A Mysterious Man

The clock ticked on, each passing second tightening the knot of worry in Mei Wei's chest. Aman was never late. For the past six months, he had returned home at the same time without fail—always punctual, always reliable. But tonight was different. The house felt too quiet, and Mei Wei couldn't shake the unease creeping up his spine as he sat in the living room, eyes fixed on the door, waiting.

The door finally creaked open, and Mei Wei stood up in a rush—only to freeze. It wasn't Aman.

It was the last person he wanted to see right now.

Mei Wang stepped inside with that ever-calm, mocking expression that Mei Wei had grown to despise. His presence alone made the air feel heavier.

"I want to talk to you," Mei Wang said, walking toward him slowly.

Mei Wei's face turned cold. "I don't want to talk. Leave."

But Mei Wang only smiled, a glint of something darker in his eyes. "Oh? That's a shame. I thought you might be interested… especially since it concerns your precious caretaker."

Mei Wei's heart dropped. His voice rose, panic leaking into every word. "Where is Aman? What did you do to him? Tell me—now!"

"Let's talk in the study," Mei Wang said calmly.

"No!" Mei Wei snapped. "I'm not going anywhere until you tell me what you've done! Where is he? What have you done to my Aman?"

Still, Mei Wang didn't react with anger. Instead, he turned toward the door with an infuriating shrug. "As you wish. But don't come running to me later, asking where he is."

He had barely taken two steps before Mei Wei's fists clenched at his sides. Teeth gritted, voice low with restrained fury, he hissed, "Fine. Come with me."

And just like that, the study door closed behind them—sealing off whatever truth Mei Wang had come to deliver.

Both of them went to study. Mei Wang closed the door and sat on the sofa in the study; Mei Wei was still standing. He said angrily, "Talk now."

Mei Wang smiled again, his tone calm but laced with venom. "Here's the thing," he said. "My old man handed everything over to you—the property, the Mei Conglomerate, all of it. I was left with nothing. So, I figured I'd take something for myself. That something… was your dear caretaker."

Mei Wei glared at him, "Let go of Aman. I am telling you if he even got a scratch, I will forget our relationship and make sure you regret being ever born."

Mei Wang's face turned dark, "Boy! The only thing I regret is siring an ungrateful brat like you! Your existence is there because of my existence. You can kill me, but I would have killed your boy toy first, so you can't do anything. However, I can let him go safely if you give me something."

"Anything", Mei Wei answered.

Mei Wang was already expecting it; he took some papers out of his briefcase that he had brought all along. He put the papers on the table and said, "All the property, and I will be the owner of Mei Group of Industries. You can't have anything. But unfortunately, you are my own flesh and blood, so I can't have you living on the roads. After this, you can leave with your boy toy to the furthest and most isolated property we have. I don't want to see your face ever. Now don't wait; I have heard some rumours that you can do anything for him. Giving up on property is not a big thing. Is it?"

Mei Wang was very happy. He could finally obtain the property. There was a loophole in that old man's will that if Mei Wei himself named this property to someone, it wouldn't be any problem. So Mei Wang tried this method.

Although he was not going to do everything he had just said. For example, he won't let that foolish caretaker live. And about this boy, he believes that he will eventually commit suicide in sorrow, with no blame on him for killing his own son.

Mei Wei didn't even think for a second. For him, the property is nothing compared to Aman. As for the shabbiest house. As long as he can live with Aman, he is even ready to live in a cave forever.

Just as he was about to sign the papers, the door of the study opened.

Standing at the door was none other than Aman. He was standing with his usual smile, but seeing Mei Wang, his expression stiffened. He said neither too politely nor too rashly, "Master Wang, it's time for the young master's dinner. You should leave."

Mei Wang was so shocked to see him that he didn't even realise that a servant had asked him to leave. He asked, "You... you... what are you doing here?"

Aman kept his calm and said, "Master Wang, what do you mean? Have you forgotten that I work as a caretaker for this house? Of course, I live here."

Mei Wei was so happy to see him that he asked, "Aman, where were you? Why are you late?

Aman smiled truly at him and said, "My prince, an accident happened on the road. So I got stuck in traffic."

Mei Wei was still puzzled. "But he said—" Aman interrupted him mid-sentence, "My Prince, let's talk about it later. I know you haven't eaten dinner without me. Let's go and eat. We will talk after that."

Mei Wei nodded. He looked at Mei Wang. He felt disgusted by his actions. He doesn't know from where Mei Wang got the news about Aman's lateness, but he didn't expect him to do this kind of thing. Even blackmailing him because of his feelings towards Aman. He was entirely disgusted. He threw the papers at Mei Wang's face and said angrily, "Get out of my house, right now."

Mei Wang couldn't understand anything that was happening; he had to investigate first. He threw a glare at both Aman and Mei Wei and left the house.

At night, while Aman was massaging Mei Wei, Mei Wei told him the entire situation about Mei Wang. He asked Aman, "Aman, tell me truthfully. Did anything happen to you? You are not lying just to keep me at ease, right?

Aman sighed, "My prince, really nothing happened. Look at my body; if he has really sent people to kidnap me, do you think I can escape? I think that he was just desperate and made a foolish plan which failed miserably in his face."

Mei Wei thought it was reasonable. He has never seen Aman fighting with anyone, much less getting away from Mei Wang's burly big men. He thought it was impossible.

Little did Mei Wei know that the person he thought was fragile had already killed four people without batting an eyelash.....

****

On the other side, Mei Wang was pacing in his room. He was also living in a very big house, but it was not as big and luxurious as Mei Mansion. It was not like his father hadn't left him anything. He did, but according to Mei Wang, it was too little. After all, his kind of entertainment needed too much money, and he was not a miser from the beginning, but now his money was decreasing. Thus, he wanted that property which was originally going to be his if that bastard hadn't come in the way by being born.

Suddenly his phone rang. He picked up the call; it was from the person whom he had sent to investigate the matter regarding those men. He picked up the call and asked, "Tell me where the hell they are. They took the payment in advance and didn't even do the work."

The person on the other side said, his voice scared, "Boss, you know that they took their targets to a godown in a jungle to kill them. Maybe they were out in the jungle to check something when this happened."

Mei Wang asked impatiently, "What happened? Tell me fast."

The person said, "Boss, it seems that they were attacked by some snakes, and they bit them. So two of them died because of the snake bite."

"What about the other two?"

The person, "Boss, it seems that they were fighting mindlessly with the snakes." Mei Wang shouted, "What do you mean?"

The man explained, "One of them had a deep injury on his head. He might have slipped his foot while running away from the snakes. He died because of that. The other man was shot in the head by a gun. I think it was a mistake that was made by his other partner."

Mei Wang cut the call and threw the phone on the ground. He muttered, 'Those bastards can't even handle some snakes. They have ruined my entire plan.'

******

Two weeks passed, and now Mei Wei was completely healthy. All the doctors were shocked by his progress.

However, there was a strange thing today, and it was Aman's behaviour. Mei Wei noticed that today Aman seemed rather nervous. He was making silly mistakes. He had asked him several times if he was alright. But every time he would get the same reaction that it was okay and it was not Aman's day today.

The day passed in a blur. Mei Wei suddenly woke up at night because he was thirsty. When he touched the glass jug near him, he realised it was empty. Sure enough, Aman's behaviour was really strange today. He even forgot to fill the jug at night. 'Forget it; now that I can walk, I will get it myself.'

Mei Wei thought and went out of the room. He looked into the dimly lit living room, and there he saw it. A familiar silhouette ran outside of the house hastily. It was Aman. But where was he going at this time? He decided to follow him.

He followed Aman and forgot to wear any shoes or slippers. There was a place behind their house with many trees and bushes. It couldn't be called a jungle, but it looked like one.

Aman went deep into the forest, Mei Wei following him. Luckily, there were no dry leaves or sticks on the ground that could make a sound. Suddenly Aman stopped; Mei Wei also stopped, but he remained hidden and in hearing range.

Aman was standing there for a few minutes when a man appeared in front of him. Aman quickly knelt on one knee and touched that man's feet. That man even put his hand on Aman's head and said something which Mei Wei couldn't comprehend. But it doesn't matter; Aman touched that man's feet, and that man patted Aman's head.

Mei Wei was enraged. He really wanted to know, 'Who was this man?'