Sellyna returned to Jayden's room with a breakfast tray, but again Jayden spilt it.
"You're stubborn, huh?" Jayden was furious. He would not give Sellyna a chance to force-feed him this time, so he spilt food every chance.
"That's how much you dislike food," Sellyna said, quickly cleaning up the dirty floor.
"It's not the food I don't like; it's you," Jayden said coldly.
Sellyna sighed heavily. "What do you dislike about me?" asked Sellyna as she stood up, having finished cleaning up the broken dishes.
"I'll try to fix it." Sellyna still stood, waiting for Jayden's answer.
"Everything," Jayden replied coldly. "From head to toe! I want you out of my life!" he said angrily.
Sellyna was taken aback and turned around. "Then you'd better tell your father," Sellyna said. "I'll be back with more food." Sellyna apologised and left the room.
Jayden thought hard; what was he going to tell his father?
Sellyna reentered the room with a new tray, walking quietly and leaving the food tray on the bedside table so Jayden wouldn't spill it again.
There was no other way than to force Jayden to eat the food as before. Sellyna didn't care if his face was splashed with porridge; the most important thing for Sellyna was that Jayden could swallow a bite of food this morning.
"Sir, sorry," Sellyna said as she cornered Jayden and forced the man's mouth open.
"Emmmhh!" Jayden struggled, wondering why he had been taken by surprise this time.
"Try if you want to cooperate; there's no way I'm doing this to you just for a bite of food!" Sellyna said, annoyed.
Jayden swallowed his food, not spitting it out this time, making Sellyna feel guilty. Sellyna winced, then slowly moved away from Jayden's presence.
"Is one bite enough?" Jayden asked, looking around for Sellyna.
"Yes, that's enough. You don't have to refuse the food I give you; it's the best. Didn't you say you were in charge here? If one of the staff makes a mistake, you can ask your father to punish them, including me."
Sellyna tidied up the tray of food, cleared away the rest and left Jayden's room. She gave Karin a report and then went about her other business.
After Sellyna's departure, Jayden thought the girl next to him hadn't given up this time. She even did everything she could to feed him. This girl was not afraid of anything either. Was she so eager for the compensation money her father would give her at the end of the contract?
"She is quite attractive," Jayden muttered absentmindedly.
After today, Sellyna's difficulties had eased. Jayden was cooperative, even though he could only finish one mouthful of porridge at each meal; this was an improvement for him.
Sellyna breathed a sigh of relief; it had been a week since Jayden could eat without rebelling. She left Jayden's room feeling proud. It was an achievement for him. But Sellyna wanted Jayden to eat all his food, so she thought of another way to get Jayden to eat properly.
"Sellyna, Mr Smith wants to see you." Karin met Sellyna in the pavilion dining room.
Sellyna nodded and followed Karin as she left. Sellyna wondered why Mr Smith had called her. Had she done something wrong?
Arriving in Mr Smith's study, Sellyna was invited to sit down. She sat with her face deep in thought.
"How is my son?" Mr Smith asked Sellyna.
"There's been a slight change now; he's willing to take a bite of food," Sellyna said, holding back her nervousness.
"And what about you?" Mr Smith asked. "Do you have any problems?" he asked.
Sellyna replied with a shake of her head. "Not at all, sir."
Mr Smith breathed a sigh of relief. "That's good. I've hired specialist servants before, but they were ineffective. They gave up after one day's work. So, I made this contractual arrangement. I'm sorry, Sellyna."
Sellyna was silent.
"If there's anything you're not comfortable with, just say so."
Sellyna nodded. But she would not tell Mr Smith about her difficulties. It was clear from the consequences written into the contract that the other party could not complain if they wanted to survive. That meant the consequences were severe.
Sellyna also heard from Lula that a special servant was supposed to serve Mr Jayden in complete secrecy, but the servant was unable to do so and resigned, and then the servant's whereabouts were no longer known.
"Sir, there is something I would like to ask you. Apart from the incident, Karin tells me about Mr Jayden. Is there any other reason why Mr Jayden is refusing to eat?"
Mr Smith sighed heavily. "A lot has happened to him since the incident. He's trying to get back into social life, but he keeps getting attacked, from blatant assaults to food. I don't know who dislikes my son, but I haven't found out yet."
Sellyna paused; she understood why Jayden refused food.
"He refused the food I gave him because he feared it was poisoned. I've already chosen it and begun to trust the cook. But the rats are still there."
"Did you catch them?" Sellyna asked curiously.
Mr Smith nodded. "Once caught, none of them would open their mouths and chose to die."
Sellyna was silent.
Is there anything else you want to know?' Mr Smith asked.
Sellyna shook her head. 'No, sir. Then I'll take my leave,' said Sellyna, who bowed respectfully and left.
It was very quiet tonight. Sellyna, her duties are done, and she prepares to rest. Sellyna had endured the exhausting days of caring for a large, temperamental baby. Although there are changes regarding enjoying food, Jayden still gets grumpy when things don't go his way.
"I have to go to bed early," Sellyna said with a squirm. She arranged her pillows and began to lie down, pulling up the blanket. This room was more comfortable than the cellar her father had given her.
"I hope everything goes as smoothly as it did today," Sellyna said with her eyes closed. "That way, I can get through this year in peace..."
"No!"
Sellyna opened her eyes as she heard a scream.
"Go away!"
Sellyna got out of bed.
Thump, thump, thump!
"Go away, all of you!"
Sellyna sighed heavily and ruffled her hair as she heard Jayden scream as he hit the wall. The moaning and screaming were audible as her room and Jayden's were beside each other.
"What's the matter with him again?" muttered Sellyna as she left bed.
The noise from Jayden's room was disturbing her sleep. Sellyna went out of the room to check on Jayden in her room. She opened Jayden's room with the spare key, and Sellyna was very surprised because, at that time, Jayden was sleeping while having a tantrum.
Sellyna closed the door and approached Jayden; the man had made a mess of the room in his sleep. He had even punched and clawed at the wall until his nails were bleeding.
"Sir, what happened?" asked Sellyna as she turned on the white light and approached Jayden.
The man grabbed Sellyna's hand and hugged her. "Mommy!" he whimpered.
Sellyna realised that Jayden was crying himself in sleep.
"Mommy!" he whimpered. "I'm scared," Jayden said again.
Sellyna hugged and patted his shoulder, and his crying began to subside.
"Are you having a nightmare?" she asked.
Jayden was still crying, and her hug tightened.
"Don't be afraid of nightmares; they're just dreams; they don't happen in the real world. You're all right, OK?" said Sellyna, starting to calm Jayden down.
Silence.
Jayden started to calm down and go back to sleep, but the problem was that he was sleeping in Sellyna's arms. Sellyna slowly put Jayden back to sleep and gave him a blanket. But when Sellyna tried to get out of bed, Jayden held her back.
"Is he pretending to sleep?" Sellyna muttered. She looked down at Jayden's hand, which was held tightly, but the man's face was deep asleep.
Sellyna sighed heavily. "Fine! I'll ask for a raise for tonight's overtime," Sellyna said, sitting down next to the bed and not letting go of Jayden's hand.
The cold floor and soft wind forced Sellyna to sleep with one hand clutching her knees. This night felt long to Sellyna, reminding her of her time in the cellar.
As Sellyna closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep, her hand weakened in Jayden's grip. But the man slept on his side so as not to lose the hand he was holding.
"You'll be all right, sir," Sellyna said as she looked up at Jayden's face. He yawned and fell back asleep.
The next morning, Sellyna woke early and writhed. Damn, my back hurts from sleeping sitting up," Sellyna grumbled as she left the room. She would return to her room before Karin brought her food.
Sellyna smiled as she remembered Jayden's face in a deep sleep. "He has a sweet side, yes. If only he would obey and not get grumpy like he did the other day, maybe I wouldn't have such a hard time."
There was a knock at her bedroom door; Sellyna approached the main door and found Karin bringing her breakfast. Sellyna took it and went to the dining room in the pavilion. After eating, Sellyna returned to begin her activities.
"Good morning, sir," Sellyna said cheerfully, as usual.
Jayden sat on his bed, this time without throwing things around again.
"It's so sunny today. What would you like for breakfast?" Sellyna asked as she went to put away the new sheets and blankets.
"Anything, just bring it over," Jayden replied in a friendly tone, which surprised Sellyna.
Sellyna wondered if Jayden had noticed that he had hugged Sellyna last night.