From Squalor To Splendor

A butler could be seen carefully carrying an expensive bottle of wine up the staircase, ready to serve his master, as illuminant and decorative lights lit up the massive Grayson's hotel.

Justin Ethan considered that day to be the best day of his life since he became an adult.

Of course, it was. Because he finally found a lady who accepted him for who he was. A pitiful young man who is constantly mocked and humiliated by the majority.

As luck would have it, it was also her birthday, and he was planning to surprise her with the small gift he could afford for her, using the money he had saved from his part-time jobs.

His boss arrived at the hotel earlier with a lady he wasn't opportune to see. Fortunately, Justin was chosen by the hotel manager to serve the CEO.

However, rumor has it that if the CEO happens to visit the hotel and you are lucky enough to serve him, consider it a blessing because your salary will be doubled that month. If only you could serve him well.

As he ascended the grand staircase, a lady stopped him and said, "Hey, Justin. You appear to be in good spirits today. What exactly is going on?"

"Perhaps I am serving the CEO today, or maybe it is because my girlfriend's birthday is tonight," Justin sighed.

"Wow!" exclaimed the lady, "I must congratulate you on being chosen to serve the CEO. At the very least, your salary will be doubled this month. I, too, am hoping for a miracle."

"Yeah, thanks." Justin nodded and said, "I need to go now so I do not have to keep the CEO waiting. I heard he is a nice guy, and I would rather not upset him."

"Sure, you are good to go, bro," the lady replied with a wide smile curving her lips.

Justin nodded and went to the CEO's hotel room.

He paused as he approached the door, took a deep breath, and then exhaled while smiling.

It was his girlfriend's birthday, and he was going to serve the CEO on the same day. Everything felt like a dream to him because he had not seen it coming.

He was about to knock on the door when he heard a noise coming from the room. The noise told him that there was a lady with the CEO, and they must have been having a good time.

Justin was lost about what to do because he would rather not spoil their fun.

However, as he stood there contemplating what to do, a voice called his attention.

"Ignore what is going on in the room. Simply knock on the door and inform the CEO that you have arrived to deliver the wine. He will tell you exactly what to do."

From the wireless earbuds Justin was wearing, a voice could be heard. The manager was speaking to Justin after seeing him on the security camera from his office.

"Alright, sir. That is exactly what I will do." As directed by the manager, Justin responded by knocking on the door.

"The door is open. Come in," a deep voice echoed from the room, leaving Justin perplexed.

He quickly pushed the thought out of his mind. He held the doorknob and twisted it gently until it opened.

He walked into the room with his gaze fixed on the ground, avoiding eye contact with the CEO, holding the wine tray in his left hand.

Justin had never met his boss in person, so he was still interested to see him.

His heart fell when he realized what was happening as soon as he raised his head and looked at the woman posing next to the CEO on the king-size bed.

"What is going on here?" he asked, looking at his girlfriend with doubtful eyebrows and trembling in his voice.

Whoa, he caught her in the act of cheating on him with his boss. Yes, she was already n*ked, which proves she was having extramarital affairs with the CEO.

Her n*kedness was hidden from Justin's view by the duvet, but even before he entered the room, he knew exactly what was happening.

For the past two years, Justin has been supporting himself and Isabella's family by working three part-time jobs.

He was like a father to Isabella and her poor mother since her father was late. He could not always provide everything they needed, but he always gave them what he had.

Even though he was still single, he was living like a family man. His needs, as well as those of Isabella and her mother, were not easy to meet, but he always did his best to ensure that they did not go to bed hungry.

Justin, on the other hand, was an orphan who had lost his parents many years before and was living on his own in an apartment where he had yet to pay the previous month's rent.

Because of his poor background, he had been rejected by many ladies. Some of them frequently refer to him as a poor dirty rag.

He met Isabella by chance and fell in love with her. She accepted his proposal without hesitation.

Seeing Isabella cheat on him is something he never expected to happen, even if he was warned.

His girlfriend looked up at him, her eyes filled with guilt. " I am so sorry, Justin. I did not intend for this to happen."

Justin could not tell when the tray slipped from his grasp, shattering the expensive wine and two glass cups on the marble floor.

"Damn!" Through gritted teeth, the young man with his girlfriend cursed. "What is going on here, Isabella? Who exactly is he?"

Ignoring the CEO's question, Isabella begged Justin, "Please forgive me..."

"How could you, Isabella, do this to me? Have you forgotten the struggles I have endured to support your family and myself?" Suppressing his tears, he let out a cry.

Justin's blood began to boil, and he found it difficult to remain composed.

He asked once more, "How could you do this to me?"

Justin could not believe his only girlfriend was cheating on him after everything he had gone through because of her.

Everything appeared to him to be a dream, but he knew it wasn't.

Isabella's head hung, unable to meet his gaze. "I know what I did was wrong. But I could not resist."

"What do you mean, Isabella? Did he force you to come down here with him?" Justin said, "Go ahead and explain to me, Isabella."

Speculating that the CEO might have made her accompany him to the hotel.

If that was what transpired, he was prepared to report the case to the police.

Isabella finally responded to him, her gaze still buried in the ground. "No, he did not force me to come here. I came willingly by myself."

"But why?" Justin was perplexed.

"He's so rich and powerful. He can give me everything you can't, Justin." Isabella declared casually.

"Huh?" Justin gaped, taken aback by her words. " Is that what you have to say after everything I have done for you? But Isabella, you already know how much I adore you. Don't you?"

The CEO, who was sitting on the bed with Isabella, flung the duvet away, revealing his boxers, and jumped off the bed.

Upon setting eyes on the man's boxers, Justin's anger increased, causing him to tighten his hand into a fist as though he were going to fight his boss.

"Come on, Isabella. You mentioned that you do not have a boyfriend. Didn't you?" the CEO yelled at her.

"No, I do not have a boyfriend. Perhaps I did before, but not now," Isabella said to the young man before turning her gaze away from him to Justin, who was still enraged.

Her words pierced his heart like a sharp arrow shot by an archer against his foe.

"Justin," she chuckled, "you know I love you. But I have to consider my future. I can not live my entire life struggling to make ends meet. I need security, you know."

Justin was silent, unsure what to say. His world seemed to shatter into a thousand pieces right in front of him.

He loved Isabella dearly and was willing to give up everything for her.

"So that's it, uh? You are just going to throw away everything we own because he has more money than I do?" Justin inquired, tears streaming down his cheeks.

His body shivered like a wet bird, and the cold was about to take his life.

"Well, it is not just about the money, you know. I'm sorry, but I think I need to be with him. You can also go out and work harder to become a wealthy man like him. Perhaps another lady will leave her boyfriend for you. But as for me, Justin, we are done and done forever. You are no longer in my class. You are too poor and filthy for me." Isabella made fun of him.

"Wow," he exclaimed in agony. "I can not believe you just realized how poor and filthy I am right now." Justin giggled.

"Ohh... I had no idea you were waiting for me to say it before you get convinced that you are a poor orphan with no worth who bounces from one job to the next to make ends meet. Come on, Justin. You need to find something reasonable to do so that people will accept you when you get closer to them," she jokingly told him with a bit of truth.

Justin swallowed hard and nodded his head, as if he was not hurting anymore, but he was dying inside.

"You know what," Justin's boss, Liam Grayson, replied. He approached Justin and stood an inch away from him as they exchanged stares.

Justin was not afraid to look his boss in the eyes again because rage had taken over.

"I think it is time you leave this room before you make me fly off the handle, young man," Liam Grayson told Justin.

Justin could not decide whether or not to respond to Liam. Although he was hurt by what he saw, he was not ready to enrage Liam because he had no idea what would happen next if Liam became enraged.

They exchanged stares for a few moments before Justin finally opened his mouth to speak.

"Isabella, I..." Liam cut Justin off before he could finish his sentence.

"You are fired, Justin!" he said hoarsely, grimacing at Justin, who was still trying to process what he said.

Justin thought he did not understand what his boss said, so he removed the wireless earbuds from his ears and waited for Liam to repeat himself.

"Do not act as if you did not hear what I said, Justin. I said you're fired, and I meant what I said..." Just as Liam's words reached Justin's ears, he knelt and grabbed Liam's legs.

"No, sir. You can't do this to me, sir. Please accept my apologies..." Justin sobbed as tears streamed down his cheeks to the cold marble floor.

"Hey, do not push my boyfriend so he does not step on the broken bottle and injure himself," Isabella warned Justin sternly.

Although Justin was upset by what he discovered his girlfriend was doing with his boss, he was not ready to lose his job because it was the highest paying of his three part-time jobs.

Not only that, but Justin hoped to receive a double payment by the end of the month.

He thought it was the best day for him since he became an adult, not realizing it would be the worst day since he was brought to Earth.

"Get your filthy hands off my legs. A worthless rag and a nobody like you have no right to get any closer to me, let alone touch me." Liam spoke through clenched teeth as he kicked Justin away, causing him to fall violently to the ground on his back.

Unfortunately, he was injured by one of the shards scattered on the floor.

"Ahh...!" Justin groaned in agony as blood began to flow from the injured hand.

"Get out of this room right now before I summon the guards!" Liam warned him as he clenched his teeth, but Justin refused to leave.

"Sir, the month is coming to an end in three days. Why don't you let me work for the next three days so you can settle me and I can leave?" In the midst of pain, Justin proposed.

"I see you are being stubborn. You do not need to be concerned. I know how to handle your type," Liam announced and walked up to the bed and grabbed his trousers.

He fumbled for his phone, ready to make a call.

When Justin realized Liam was being serious, he said to Isabella. "Please, Isabella, help me beg him. Perhaps he will listen to you and let me stay. Do this for me, please..." he begged Isabella, but she frowned and gave him a lethal glare.

"I am not sure why you are having trouble following instructions, Justin. He said you should leave his hotel because you have been fired. Are you too stupid to get what he meant?" Isabella yelled at him.

It was unclear to Justin what his concerns should be: his hand injury, his job, or the fact that his girlfriend cheated on him with his boss and wanted their relationship to end.

Liam addressed his head guards, saying, "Runner, send boys to come and kick this fool out of my sight right now."

"Yes, boss." Justin could hear the guard's voice over the phone because Liam had turned on the loudspeaker. "I will do just that," the guard said.

"Pardon my manners, sir. To be honest, I no longer require Isabella. I will let you take her now. It does not concern me. The only thing I require now is the job, sir," Justin cried out, but Liam turned deaf ears to him.

Justin said that to avoid losing both his job and his girlfriend at the same time, not because he no longer loves Isabella.

Liam picked up the phone to reach the manager right after hanging up the first one.

The manager answered the phone right away, and Liam told him, "This bastard you asked him to serve me is fired. I would prefer not to see him in this hotel ever again. Not only that, but he should not receive a penny of his pay. If you do not accomplish this, you will be held accountable."

Liam had slid into his pants without putting on his full dress before the red-suited guards with dark sunglasses could enter the room.

No, he didn't wear his trousers because he was done with Isabella, but because he didn't want the cleaner who was coming to clean the room to see his nakedness.

As soon as the guards entered the room and noticed that Justin was still pleading with their boss while kneeling on the cool floor, they yanked him off the ground.

"Sir, do not do this to me. I have benefited greatly from this work, so please do not let me lose it." Justin cried out as the guards dragged him out of the room.

"Go to hell, fool!" Liam spat out every word with anger as he grinned at Justin.

A cleaner entered the room shortly after they left to tidy up the mess Justin had made earlier.

Liam spun around to face Isabella, who was still lying on the bed with her lower body covered by the duvet.

"Do not hesitate to notify me if he dares come back to disturb your life again, okay?" he said to her.

"Yes, Liam. If he tries it, I will definitely do that. But I do not doubt that he will not act in that manner. Anyway, let us carry on from our previous position. I'm craving your touch, you know," said Isabella to Liam, even though the cleaner was still in the room, trying to tighten up every angle of the room.

There were bloodstains on the floor in addition to glass fragments.

Liam refused to comply with Isabella's request; instead, he waited for the cleaner to complete and depart so they could pick up where they left off before Justin arrived and stopped them.

A few onlookers started making fun of Justin after he was hauled from the hotel and thrown into the crowded street.

Still, the guards made sure to beat him up until they were satisfied before kicking him out of the hotel.

As he sobbed bitterly and wondered what to do next, Justin found himself dragging his feet along the street.

He covered the cut on his hand with his handkerchief to stop the bleeding.

He starts thinking back on all the wonderful times they used to have with Isabella as he strolls down the street.

He chose to push the thought of Isabella from his mind to prevent going insane after realizing that the more he thought about her, the more he felt hurt.

His tiny phone started ringing inside his pocket as he was strolling aimlessly.

After the call rang for a while, Justin decided to answer it even though at first he wanted to ignore it.

The reason he called was obvious to Justin-it was his landlord.

"Justin, I have got a new tenant who is ready to pay double for the apartment you're occupying, so he could move in there. Because you did not pay the rent for the previous month, I called to let you know that your luggage is waiting for you outside." the landlord's voice echoed from the phone.

"Sir, you agreed when I said I would pay you when I received my salary. Why the abrupt shift in perspective, then? This wasn't what we discussed," Justin sadly explained, regretting why he used the money he was supposed to pay his rent and bought an expensive necklace for Isabella as a birthday gift.

Rather than astonish her with the present he had already purchased for her, Isabella surprised him.

The landlord asked, "Are you done talking?" which confused Justin.

"Sir, what do you mean? Did we not agree on that? Why didn't you wait for me to return before bringing my luggage outside the apartment?" His landlord hung up the phone before Justin could finish his statement.

He looked at the tiny phone he was holding as if he should smash it to pieces and scowled.

Another call came in as Justin was standing there considering his next move. His face was buried in the screen as he swiftly raised the phone.

It transpires that the individual in question was a coworker from his part-time delivery job.

Justin took a quick sniff and used the back of his hand to wipe away the tears on his face before answering the phone.

When Justin answered the phone, he said, "Hello, bro."

"Hi, Justin. The caller stated, "The company manager asked me to call you because he wants to see you and discuss something crucial with you."

"Oh?" With a quick mouthful, Justin inquired, "What happened? The manager had never made such a strong demand for my presence, so I hope everything is good."

"Well, I am not sure why he wants to see you. Just make sure that you don't keep him waiting, okay?"

Before ending the call, Justin gave the caller his assurance, "Okay, I am already on my way to the company."

To avoid keeping the manager waiting, Justin took a taxi with the last cash he had in his pocket.

He reached the company in a matter of minutes. He stood before a tall building, ready to enter it.

He went into the company as soon as he paid the cab driver.

"Hi, Justin. What happened to you? Why is there a blood stain on your shirt?" one of his colleagues asked after spotting the blood stain on Justin's shirt.

"Well, since he did not pay the rent on his previous house, I am sure that he got beat up by his landlord." Everyone started laughing heartily when one of his coworkers made a mocking statement.

Though embarrassed, Justin would rather not respond to the young man because he was one of the people who constantly made fun of him. He believes he has more important tasks to complete than to argue with the young man who was attempting to make him look foolish in front of his coworkers.

It was neither time to return to work nor time to get paid, so Justin walked past them without saying anything on his way to the manager's office to find out why he was needed.

Justin knocked on the office door, and a voice said, "Come in."

With a nod, he grasped the doorknob and rotated it to unlock it.

Justin greeted the manager as he entered the office. " Good morning, sir. I was informed that you needed to see me."

"Yes, Justin. Here, take this and read what's there," said the manager as he extended a brown envelope to Justin.

He took the brown envelope from the manager without a second thought. Using two fingers, he reached into the little brown envelope and pulled out a piece of paper with several scribbles on it.

He went on to read the writing on the paper. Immediately he read a few lines, his jaw almost dropped to the ground.

"S-sir," Justin stumbled in shock."What have I done wrong that I am getting a nasty letter from you?"

"Well, your coworkers have complained about you a lot, so I think it is time I fire you," declared the manager.

"But," the manager interrupted Justin before he could finish speaking.

"Hey! Hey! I don't have to tell you the complaints they laid about you, okay?" the manager angrily spoke. "Leave my office now!" he exclaimed.

Justin could not focus on what was going on. He could not remember having offended anyone in the company; on the contrary, they were the ones impeding his advancement.

For what felt like an eternity, Justin remained silent as he tried to process what he had read earlier.

Justin nodded and stormed out of the office, clearly understanding that the manager had meant what he had said.

"Any good news, Justin?" Four of his coworkers laughed out loud as they asked in unison.

Justin's hand balled into a fist, as if he wanted to fight them, his blood boiling. But he was sure that because they were so many, he could not defeat them.

He gave them a fierce look for a few minutes before saying, "I can see how happy you are because you got me fired without cause. But I assure you all that you will regret it soon."

He did not wait to leave the company after saying that; he left right away, followed by their laughter.

A message appeared on his phone as soon as he stepped outside.

Since the end of the month was approaching, he was curious to find out what it was, believing that the manager felt sorry for him and sent half of his pay.

Pulling his phone from his pocket, he pressed his face against the screen. He was shocked to discover that it was a message from his boss at his part-time cleaning job.

One more depressing update. He was fired for no apparent reason. He appeared to be the target of someone's daylong plan.

Since he was already experiencing pain, he was not overly concerned about the message.

He was scared when a convoy of commanding bodyguards in gorgeous black cars pulled up in front of him as he was ready to leave his part-time delivery job.

The thought that suddenly occurred to him was that Liam Grayson had sent his boys to retrieve him so they could deal with him.

Watching the men with the dark glasses and black suits come out of the cars, Justin froze in place.

He was desperate to escape, but he was unsure of what was stopping him. He stared at them without making a single movement.

The men all held their guns in unison with their left hands as soon as they got closer to him. They bowed before him, each with one knee on the ground.

Together, they uttered, "Young master, we were sent to bring you home."