THE ACCIDENT

"Jeremiah, what's wrong?!" Michelle Steel, Jeremiah's mother, asked as she got to her son's side.

She gasped, her expression turning grim after noticing the blood stains on the back of his neck and shirt collar.

"What happened to you, Jeremiah? How did you get injured so badly?" Michelle asked, then accidentally kicked the remote on the ground.

She wondered what the tip of her foot had just hit, only for her to look down and see the bloody remote.

"Jeremiah, is this what injured you? How?" Michelle asked as she went down and picked up the remote.

She was smart enough to know that a remote like that could only injure Jeremiah the way it did if it had been thrown at him, so by sneaking glances at the rest of the family, she wondered who had done it.

Immediately, Lady Elizabeth said with an emotionless voice "I did it. I threw the remote at your useless son, and now that you know, what are you going to do about it?"

The moment she heard the confession, Michelle froze. Her entire being becoming fearful. Her heart raced, and her palms and forehead became sweaty.

She quickly rushed to her knees and groveled.

"Please forgive Jeremiah, Lady Elizabeth. I might not know what he did to offend you to the point of punishing him the way you did, but I know he meant nothing by it", Michelle pleaded, but no matter what she said, Lady Elizabeth's sneer refused to subside.

"How many times have I told you to never let that useless offspring of yours come into my presence? You two are only here because of the respect I have for my late husband, but it seems like you're starting to grow wings", Elizabeth barked.

Michelle's eyes widened even more. What had Jeremiah done to make the matriarch of the family this mad? She wondered.

Filled with desperation, Michelle dropped her head on the floor and continued pleading for her son's sake.

"Do not worry, Lady Elizabeth. I'll lecture Jeremiah on the error of his ways and make sure he never tries anything to trouble you in a million years. From now on, both of us will be like a ghost that you don't know exists. You'll never see or feel our presence anywhere near you or the rest of the family ever again"

Seeing how his mother was embarrassing herself in front of everyone, Jeremiah got upset.

He had no problem when he was the object of ridicule and insult, but he couldn't stand and allow the same to happen to his mother.

Jeremiah quickly rushed to the ground and tried to stop Michelle from doing what she was doing.

"Mom, I didn't do anything wrong, so please stop this! You can't bring shame to yourself by doing this in front of the entire family and the servants—" Jeremiah said to his mother, but Lady Elizabeth cut him off.

"What do you mean your mother can't bring shame to herself? Your existence is already shameful enough, you disgusting leach!" Lady Elizabeth cussed, then looked at Michelle.

"You want to know what your useless son did, right? Well, he dared to tell me, Elizabeth Prescott, the matriarch of this entire family to use my family's money to help out some disgusting street rats. How dare he think he can tell someone like me what to do?" Lady Elizabeth asked and Michelle's eyes widened.

She looked at her son with terror in her eyes and said "You did what, Jeremiah?"

Jeremiah gulped.

"I thought it was a good idea, Mom. Our family has been blessed with more than we can manage, so isn't it right to help others less privileged? Aren't you the one who taught me that mom—?" Jeremiah said, but his mother quickly landed a powerful slap on his face to shut him up.

"Mom, you slapped me?" Shocked, Jeremiah held his cheek, which was slowly becoming red.

"You should be grateful for what the matriarch has done for us, but here you are trying to overstep our boundaries. Have I not taught you better? Why did you have to do that?!" Michelle asked, her eyes watering.

"Mom, but what about the—"

"What about, nothing! It isn't our place to tell the family head how to operate, so don't you ever try that again! I don't want to hear any else about this topic, understood?!"

Jeremiah was hesitant about agreeing to let the issue go. His mother was basically telling him to go against everything she had ever taught him just because of Lady Elizabeth and the Prescott family.

"You should listen to your mother, stupid boy. The rest of us were offering things of benefit to grandmother, but you, who is an illegitimate child, would rather collect. You should be ashamed of yourself" Mirabel said, glaring hatefully at Jeremiah.

"Yes, you pig! You're a blemish on the Prescott family lineage, so do everyone a favor and just seize to exist" Said William, Mirabel's fiancé.

"I was going to give grandmother this certificate of ownership to a newly discovered star worth fifteen million dollars, but what about you? What do you have to offer other than take up precious space?" Willian continued his insults.

Jeremiah and his mother were getting bombarded with insults from all fronts, and it infuriated him, but what could he do? He was a nobody compared to them, so he just had to shut his mouth and bear the punches.

"I would have kicked the both of you out of my mansion if it wasn't for my late husband's wishes, so don't you ever think of acting out of line again. I won't be as forgiving next—" Lady Elizabeth threatened but was interrupted when, suddenly, the doors were pushed open, and rushing in was Gwen.

The young woman was in a frenzy, sweating and panting profusely as she staggered to where everyone was.

Seeing her beautiful granddaughter in such a terrible state, Lady Elizabeth stood up.

"Mother, please help me!" Gwen cried as she rushed to her mother's arms.

"What is the matter, hunny? Why are you in such an abhorrent state?" Genevieve, Gwen's mother asked.

The girl couldn't stop weeping.

"I didn't mean to do it, Mom. I didn't mean to. It just happened" Gwen rambled.

"Gwen, what are you talking about? What just happened—?" Genevieve asked but was interrupted when, in a thunderous voice, Lady Elizabeth said:

"Everyone keep quiet and sit down!" She commanded and everyone looked at her.

One by one they all sat down, leaving Jeremiah and his mother, who weren't allowed to sit with the rest of the family, so while he stood, his mother remained on her knees.

"Alright girl, come here and tell your grandmother what troubles you", Lady Elizabeth instructed, and Gwen rushed to her.

"What happened? Did someone hurt my pride and joy?" Lady Elizabeth asked once Gwen got in her arms.

Gwen was her favorite grandchild because the girl's beauty was second to none in the entire province where they stayed.

In the world of the elite, a woman's beauty that was at the level of Gwen's was a massive weapon and Lady Elizabeth had plans to use it.

So, seeing her pride and joy in such a terrible condition angered the woman beyond compare. She was ready to destroy any and everybody that caused it.

"Whoever it was, they will regret the day they were born, so tell me, Gwen, who did this to you?"

Gwen sniffled and wiped the tears from her eyes.

"There wasn't anyone, grandmother," Gwen said, then the rest of the family became confused.

"If no one did this to you, then what happened?" Lady Elizabeth inquired.

Sniffling profusely, Gwen answered, "I was coming back from a party with my friends and the road was dark, so I didn't see him."

Lady Elizabeth furrowed her eyebrows.

"Him? Who didn't you see, my darling?"

"I didn't see the hiker crossing the road. When I did see him, I wasn't able to stop in time. Grandmother, he's dead. I killed someone", Gwen cried, and everyone's eyes widened.