After two days, the rich man entered Louis' room and took him to a hotel before returning home.
Louis asked,
"What's happening? Why haven't we gone back yet?"
The man replied,
"I'll buy you some clothes first, and you need to take a bath. Do you want Lucy to see you in a mess like this? Be careful not to tell her."
Louis went with the rich man. He bought him new clothes, and after that they returned home.
Lucy was waiting for him happily. She scolded him,
"You went to see your friends without telling me!"
Louis looked at her. Then the rich man looked at Louis with a warning glance, meaning that if he did anything to Lucy, he would punish him. Louis stayed silent and apologized to Lucy.
Lucy said,
"Okay, I forgive you. Now come with me, Louis. Let's study a little."
Louis replied,
"I just came back from the trip. Can I rest a little and then we study together?"
Lucy said,
"No. You enjoy your time with your friends, and when you come back you don't want to study with me? I won't accept that."
The rich man looked at Louis again. Louis got scared and said,
"Okay, Lucy."
Lucy smiled happily.
"Yes, yes!"
She took Louis and they started studying.
Louis said,
"Can you explain this part? I can't understand it."
Lucy began reading the part and explaining it to him. While she was explaining, she noticed that Louis had fallen asleep from exhaustion.
Lucy thought to herself,
"This tiredness isn't from going out with his friends… I feel like something bad happened to him."
She let him sleep and continued studying quietly beside him so she wouldn't wake him up.
Then someone knocked on the door.
Lucy said,
"Come in."
It was her father, Jake. When he saw Louis sleeping, he shouted loudly,
"Wake up, you useless servant! Why are you sleeping?"
Louis woke up because of Mr. Jake's shouting and said,
"I'm sorry, sir."
Lucy said angrily,
"Why are you shouting at him, father? He's exhausted. What's the problem?"
Jake called the servants and said,
"Take him to the room he knows."
Louis became so scared that he almost cried.
"No, sir! I'm sorry! Please don't take me to that place again!"
Lucy saw something she had never seen before. Louis was terrified and crying like a child while the servants were dragging him against his will.
Lucy shouted angrily,
"Stop! Stop!"
She went closer to Louis and asked,
"What's happening to you? What is the room he's talking about?"
The rich man looked at Louis, but Louis didn't say anything.
Lucy looked at her father and realized that he was threatening Louis with something, but she didn't know what it was.
She said,
"I want to be alone with Louis."
Her father replied,
"Don't worry. I won't hurt him. I'll just put him in a proper room, as you know."
Lucy said angrily,
"I want to be alone with Louis."
Her father left and ordered the servants to go away. He loved his daughter very much and never refused her requests.
Lucy closed the door and told Louis to sit down and calm down.
"You didn't go to see your friends, right?" she asked.
Louis didn't reply.
Louis said,
"Lucy… Lucy, please stop."
Lucy said,
"Why? Are you saying my father will hurt you? My father would never do that. Don't be afraid. I know he's strict with you, but he would never actually hurt you."
Louis said quietly,
"Maybe…"
Lucy said,
"Even if he tries, like you say, I won't leave you."
Then she asked,
"What happened? What is that room he was talking about?"
Louis replied,
"I can't say anything."
Lucy said,
"Trust me."
Louis said softly,
"I'm sorry, but I can't tell you."
He left Lucy's room and went downstairs to his room. He wanted to escape, but he didn't know how or what the consequences would be.
Louis thought to himself,
"I will obey Mr. Jake until this contract ends."
Every day, Louis accompanied Lucy to the place she loved most: the garden her mother had planted. They spent a lot of time there.
The best feeling for Louis was lying on the grass at night and looking at the stars. They went to the garden every night because they spent most of their days there.
The days passed slowly like hell. Louis obeyed Mr. Jake even when he insulted or beat him.
Lucy often argued with her father because he hit Louis. She apologized to Louis and cried because Louis was about to leave, and she wanted to spend more time with him. But she knew how her father treated Louis and that he made his life like hell.
Louis started preparing his bag because he was going to leave. He was happy because he would finally be free, like the stars he looked at every night.
Finally, the last day came.
Louis said goodbye to Lucy, and Lucy kept crying. Jake was very annoyed with Louis.
Louis left quickly so that no problems would happen between him and Mr. Jake.
Louis walked through the streets looking for a place to stay. While he was walking, he bumped into a boy.
The boy said,
"Oh! I'm very sorry! You look homeless."
Louis frowned and said,
"Are you talking to me?"
The boy replied,
"Yes."
The boy gave him some money. Louis threw it back at him and said,
"You're the homeless one!"
The boy looked sad and said,
"I'm sorry. I thought you were homeless because there are many homeless children here, and I like helping them."
Louis said,
"No, I should be the one apologizing."
The boy said,
"My name is Charlotte. What's your name?"
Louis replied,
"My name is Louis."
Charlotte said,
"Nice to meet you, Louis. So where are you going?"
Louis said,
"I'm looking for a job and a place to stay."
Charlotte said,
"So you're homeless?"
Louis said angrily,
"No."
Charlotte laughed and said,
"I'm joking with you. Don't you know what a joke is?"
Louis said,
"No one has joked with me for a long time."
Louis then said,
"Alright, goodbye, Charlotte. I hope to see you again."
Charlotte said,
"What? Goodbye? Where are you going? Aren't you looking for a job?"
Louis replied,
"Yes. Don't you have somewhere to go?"
Charlotte said,
"I'm also looking for a home. My father kicked me out of the house."
Louis laughed and said,
"So you're homeless now?"
Charlotte said,
"No, no. I'm not homeless."
Louis smiled and said,
"I'm joking with you. Don't you know what a joke is?"
Charlotte laughed and said,
"Alright, you're funny. I can help you find a job."