. “Go kneel outside.” I limped to the doorway and sank to my knees while the splashing inside grew louder.

It felt like forever.

My legs were nearly numb when Connor finally emerged with Melissa wrapped in silk at his side. He barely glanced at me. “Stay out here tonight and reflect on your mistakes. Keep kneeling.” And then they left me alone.

It took me a long time before I could stand again. I moved toward a corner of the courtyard to escape the wind, but as I passed the wall behind the bathhouse, a faint horn sounded somewhere beyond the estate caught me…

Something hopeful inside my chest sparked.

I crouched down and pressed my ear to the cold stone. The sound was soft but unmistakably real, it was proof that the outside world wasn’t far at all.

It was proof of the way out.

For the next several days, I was forced to serve them closely. I would trail behind them at their beck and call as they wandered the estate, and stand guard outside their door whenever they grew intimate.

Every soft moan Melissa made in Connor's arms cut through me like a blade reopening an old wound. When I wasn't needed, they would send me to keep the young heir company. He was mischievous, but at least he didn't command servants to beat me, so I could occasionally find some relief and breathe in his presence.

One afternoon, he climbed a tree and nearly fell. When I caught him, his shirt lifted, revealing a tiny, red birthmark on his lower back. It was the one my son, Aiden, was born with.

For five years, I had believed I'd transmigrated to another era and I trusted that Melissa in the modern world was caring for our child… How could I know he'd been beside me this whole time and raised to call another man "father"? All happened under my eyes while I was treated like a dog.

Grief and rage tore through me, but I forced myself to remain calm. I knew I couldn't risk anything before I escaped. So I pretended I knew nothing and stayed gentle with him. When I watched my own son laugh beside me, it was the only warmth my hollow chest had felt in years.

One day, Connor arrived with Melissa as Aiden was playing with a slingshot. His aim slipped when he spotted them, and a pebble struck Connor's temple, leaving it red and swollen. His expression darkened. "You little brat! You did that on purpose, didn't you?" he grabbed Aiden by the ear and raised his hand to strike.

"Father, I didn't mean to…" Aiden burst into terrified sobs as I rushed forward. "It's my fault," I pleaded. "I didn't watch him carefully…" Connor paused, a sinister idea sparking in his eyes. "This boy has gone wild," he said softly. "Why don't you discipline him for me?"

A servant shoved a whip into my hand while others pinned Aiden to a bench. "Go on! Stop only when he's learned his lesson." My fingers trembled. "He didn't mean it… it was an accident… he's just a child…How could we use a whip…" My desperate gaze landed on Melissa, hoping she'd speak up for her own son.

"Do it," she said coldly. I froze, unable to lift my arm because he was our child… her own child…

"Since when does a servant question our master's orders?" she frowned. "Do it!"

Connor scoffed and snatched the whip from me. He shoved it into Aiden's hands instead. "This mutt never learns. If you help me punish him, you'll be spared today."

My breath caught, eyes widened in disbelief. Aiden, terrified of being hit himself, didn't hesitate and swung the whip at me with all the strength in his small body. "Filthy servant! That's for defying Father! You deserve to die!" Stroke after stroke landed.

I'd been beaten countless times, but it felt different this time. Each blow burned not only on my flesh but behind my eyes. Tears fell, my heart broke again and again even though it had shattered thousands of times. He kept beating me until he was exhausted, then he ran back to Connor, looking eager for praise. "Father, if he ever upsets you again, I'll punish him for you!"

"Good boy," Connor said, smirking as he left with Melissa and the child.

I watched them disappear in the courtyard, leaving me trembling in red. Something tightened inside my chest. I knew I had to move soon. I couldn't bear to look at their faces for even one more second.

In the days that followed, the abuse only grew worse. Connor never ran out of excuses to accuse me. The way I bowed wasn't low enough, my eyes wandered, I breathed at the wrong time… Every accusation ended with another round of blows. My old wounds barely scabbed before new ones split open, a cycle that never stopped.

One afternoon, just like always, they sent me to haul hot water for their bath, but my legs gave out after several buckets. My vision went black, and the handle slipped, causing the entire bucket of water to splash on Connor's face. I stumbled forward and crashed right into Melissa's arms. She caught me on reflex, stunned.

Connor was already blazing before I could steady myself. He kicked me so hard, and I hit the floor again. "You useless dog! First you fake a fall to throw water at me, then you try to touch my wife? Do you want to die?"

Melissa stood in his arms with her expression iced over. "Seems like you're tired of living, huh?" she said coldly.

I tried to explain weakly that it had been an accident, but he only laughed. "An accident? What's next? Crawling into her bed?" He turned to Melissa. "Darling, how should we punish him?"

She glanced at me once and looked away. "What do you think?" Connor smirked. "He's getting bold. We should do what the old palaces did, cut off the problem entirely. Then he won't be able to 'think' with his problem between his legs again."

Terror ripped through me. I had already lost my health and my dignity, I couldn't lose my body too! I fell to the floor with my forehead hitting the wood again and again. “Please… have mercy… I beg you two… please spare me!"

I begged, I bowed, and I slammed my head to the ground, as my eyes stayed locked on Melissa, praying she would soften just this once. She almost looked moved as something flickered in her expression, but then Connor nudged her, and whatever softness she had vanished instantly... "You're right," she said. "Take him away."

The servants dragged me out, and she looked away quickly, like she couldn't bear to look at me anymore. Once I was out of sight, she brushed Connor's hand off her waist. "You've tortured him long enough. I think you should be satisfied now. This whole show ends tonight." Connor shrugged. "Whatever. I'm sick of this place anyway."

Melissa exhaled in relief as she took out her phone, "Don't actually cut off that thing. Knock him out and send him to the hospital. When he wakes, tell him he's been in a coma for five years…"

Before she could finish, a servant rushed in.

"Ms. Shaw... he escaped!"