0002: Candy's Betrayal To Kendrew

Evening had arrived, bringing with it the usual routine. 

Kendrew sighed in relief that Candy hadn't shown up, at least sparing him a reason to call it a good day. However, he couldn't slip away to visit the flower shop, a small solace he usually clung to.

He retrieved his worn set of evening white boxers from the drawer. He only had six pairs, which he rotated over two days — a necessity in the Hughes House where strict bathing and attire rules of thrice a day prevailed. 

He couldn't afford more; his last three months' salary had gone towards buying a pixie wig for Candy. 

It was a gift he had hoped would surprise her and make her smile, despite knowing she was seeing another man he didn't know behind his back.

The thought brought a bittersweet smile to his face. 

Even after everything, he couldn't shake his feelings for Candy. Perhaps one day she would realize what they could have had together and return his love. Wasn't that how it worked in romantic comedies?

“Love-stricken me,” he chided, shaking his head to dispel the hopeful but naive thought. Life in the Hughes household was far from a romantic comedy.

Putting on his black pants, white shirt, and black vest, Kendrew smoothed down his hair into a bowl cut, just like his father, Mr. Hughes, preferred.

"This haircut makes you look like a good boy," his father would say. 

But as Kendrew stared at himself in the mirror, he couldn't help but feel like it made him look like nothing more than a grown man who was easily taken advantage of. And perhaps that's exactly what he was.

Sure, he had an attractive, muscular physique that even outshone his brothers', but what good was that now? None of it seemed to matter in Coston City, where nobody wanted to be around him.

He adjusted his vest, trying to ignore the bitter thoughts creeping into his mind. Tonight, like every night, he would perform his duties with precision, hoping not to get any complaints. 

“Kendrew! Hey, you lazy lad,” came the angered voice of Elder Ray, the older butler, from outside his door. “Are you going to die in there or what?!”

Elder Ray always seemed to be angry at him for no reason. In fact, all the older stewards and stewardesses were the same.

“I just need ten seconds more, Papa Ray,” Kendrew replied, trying to sound cheerful. But, as usual, his attempt to impress failed miserably.

“Who's your Papa?! Stupid child, get out here so we can go serve the dishes to the Hughes!”

Funny, wasn't he a Hughes too? But oh well. “Aye, Elder Ray,” he said, resigned.

Kendrew took one last glance in the mirror, sighed, and hurried out to join Elder Ray. It was time to face another evening of servitude, surrounded by people who treated him as less than nothing yet were his own family.

Kendrew took a deep breath, stepped out of his room, and joined Elder Ray in the hallway. The older butler glared at him, his disapproval evident. 

"Move faster, lad. We don't have all night," Elder Ray barked, his voice echoing through the corridor.

Kendrew quickened his pace, trying to ignore the stares from the other stewards and stewardesses. They all seemed to regard him with a mixture of disdain and pity. 

He knew they saw him as the black sheep, the Hughes who didn't belong.

Entering the grand dining hall, Kendrew felt the weight of the room's opulence pressing down on him. The long, polished table was laden with silverware and fine china, each place meticulously set for the evening meal. 

His family was already seated, their faces a mask of indifference. 

He used his eyes, marking the attendance. Grandpa, Three Aunts, One Uncle, seven cousins, stepmother, father, three senior brothers, one sister and Candy. Wait what?

There Candy was, seated next to Kane. She looked up briefly as he entered, her expression unreadable. 

Kendrew's heart clenched at the sight of her, “what was she doing here?”

Nevertheless, he was a Butler and was a task tonight. He could be professional too.

Kendrew and Elder Ray began serving the dishes, he couldn't help but overhear snippets of conversation. His family laughed and chatted, oblivious to his presence, treating him like part of the furniture.

"Kane, darling, isn't the room just perfect?" Candy's voice was sweet and coy, aimed directly at his brother.

"Only the best for you, my dear," Kane replied, a smug smile on his face.

Kendrew's hands trembled slightly as he poured wine into Kane's glass. The confirmation that the room he had cleaned was for Candy hit him like a punch to the gut. 

She had been playing him all along, using him while cozying up to his brother.

He dared not speak, dared not show any emotion. In this house, his pain was his own, invisible and ignored.

The dinner continued, each passing moment a reminder of his isolation as he stood there, as a Butler he was, watching them, his own family eat.

After the elders had left, dinner being over, Kendrew began packing up the dishes. While doing so, he couldn't help but overhear Kane and Candy's conversation.

"Don't worry, Candy," Kane said with a smirk. "In three months, you'll be my wife. Father has already approved it."

Kendrew's heart sank. The room seemed to blur as he fought to maintain his composure. Marry her? After everything, Kane was going to marry Candy?

He needed to get out of there. The elders had finished eating and left the dining hall, so Kendrew seized the opportunity.

"Elder Ray," Kendrew said softly, hoping for a reprieve. "May I retire to my room for the evening? I've completed my duties here."

Before Elder Ray could respond, Kendrew heard his older brother's voice. "Kendrew! Come here," Kendall, the first young master, called out.

Kendrew walked over, his heart heavy with dread. Kendall handed him a brown file, his expression unreadable.

"Take this file and call the number on this card when you reach the end of Coston Bay Road," Kendall instructed, slipping a small card with a phone number into Kendrew's hand.

Kendrew nodded, confusion and curiosity swirling within him. "Yes, First Young Master."

He clutched the file and card tightly, desperate to escape the dining hall and the painful sight of Kane and Candy. With a final bow, he excused himself and hurried down the hallway.

Reaching his small room, Kendrew shut the door behind him and leaned against it, breathing heavily and then began crying. He had hoped for too much from Candy.

Wiping his tears, he glanced at the file in his hand. “What could be inside?” He asked himself. He wanted to know. But for now, he was too emotionally drained to open it.

Instead, he sat on his bed, staring at the card with the phone number. What could Kendall want with him? Kendall never even spared him a glance more so talked to him. 

And why at the end of Coston Bay Road? That was like the end of the city seeing as it was a cliff side with water afterwards. Well, he could only ask himself these questions and dare not say it out to even the wall’s hearing.