As he stepped through the iron gate of his estate, he loosened his tie, exhaled slowly, and walked across the courtyard when something caught his eye. He stopped dead in his tracks . His twin sons sat in a large plastic tub in the middle of the tiled terrace, completely naked, through wetness, and laughing uncontrollably.
A water hose lay coiled up nearby . Water was still dripping from the end. Next to him, squatting on the ground, was a man wearing a damp, stream-colored uniform. Ingrid, the maid, a white woman in her late 40s with her blonde hair tied in a knot and her sleeves rolled up . She smiled playfully and held the hose in her hand.
Elias’s gaze darkened. She bathed his sons outside. He watched as she gently held the hose over Elias’s head, while the boy clapped his hands and squealed with laughter. Then Esra splashed water on his brother, which triggered a wave of shrieks from both of them. Ingrid laughed softly, as if it were just another sunny afternoon, but for Elias it felt completely wrong.
He stepped forward slowly. His leather shoes gripped the wet tiles very well. “Igrid,” he said. She flinched at his voice and immediately stood up. The hose fell from her hand with a dull thud. “Mr. Thomson, I didn’t know that,” Elias interrupted her in a tense voice. “What are you doing there?” She stammered, looking back and forth between the boy and him.
They were playing in the garden and were covered in mud. The water was briefly turned off in the upstairs bathroom . So I thought they were going to drag her outside and hose her down like animals. Would that be the solution? No, no, not like that. They love the water. I didn’t want to. They bathe my sons like dogs on the terrace tiles.
Elias’ voice grew louder. Eli flinched slightly. Esra blinked and looked at his brother. Ingrid’s eyes filled with tears. I would never hurt you, sir, never. They were laughing, weren’t they? ” Enough,” said Elias, raising his hand. His gaze slid down to the twins . They were still smiling. But now quieter, more attentive, listening.
“Do you think my wife would have wanted to be treated like that?” he asked. Ingrid took a deep breath. Seline asked me to take care of her like a mother, to raise her with love , not with rules. They should be allowed to play, to be free. She said that if anything happened to her, they would try to raise her behind glass .
Elias opened his mouth, but no word came out. She didn’t want her to grow up cold, Mr. Thompson. She did n’t want them to become stiff and formal . She wanted them to laugh, to play in the mud, to know they were safe. He remained silent. Ingrid’s voice became softer. They giggle when I fill the tub. They are requesting water time.
I never forced her. I never meant to cause any harm. But they are boys and they miss their mother. Elias turned to his sons. Ezra held Elja’s hand. Daddy said Elia softly, we are happy. The words struck a deep chord. The image before him changed, no longer filtered through the gaze of wealth and pride. He saw two splashing, lively boys and a maid desperately trying to keep a promise to a woman who was no longer alive.
Nevertheless, Elias clenched his fists; his pride burned. “That’s not how you do it,” he muttered. ” I know,” Ingrid replied quietly, “but today it was what they needed.” At that moment, footsteps stop behind them. A young employee hurried towards Elias, his gaze fixed on the twins and the nanny. “ Sir,” Mr.
Gregory exclaimed, “there is an emergency due to the current situation.” They are needed immediately. Elias slowly turned his head. Tension was evident in his shoulders. His gaze wandered back and forth between the man and his sons . Esra giggled again and splashed Eliah with water. Ingrid said nothing, she just watched. Elias took a deep breath, cast one last glance at the pool, and turned away.
His shadow disappeared behind the pillars towards the house, while the laughter behind him faded into silence. His polished shoes gripped the marble floor as he rushed inside. The weight of what he had just seen pressed against his ribs. His jaw was tense, his throat constricted, his fists clenched, held back by too much that he had carried inside for too long.
He wanted to scream, smash something, or fire everyone. But instead, he went further into the silence. Hurried footsteps came from the hallway. Gregory, the estate manager, with thinning hair and fogged-up glasses from running fast. Sir, I was told they had arrived. Welcome back. But there is one issue.
” I already know,” Elias interrupted him. Gregory blinked. I saw them! Elias snarled at how she was bathing my children outside, like stray animals. Gregory froze. Sir, I suspected they wouldn’t approve , but the boys love it. She only does it when it’s warm. I thought they knew. Ingrid told us that her late wife wanted her to grow up with freedom.
Elias turned away. He didn’t want to hear Selena’s name. Not now. Not while the image of his laughing sons in a plastic tub under a garden hose was still in his mind . He climbed the stairs, entered his bedroom, and closed the door. His reflection in the window looked like that of a stranger, all his money, all his power.
And yet he was running away from a memory he could not bury . Selena’s voice still lingers in the house, her humming, her eye-rolling when he came home late, and how she once placed his hands on her stomach before the twins were born and whispered. Promise me that you will allow them to live. He had promised it. And yet he was now angry at Joy, simply because he hadn’t given it to them himself.
A knock. In ! He muttered. Ingrid stood trembling in the doorway through Nest. I’ll leave if you want me to. They deserve joy. I did n’t want to embarrass you, just make you happy. He looked at her. not as a maid, but as a woman marked by grief, who had bathed them, fed them, and sung to them, even though she could have left long ago.
Did Selena really ask her to do that? Ingrid nodded and handed him a yellowed note written in Selena’s handwriting. If I do not survive, please raise her as if joy were her birthright. Don’t let your life become a museum. His hands were trembling. I’m sorry. “You are not a bad father,” said Ingrid.
They are simply afraid. Me too. After a long silence, Elias folded the letter. Stay. That evening he kissed the boy’s forehead. I’m at home and this time I’m staying. Esra stirred. Elia smiled. Outside the hose was still dripping, but inside something had healed.
Disclaimer : This content may be created by AI for entertainment purposes. Any resemblance to real persons, events, or places is coincidental.
