I was having Christmas Eve dinner with my parents when my wife’s assistant, Brendan Cole, suddenly called and unleashed a torrent of abuse. “Arthur Reid, have you been washing your brain along with the laundry all day? I warned you repeatedly, Ms. Clarke is working overtime on a project this holiday, and no one is to disturb her! You act like you don’t understand basic English, sending your parents to cause trouble, almost ruining months of company effort! Can you bear the consequences of that?” “If you can’t control those two senile old fools, I don’t mind giving them a proper lesson myself!” Completely bewildered, I looked at my parents sitting across from me. “Brendan, aren’t you mistaken? My parents are clearly...” Brendan scoffed. From the other end of the line, I suddenly heard familiar cries and pleas. “Stop, what right do you have to hit us? We were just worried about Sophia working over Christmas, trying to bring her some homemade pot pies…” I snapped back to reality, gritting my teeth as I roared. “Brendan, are you insane? They’re Sophia Clarke’s parents!” Brendan let out a mocking laugh. “Still won’t admit your mistake? Pulling the 'respected elder' card won’t work on me! Get them! Beat the old fools senseless! I want to see how tough their mouths really are!” … The horrific screams from the phone line turned my mind to ice. “You’re mad, you’ve completely lost it! I’m warning you, tell Sophia immediately to get them to a hospital! Otherwise, you’re finished!” Sophia had worked overtime every Christmas for the past three years. My in-laws must have wanted to surprise her, traveling all the way from their hometown. While I was a little surprised, there was no mistaking their voices. This bastard Brendan dared to abuse his power, acting like a complete tyrant! Sophia would never let him get away with this! Yet, in response to my warning, Brendan’s laughter grew louder, laced with heavy derision. “You’re a useless kept man, lying around at home, and you’re threatening me now? Do you really think just because you got lucky and married Ms. Clarke, your whole family can get away with bullying everyone?” “Without Ms. Clarke, you’re nothing!” As he spoke, another scream echoed from the other end. Brendan cackled, “I’ve got your old man under my boot right now! Come on, let me see how you plan to kill me!” My temper flared. “You’ve gone too far!” I knew Brendan always looked down on me. Constantly hinting that I was a freeloader. But Sophia always advised me not to stoop to the level of a young hothead like Brendan. “If others knew that besides our office tower, your family owns three other buildings collecting rent, people would get jealous! Don't flash your wealth. Society is so volatile these days; I don’t want you to be targeted or get into any danger.” I wondered if Sophia would regret it when she learned Brendan had mistaken her parents for mine, subjecting them to such unrestrained brutality and humiliation. For the sake of my in-laws’ safety, I forced myself to calm down, squeezing out a reply through clenched teeth. “Brendan, I advise you not to make things worse! Tell Sophia about this immediately, there’s still a chance to salvage the situation…” Brendan, however, sighed. “What a spineless wretch. I was waiting for you to come kill me, but you’ve chickened out? After all that talk, you still have to use Ms. Clarke to pressure me?” “You want me to let your parents go? Simple. Kneel all night outside the corporate tower, admit your mistake, and confess you’re a useless kept man!” Amidst a burst of laughter from the other side, the call disconnected. My heart pounded with anxiety. I immediately stood up from the table, mumbled an excuse to my aging parents, and rushed to my car, speeding towards the office. Along the way, I floored the accelerator. First, I called the police, then tried Sophia’s number again and again. After more than a dozen calls, she finally picked up. “Arthur, what is it? I’m really busy here.” I rarely lost my temper with her. “What’s so busy about a lousy company? Don’t you know, your parents are being beaten half to death by Brendan!” Sophia’s own temper flared. “Arthur, what do you mean? Is it just because I didn’t come back to spend the holidays with you? Why are you being so sarcastic? Are all your promises to support my work just lies?” “And what did Brendan ever do to you? You can’t just slander him like this because you’re jealous of his success, can you?” I was almost laughing from pure exasperation. What was there to be jealous of Brendan for? “No, do you think I’m joking? Go check right now what Brendan has done! Those are your parents, don’t you care if they live or die? What’s wrong with them wanting to bring you a warm pot pie because they felt you were working too hard on Christmas? How dare Brendan—” Before I could finish, Sophia cut me off impatiently. “Enough! I’m really busy right now, I don’t have time for your made-up stories! If you really can’t stand Brendan, I’ll fire him once this project is done, alright? Are you satisfied now?” The dial tone that followed left me utterly numb. I called back, but she had blocked my number. Arriving at the corporate tower, I immediately spotted the scattered, trampled pot pies on the ground. And the horrifying bloodstains! My heart clenched. “Mom, Dad… where are you?!” I slammed the car door shut and rushed inside, only to be surrounded by several security guards. “What do you want? Stop! No unauthorized personnel allowed!” I scanned them; they looked unfamiliar. “I’m your Ms. Clarke’s husband, Arthur Reid!” However, as soon as I spoke, the guards’ eyes lit up. “So this is the guy Mr. Cole told us to teach a lesson? What a pathetic loser, trying to steal Mr. Cole’s woman!” Before I could react, the lead guard slammed a baton squarely on my head. My vision went black, and I tumbled to the ground. “What are you… what are you doing? Stop it! Have you gone mad, hitting me too?” But they showed no mercy. They rushed forward, kicking and punching me. “Heh, you deserve it, you shameless piece of trash! Why don’t you take a good look at yourself? Do you really think you’re worthy of Ms. Clarke? And you have the audacity to pester her, claiming to be her husband?” “Mr. Cole and Ms. Clarke are the real couple! They’re having Christmas Eve dinner upstairs with his parents and relatives right now, and your deadbeat parents came to cause trouble. How unlucky!” My heart lurched. My eyes widened in disbelief. “What nonsense are you talking about? Stop it, stop it… I’m warning you, I’ve already called the police, they’ll be here any minute!” Just then, a siren wailed in the distance. The guards’ movements paused briefly. But then, Brendan’s voice echoed. “Damn it, the bastard really called the police? What are you all standing around for? Drag him inside and clean up the mess on the floor!” I struggled desperately but couldn’t break free. They forcibly gagged me and dragged me like a dead dog into the security room. Powerless, I heard the police car pull up outside the corporate tower. The officers conducted their routine inquiry. But Brendan smoothly gave them an excuse. The police, still uneasy, contacted Sophia. Over the phone, Sophia chuckled softly. “My apologies, I’ll apologize on Brendan’s behalf! He was just playing a prank! He was upset that I had to work over Christmas, so he deliberately tried to mess with me. I deeply regret his waste of police resources!” “My parents? That scoundrel, how dare he curse my parents? Don’t worry, they’re safe back home…” My heart sank into the deepest abyss. In desperation, I fumbled for my phone in my pocket, trying to smash the security room window to create a commotion. The security guard holding me down glared, his eyes menacing. “What are you doing? Trying to get yourself killed?” He slammed his baton on my head. The pain made me writhe on the floor. The hand gripping my phone was exposed. Another guard, his face grim, stomped on my hand. Crunch! I convulsed in pain, unable to tell if it was my fingers snapping or the phone screen shattering. Bang! Suddenly, the security room door was violently thrown open. A final flicker of hope ignited in my chest, and I quickly looked up. But I only saw Brendan’s sneering face. “You damn dog, haven’t you caused Ms. Clarke enough trouble already? I was only planning to give you a small lesson. But it seems you still haven’t realized your mistake!” “Or do you think I’m all talk?” With that, he snapped his fingers. Two elderly figures, tightly bound, covered in blood, their bodies limp like rag dolls, were roughly thrown to the ground. Seeing those two familiar forms, my mind reeled, and I trembled uncontrollably. The moment the guards released me, I lunged forward like a madman. “Mom, Dad, are you alright? Don’t scare me like this, wake up!” “Brendan, you monster! Get them to a hospital, now!” Brendan roared with laughter, seemingly enjoying my pathetic state. “I really thought you didn’t care if these old fools lived or died! So where did you get the nerve not to just kneel and beg for mercy, but to actually call the police and go against me?” I was beyond arguing with him. As I tried to shake my father-in-law’s shoulder, he remained unresponsive. Blood steadily gushed from his mouth and nose. My mother-in-law was no better, her face a bloody mess, gasping for every breath. I suddenly looked up, staring fiercely at Brendan. I wanted to demand, Why? Whether these were Sophia’s parents or my own, how could he be so cruel to two innocent elderly people? But I didn't dare provoke his brutality further. Gritting my teeth, I bowed my head and pleaded. “Their lives are on the line, they really can’t hold on! You don’t want to be a murderer, do you?” “Brendan, you just want me to kneel and admit I’m a useless kept man, right? I’ll kneel, alright?” Brendan raised an eyebrow, scoffing. “Oh, finally giving up the tough act? You wouldn’t admit your mistake earlier, you wouldn’t admit it later. Now that you’re at your wits’ end, you suddenly ‘realize’ your mistake? You haven’t realized your mistake, you’re just scared!” I was desperate. “What do you want, then? What will it take for you to let them go?” Brendan snapped his fingers again. The guards behind him rushed forward, pinning me down. Thud! My knees slammed hard against the ground. Brendan lightly patted my face, full of humiliation. “If you truly understand your mistake, you’d know what I want. Show me sufficient sincerity!”
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