My Parents Chose the Caregiver Over Me

After entering the house, I walked toward the shoe rack out of habit to change into house slippers, but I saw Harry wearing my cotton slippers.

Harry noticed me looking at his feet, and he quickly pulled out another pair of house slippers from the bottom of the rack out of fluster. He placed the slippers in front of me and said, "I'm sorry. I've worn your slippers, Charlie. Here, wear these instead."

I stared at the thin slippers, and stared back at my cotton slippers on Harry's feet. It felt weird, but I said nothing as I put on the extra slippers quietly.

After dinner, I wanted a short rest, as I was tired from traveling all day, but my father pointed at the table and said, "You should do the dishes."

I was taken aback as I blurted, "Don't we have a caregiver?"

My mother frowned immediately as she set her glass of water down on the table.

She looked at me sullenly, "Harry has been working hard to take care of us. He does our laundry, cooks, and makes our drinks. Do you have any idea how tiring it is for him? Now that you're back, you should let me have some rest. What's wrong with you doing the dishes?"

"I'm tired from work too." I looked at them, unable to understand their logic. "I've been working overtime every day, and it isn't easy for me to finally take some time off to come home. All I want is to rest. Why are you trying to make me do housework?

"Besides, I paid a lot of money to hire him to do this job. Why would I do something that I have already paid someone to do?"

Harry stood pitifully at the side with his head lowered.

My father's face fell, and he slammed the table as he roared at me, "Money, money, money! That's all you talk about! What else do you know but money? You're abandoning your parents because you're only focused on making money!

"You never visit, and you don't even come home for Christmas, but the minute you're home, money is all you talk about. You should just spend your life with your work and money. Why do you even bother returning home?"

My mother sighed, looking disappointed. "Your father is right. You seldom visit us at home since you started work. We don't even see you much in a year. Harry is the one who has been taking full care of us.

"Harry takes good care of us when we're sick, by making us food and feeding us medicine. He's always so caring. As for you, you're our son, but have you ever done anything for us? Do you even care about us?"

My mother finally stopped talking, and Harry walked softly up to her to hold her hand while comforting her softly, "Don't be mad, Sandra. Charlie is in higher management now, and he has a lot of work to do. It's not like he doesn't want to come home."

I got so angry at their words that I wanted to laugh sarcastically. How could they say I did not care about them?

I gave them ten thousand for their monthly expenses without fail, and I paid a lot of money to hire a caregiver to take care of their daily needs, as I was worried they wanted to save the money. All I wanted was for them to have a better life by working hard.

Why did I become the uncaring son in their eyes, but the caregiver I hired became a saint to them?

I clenched my fists as I tried to hold back my anger. "This doesn't sound right, Mom and Dad. How can you say that all I care about is work and money, and not you?

"I used to come home every time I had free time, but you said I was just wasting money, and I should learn to be independent instead of running home all the time like a child who refuses to grow up. You wanted me home less, and I obeyed your wishes.

"Haven't I been calling you often? Haven't I been giving you your monthly allowance without fail? Even Harry was hired by me, and I pay him well for taking care of you. Isn't all this considered caring about you?"