1 One: the driver’s son.

Josh's little family has lived a lifetime of servitude and loyalty to the Morgans.

He never bothered to live in the little bungalow that sat at the end of a two-hectare garden, nor did he mind the fact that his father was a driver or his mother was a maid. For an energetic child to live on an estate as large and immaculate as the Morgan family's centuries-old mansion, it meant being able to run free in a small forest of hedgerows and swim in the Olympic-size pool all summer when the family traveled to the beach.

Joshua lived with his parents until his senior year of high school, moving to the university's community dormitories a few hours' drive away. After two troubled years in the dorms, he managed to move into a small apartment on the outskirts of town close enough to walk each morning to his classes. However, the friend with whom he shared the rent had to return to his city, as his mother fell ill and needed help during treatment.

Even with a part-time job at a coffee shop, he found he couldn't pay the rent and buy enough food to finish the semester. And his parents couldn't help either, as they paid the college expenses and there were their own expenses. They suggested that the son return home while he gained financial stability.

Then Joshua looked around at a completely empty apartment, four small, dank rooms that gave him a bit of history. After sighing wistfully, he dragged in a suitcase of clothes, a backpack with all his college supplies, and a box of some personal items he couldn't survive without. Joshua returned the key to the landlord and silently said goodbye, finally leaving the building to meet his father on the street, leaning against an extravagant-looking black car.

The short man stood up and displayed a big smile as he walked towards his son, putting his black uniformed arms over his shoulders, then helping him with the box and backpack. The last time the two met was on the Fourth of July, when his parents took a break to accompany him to watch the fireworks display.

"My son!" He said grabbing Joshua's face to place a kiss on his cheek and they both laughed in amusement. "You look so pale and thin!" Your mom is going to freak out when she finally lays eyes on you.

"Dad, I promise I'm perfectly fine." Joshua muttered trying to reassure his father. As I placed my suitcase in the car, the man complained a little more before closing the rear compartment and guiding him to the front seat. Minutes later, the two were turning onto the highway on their way home.

The older man questioned him about his classes and about his grades – which were excellent, just as they should have been. They talked about the weather, it was getting a little colder with the end of autumn, Josh's father complained about the fact that he was wearing an old green sweater he had received as a Christmas present from his own mother a few years ago. . When they arrived in town, there was a short to-do list that their mother had assigned them to, so father and son spent some time together in the supermarket looking for ingredients to finish dinner.

*

Joshua was once again completely awestruck by the entrance to the Morgan family estate, behind the great iron gates was the expansive garden in an incredible palette of autumnal colors and a two-story stone mansion with tall glass windows and a small marble fountain. Immediately, he felt a desire to walk all over the gardens and drown in the familiarity that the property provided.

The car circled the mansion and parked in front of the basement garage entrance, the two carrying the few belongings to the small house that was a few meters away. There was smoke coming from the chimney, so he imagined sitting with his parents in front of the fireplace to talk and watch some soap opera his mother loved.

At the end of the garden he saw the little house, his mother was on the steps with both hands on her chest. She didn't wait and came to meet him, showering her son's face with kisses and crushing him in an extremely tight hug, claiming she wouldn't let her son run out of her arms again.

The family took advantage of their first hours by finishing preparing a large homemade meal, with all the dishes he liked. Joshua actually managed to converse comfortably with his parents, being kept busy by his mother's little favors like he hadn't been in a long time.

Shortly after dinner, Joshua left his parents to rest in the living room and decided to settle into his old bedroom. The room was the same, it was a small room enough to accommodate only a single bed, a desk, a narrow shelf and a cabinet with two doors. The remaining space on your walls was filled with photos, old notes and a mirror next to the closet doors. He kept his clothes and a few pairs of shoes in the closet, organized books and notebooks in small bookcase, and decided to prepare for a bath when he heard his parents talking on the phone about something that had happened in the big house.

Joshua descended the flight of stairs quickly and entered the living room, finding his parents at the door, both putting on their shoes to leave. "What's happening?" he asked startled as he followed them into the garden.

"Sorry, darling. Ms. Morgan needs our help." Her mom stopped to explain, as his dad was running a few feet ahead as he dressed in his work suit. Joshua was grabbed by the arm by his mother, who led him running to the back doors of the house.

Joshua wasn't used to entering the house and was momentarily uncomfortable, but the chaos in the kitchen distracted him for a second. One of the young maids was crying, while the other was trying to get her to stop and drink some water. His mother asked what had happened and found that the newly hired maid had stammered as she replied, "She's dead."

"Don't be ridiculous." The other said, letting her nervousness show. "She attempted suicide and is passed out in the bathroom."

Upon discovery, Joshua allowed himself to be led through the interior of the house, past the large, bright dining room to find the marble stairs, where mother and son overheard a woman's conversation and screams of despair.

And a few meters away, Anastasia Morgan was lying on the floor of the bathroom, crying desperately while the driver tried to help her up.

Around her was a pool of dark blood staining the white bathroom tile. Joshua froze as the amount of blood stained the fragile woman's skin, clothes, and blond hair. But he didn't have much time to register what was really going on, as his father asked him to help the woman too. She was small and very light, so he pulled her into his arms and followed her father in whatever direction.

They ended up in the garage, his father running towards the car in the driveway and helping Joshua put the whining woman in the backseat and letting his father drive the car away immediately.

And just when he was alone in the dark in a garage with a row of different models of cars, Joshua sighed and looked down at his clothes dyed a deep red. He was definitely not ready to witness such a scene, his hands were shaking and his breath was starting to catch.

Joshua was startled to hear his mother's voice and touch: "Are you okay?" I know you are afraid to see blood.

"What happened?"

"They argue a lot, Joshua. This isn't the first time she's attempted suicide."

"This is not normal." He muttered as he looked at his mother, who was wiping her hands with a wet towel. Joshua couldn't explain where the fear he felt came from, but it was real and quite frightening. "I need to clean up." He whispered looking at his mother, who in turn just nodded.

"I'll stay to help the other maids, you should go home to clean up and get some rest."

"Okay, don't take too long. I don't want to sleep alone today." He said coming out of the garage, he was distracted on his way home and didn't realize it until he walked into her room.

As soon as he entered his house, Joshua discarded all of his clothes and went into the bathroom. He closed his eyes and sought support as the water slid against his body, he was a little scared and worried. He could still visualize the scene he had found in the other bathroom and knew his fear would terrify him for some time.

•§•

Peter was extremely tired but continued to pretend to be paying attention to what the other man on his computer screen was saying. It didn't help that they were speaking French, as an intense headache had been tormenting him from an early age.

It was too late to be in a meeting, but his client had an equally busy schedule, and the only time the two could find to talk was at eight o'clock on a Friday night. The man was babbling about a visit to America to discuss the last steps of the ongoing project when Peter's secretary opened the door to his conference room.

He had been clear on her orders, nothing and no one should interrupt their meeting and even so the woman was walking towards her. She kept a worried expression and silently apologized as she slid a notepad across the table.

Peter sighed and grabbed the notepad, looking at his secretary furiously before reading the message.

'I got a call from your driver. Your wife is admitted to hospital, hears a suicide attempt.'

As he read the message through the messy letters, Peter froze for a moment and blinked back at his meeting in full swing. It would be fair to say that no more words registered in his mind and in the next few minutes he apologized and informed his client that they would need to reschedule the meeting for another day. The man did not understand the reason for the termination, but agreed to the request and said goodbye.

Peter immediately left the conference room, receiving his file folder from his secretary who followed him to the elevator. "What else do you know? How is her condition?"

"She was taken to NYU Langone, she bled a lot so there is a very high risk that she will lose the baby. So she is being monitored in the ICU."

Peter stopped with his hand on the elevator button and looked at his secretary. "Baby?"

The woman looked at him looking confused and shook her head. "You didn't know?"

There was no answer to her question and when the elevator doors opened, he got in immediately and closed them to be alone.

Peter did not suspect that Anastasia was pregnant. She had been unwell in the mornings and lethargic at night and had lost some weight, but he guessed it was all a result of the intense and heated arguments between the two. Besides, it had been months since the last time Peter had slept in the same room as Anastasia and of only one thing he was sure of: the child she was expecting is not his.

But even so, he hurried out of the building where his car was waiting and drove to the hospital.

And all the way, he couldn't help but think about the conversation he'd had with his wife. He hadn't forgiven her for avoiding her parents' fifty-year marriage celebration by being unwilling to leave the house when he'd left the same night on a mysterious trip. Anastasia didn't know how to lie and Peter easily discovered her true location, she was cheating on him with one of her ex-lovers.

She had cried uncontrollably as she tried to stop him from leaving the house, but in no time had his wife told the truth or even apologized for what she had done.

Peter had ignored her calls all day and Anastasia had despaired, a part of her mind couldn't really care about her condition. But, he had taken sacred vows to both families that he would keep her safe while they were together and intended to take on that role for now.

So when he arrived at the hospital he asked for information and easily found his entire family waiting in the hospital's second floor reception room.

"Where were you?" His mother asked when she got up.

"I was working." he replied irritably. "I'm not exactly fine, Mom. Please, I need to be alone." Peter really wasn't well enough to answer the endless questions of his parents and Anastasia's family, especially after discovering that his wife was pregnant by another man and admitted to the hospital due to a suicide attempt.

He abandoned his family in the waiting room and decided to go to the responsible doctor, receiving all sorts of useless information about medical procedures. Apparently his wife was stable, but the fetus had not resisted the bleeding and doctors needed to start an intrauterine aspiration procedure. He didn't react to the news and simply sighed, deciding there was no longer any reason to be in this place because he wasn't ready to find his wife.

Peter returned home and the first thing he did was grab one of the old whiskey bottles in the dining room. A few hours later, he found a new bottle and walked to the pool area, sitting in one of the chairs as he stared at the leaves floating in the water.

Peter didn't know how to feel about everything that had happened.

He had worked himself to the point of depleting his energy over the past eight years of marriage. The union between Peter and Anastasia hadn't happened for love, they were just stupidly rich young people with a nosy family that had brought them together. It had been difficult at first, he didn't have much time to juggle the double load of work, family affairs and try to be happy.

A tear slipped down his cheek, but it was wiped away immediately. He sighed and abandoned the ridiculous drink that had turned him into a moody man, decided to head back to the house and sleep for a few hours before he was launched into a tornado of drama and headache.

Peter was halfway back to the house when he heard a sequence of footsteps and a melodious voice in the pool area he'd been in just seconds ago. Silently, he retraced his steps and cast a glance at a man who was sitting on the edge of his pool.

The pool area was furthest away from the house, however, there were security cameras and no procedures or alarms indicated that his house was being invaded. Peter snorted furiously and abandoned his whiskey bottle, advancing slowly and silently so as not to frighten the intruder.

When he launched himself at the man, the two fell together to the ground. Peter managed to pin the young delinquent to the ground, while he screamed desperately and tried to break free.

"Silence!" He grunted, putting the strength to stop the other's arms. "Who are you? And what are you doing in my house?"

The other moaned painfully and finally opened his eyes, stopping moving. "I'm Joshua. Joshua Hong, son of your driver. Please do not hurt me!" he muttered as he stuttered.

And just then Peter actually stopped and looked at the young man under his body, recognizing the young man's Asian features. He released the young man's hands and blinked in confusion, faintly remembering the one-sided conversation he'd had with his driver that morning. The man was talking with infectious glee, revealing that he would find and take his son home.

It had been a few years since Peter had last seen Joshua, and the last time he was just an elementary student who was running barefoot through his garden while it rained. And he looked nothing like the adult who was scared and curled up on the ground while being practically crushed by his weight.

Peter immediately got off Josh and helped him up. "I'm very sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you. I didn't recognize you, Josh."

"I'm not so sure about that." Joshua muttered as he rubbed his wrist where Peter had pinned him. "But its alright." He added smiling.

Peter felt like a complete asshole when he realized that he had really intended to hurt Joshua. "I'm really sorry."

"You don't need to apologize, I was trespassing on your property. In fact, I'm the only one to blame. I'm very sorry." He said nervously, still holding his wrist.

"I can go get some… ice." Peter muttered, stepping closer, but froze when Joshua jerked away reflexively. "I hurt you."

"Really, I'm alright."

"What were you doing here anyway? It's a little late for a swim in the pool." Peter questioned, as he knew Joshua had entered his pool countless times in the past. However, the young man was dressed in a sweatshirt and it was too cold to go into the water. And when he stopped to look, Peter realized that Joshua was no longer a little boy, but a grown man and very handsome.

He had platinum hair, a set of sparkly earrings in both ears, and a pair of really captivating eyes. But, he was a few inches shorter and had more delicate features than Peter himself.

"I was walking, I couldn't sleep." Joshua muttered, looking away from Peter, looking embarrassed. "I'm sorry to scare you, I'm… just going home."

"You can stay." He said too quickly. "I mean, I was just leaving. So you can stay here for as long as you like." he added and was glad the young man managed to lift the gaze that glowed with happiness, or maybe it was just the lights in the water that were reflecting in his gaze. Peter didn't know what to think anymore, he was slightly tipsy and hurt, whatever Joshua's reaction would be charming in sight of him.

"Thank you, Mr. Morgan." He smiled, biting his lip and pulling away.

"Peter." he said suddenly. "Everyone calls me Peter." This was actually a big lie, no one simply referred to him by his real name, but the young man didn't need to know that.

"Okay. Thanks, Peter." He said. "But I'm a little tired. I'm going home.

"Right. Have a good night, Josh." Peter said and Joshua smiled and waved his hand before disappearing into the darkness of the night.