RISE OF THE HEIRS: Getting Rid of The Traitor

02

"You, maybe," Tom answered.

"Oh, come on, isn't there anyone else who would wake this damn man up from his dreams on this miserable morning?"

Jill grinned, refusing to turn her head even though she knew Tom was talking to her. She raised her right hand, then shook it briefly to signal Pete to walk ahead.

Seeing that, Tom shook his head at Pete while holding him back for a moment. Unfortunately, Pete couldn't do much about it. He hurried off, catching up with Jill, who continued to walk arrogantly.

Tom let out a long sigh as he watched Jill and Pete leave for the orphanage administration room. Hesitantly, he headed back outside the fence. Working was his major goal, even though he knew the chances of being kicked out were greater than hope.

"How lucky I am to be free from the shackles of rich, ignorant person like that woman. Despite being repeatedly insulted and abused, at least I can get angry and resist others' treatment. I don't know how Mr Pete has endured meeting an arrogant person like her for all of his time."

Tom continued to talk to himself. Occasionally, he would glance at the bucks he had collected earlier. With no less than two thousand dollars, he could use that much bucks to buy food for the next week for the residents of the orphanage.

He couldn't rest easy for a moment. He had to find another job as soon as he arrived, in case the slaughterhouse sacked him.

Sure enough, after walking for thirty minutes, Tom got his dismissal attempt.

"Lazy man who never respects time like you can never work in one place for a long time, Tom!"

"Please listen to me first, Mr—"

Before Tom could finish his sentence, Iain kicked his leg hard.

Although he didn't cry out in pain, Tom, who was squatting by the shock, could only remain silent as he received insults from different people in less than an hour.

"No one would hire a lazy person like you, Tom! There won't be! Get this right! Stop being lazy and wake up early so you won't be late for work! I'll forgive you today! But next time, I may have a butcher's knife at your throat if I see you more than thirty minutes late!"

Being threatened like this didn't scare Tom into submission. He quickly put on a smile and got up, then grabbed a long apron before carrying a butcher knife to the cutting area. He wore boots to protect his old shoes, which hadn't been replaced in four years.

Tom headed to his post, then tapped the shoulder of the other man who had replaced him. "Thank you for taking my place."

Jack quickly moved over, then quickly removed his apron and mask to return to his post. The clock had just struck nine when Iain walked into Tom's post to say hello. His face looked even more fierce than usual.

"What's going on? Why did you suddenly bring a guest here? Is she going to buy a lot of pork, or is she just going to look around and cost me a lot of bucks?"

Iain's question made Tom frown. He shook his head slowly, then stopped what he was doing. "I don't know what you're talking about, Mr Iain. Who came here?"

Iain pulled Tom's body quickly and took his place to continue cutting. "You'd better meet her quickly and tell her to buy more! If not, you'll have to pay the damages to waste time on delays and meeting them during working hours! You got it?"

Tom immediately got up. He quickly took off his apron and headed outside. He was surprised to see Jill there, wagging her fingers to ward off the odour coming from the slaughterhouse.

Hesitantly, Tom approached. "Haven't you done enough humiliating things before?"

Jill turned her head, gazing at Tom. She glanced at Tom from foot to top, then chuckled in annoyance. "I can't believe this!"

Tom was getting more and more clueless. He looked for Pete behind Jill's back. But he found no one there.

"What the hell is going on, mam? Where's Mr Pete?"

Jill grabbed a ziplock bag from her bag and held it out to Tom. "I need a piece of your hair! Do it quickly before I actually vomit from the stench!"

Without hesitation, Tom quickly pulled out a few strands of hair and placed them in the ziplock bag. "You haven't answered my question yet, Mrs Jill."

Jill put on latex gloves quickly, then got the ziplock bag with the hair and wrote Tom's name on it. "I reserve the right to remain silent if fucking guy like you keep questioning the others. I hope it's not you I have to see again after this! The other two guys might be better!"

Feeling ignored, Tom immediately pulled Jill's hand as she was about to leave. Disgusted, Jill screamed, slapping Tom's hand, which still had a spot of pig's blood on it that hadn't been cleaned up. Quickly, she slapped Tom with a chain shoulder bag.

"Are you going crazy? How dare you touch me!"

"I just want to know where Mr Pete is, Mrs Jill. Where is he? You came alone with him to the orphanage, so why are you here alone? What happened to him?"

Jill, who was busy looking for hand sanitizer with anti-bacterial properties, immediately glared. She also sprayed disinfectant on her hands where she had contact with Tom.

"What do you care about, Pete? Do you feel sorry for him? Do you think he's the most miserable man in the world for still serving a wealthy family in his old age? Or do you still want to run your show by capitalising on Pete's worries to make more bucks?"

"Oh, come on, Maam. I'm not as petty as you think."

"Then what kind of thoughts must go through your head when you see a damn guy, a disgusting man like you, who keeps questioning the stranger who just bumped into him a few hours ago?"

Tom nodded slowly, then quickly moved on, leaving Jill, who was still looking at him with a condescending expression. "I have to get back to work."

"And I should also get out of here rather than keep running into you! What a disgusting coincidence!"

Tom, who did not understand what Jill meant, could only snigger as he turned around. Without looking back, he quickly returned to the pig slaughterhouse where he had been standing all day. Unfortunately, Iain was already looking at him from a distance with a demanding expression.

Tom could only swallow hard. He approached quickly, then took over the dead pig to cut it in half.

"What's that rich woman doing calling you out? She's going to buy hundreds of pounds of pork? She's giving you payment upfront? Or even pay it off right now?"

Tom grabbed a few bucks from his trouser pocket, right after cutting the pig's body in half. He handed them to the slaughterhouse owner.

"She just wanted to ask. Sorry for making you work for ten minutes earlier. I'll pay the fine right now."

Iain squinted. Without hesitation, he quickly took the bucks Tom gave him.

"This is the first time you're self-aware. This buck is from her? Oh, I see. Did you sell yourself to her? To that old woman? Did you become her mistress? Or did you deliberately become a gigolo to make ends meet for your younger siblings at the orphanage?"

"Watch your tongue, Mr Iain!"

"So, what will you do, huh?"