A Rise to the Throne

Chapter 5: Desperate Measure.

Harriet and her mother sat side by side, their laughter punctuating the air intermittently.

In that moment, Harriet couldn't help but wish she had heeded her mother's warning about marrying Adonis.

Taking a deep breath, she realized she was now married to him, and every aspect of her life seemed to be in shambles.

Suddenly, her phone beeped, interrupting their conversation.

"It seems you have a call," her mother remarked, prompting Harriet to retrieve the phone from the floor and answer it promptly.

"Hello, who is this?" she asked, with her mother leaning in closer to listen.

"Is this Harriet? Mr. Adonis Wealth's wife?" a deep voice resounded from the other end.

Initially, she contemplated denying it, as she anticipated that Adonis had likely gotten himself into trouble. However, she didn't want to be labeled as a gold digger, so she reluctantly confirmed, "Yes, it's me. What's the matter?"

"You're required at the police station immediately. It's urgent," the voice replied sternly.

As soon as the call ended, Harriet's face contorted with anger, and she tightly clenched her fists to regain control.

Her mother approached her cautiously, eager to grasp the unfolding situation. Harriet, still seething with anger, tapped her mother's lap and turned her gaze towards her.

"What's going on?" her mother inquired. Harriet had no answers to give, as she was yet to discover the extent of Adonis' latest transgression.

"What has he done this time?" she fired back at the voice on the other end of the phone.

"He got into a fight at a bar, and now a man is injured and bleeding," the caller relayed before abruptly ending the call.

"He fought with someone? In a bar?" Harriet questioned, her confusion evident.

"What happened?" Her mother pressed, locking eyes with her daughter. "Talk to me, Harriet, my beautiful daughter. Your expression tells me that something is seriously wrong.”

“Is it not that foolish poor man again?" Harriet replied angrily.

"What has he done now?" her mother inquired.

"He got into a fight, and now he's been taken to the police station," Harriet responded.

"What do you plan to do now?" her mother asked.

"What else can I do but get him out of that cell before people start looking at me with judgmental eyes, calling me a gold digger like Adonis has any gold to dig up in the fucking first place?" Harriet replied with a heavy sigh.

She rose slowly from the sofa, making her way toward the car with measured steps. She arrived at the police station promptly and was greeted by the Divisional Police Officer. "You're his wife, right?" the officer inquired, and Harriet nodded silently.

"You're so beautiful. I can't fathom how you ended up marrying such a wretched bully, we almost thought that he was some homeless man even," he remarked, and Harriet let out a sigh.

Together, they secured Adonis' release from the police station, but Harriet couldn't help but stare at him with a mix of disdain and hatred.

As they made their way towards the car, a man with a bandaged head approached them, capturing Harriet's attention. She gazed at him, momentarily lost in thought. The man was accompanied by two others, and Adonis seemed to recognize him instantly. It was the man he had fought with earlier that day.

"There he is," the man pointed at Adonis, leaving Harriet bewildered and unaware of the circumstances.

"You had the upper hand at the bar. Let's see if you'll come out on top again," the man taunted Adonis.

The men advanced, ready to attack him, but Harriet swiftly intervened, realizing they intended to harm him. "Please, don't hurt him. Ignore the foolish man I married. I'm convinced he has a mental disorder that explains his behavior," she pleaded, but her words fell on deaf ears.

However, the man halted their aggression. "Guys, leave him alone for now. Let's just go," he instructed, and they turned around and walked away.

The events ignited Harriet's deep-seated hatred for Adonis, pushing her to contemplate filing for a divorce.

"I am utterly exhausted by all of this!" she shouted. "Is it a crime to be married to you? Is it a crime that I decide to give you a chance even though you are very much not in my league? Ugh! I regret the day I agreed to marry you," she lashed out at Adonis, who remained silent, offering no response.

"When will you learn to stop humiliating me, for God's sake? Don't you realize I'm worn out from it all? One thing about you is your self-centeredness, always thinking only of yourself," Harriet berated him.

Yet, he remained wordless, and soon they arrived home, slowly making their way into the house. The moment Harriet's mother laid eyes on him, her face flushed with anger, and she stormed over, unleashing a tirade of scolding.

"You fool! Aren't you tired of disgracing my daughter?" she exclaimed.

However, he practically ignored her, walking over to the sofa and taking a seat with a somber expression. This perceived insult to her person infuriated Harriet's mother even more. "Are you even listening to me?" she snapped at him.

When he continued to ignore her, she approached him, attempting to slap him hard across the face. Yet, he swiftly caught her hand in mid-air and forcefully brought it down.

"Don't you dare try that again in your life," he retorted. "And you know what? I'm fed up with both of you ruining my life. In fact, I am fed up with your whole family. This is my house, remember? I can no longer tolerate the sight of your ungrateful faces."

"I'm giving you just twenty-four hours to gather your belongings and leave this place, or I might show you both just how furious I can be," he threatened. Adonis stormed out of the room, leaving both of them stunned, unable to comprehend his sudden outburst. His unprecedented behavior shook them to their core, and the intensity in his eyes conveyed the genuineness of his words.

They stood there, speechless, their minds lost in a void of silence. Breaking the oppressive stillness, Harriet's mother turned toward her daughter, her gaze filled with concern and confusion.

"Harriet?" she uttered the words, her voice carrying a sense of despair.

"What is it, Mom?" Harriet asked, her eyes filled with anticipation.

"Did you and Adonis sign a prenuptial agreement in court, you guys did not, right?" Her mother's voice trailed off, leaving the question hanging in the air.

As soon as the words escaped her lips, it struck Harriet like a bolt of lightning, and she slowly shook her head from side to side, indicating that they had signed that agreement.

Her heart raced, fully aware that they were in a dire predicament.

"What?!" Her mother exclaimed, her voice echoing loudly, as if she wanted Adonis to hear the words in his room.

"Why would you make such a mistake, Harriet? You should have known that this would come back to haunt you. You shouldn't have made such a mistake," her mother wept.

"It's not my fault, Mom. Adonis is not that stupid, he may have been so head over heels in love with me but his friend made sure that he did it even when he said that he saw no need for it. That friend of his was the devil!" Harriet explained.

Harriet's mother paced anxiously in the room, her confusion growing, unsure of what steps to take next. Fear gripped her, and she turned abruptly towards Harriet. "What do you plan to do? Remember, he owns the house you're living in right now. If he insists that we leave, we'll be left homeless because he's also the one paying my rent."

Harriet's mind spun in a whirlwind of confusion. She had no idea what to do. Her entire existence was entangled with Adonis, and she needed to think quickly to find a way out of this predicament. "Mom, I'm just as lost as you are. I don't know what to do at this moment," Harriet replied, while her mother continued her restless pacing, dragging her feet across the floor.

"But Mom, what about you? What do you suggest?" Harriet inquired.

"Harriet, right now, I'm just as confused as you are, if not more." She paused for a moment, then stopped in her tracks and turned towards Harriet. "Harriet..." she spoke softly, causing Harriet to look at her mother with hopeful anticipation in her eyes.

"There's only one thing we can do now," she said, gently placing her hand on Harriet's shoulder.

Harriet locked eyes with her mother, ready to accept any solution offered, understanding the urgency of the situation.

"As your mother, I know this might be difficult for you, but you'll have to go and apologize to Adonis, Harriet," her mother suggested.

Harriet recoiled in shock, pulling away from her mother with disbelief written across her face. "What? Me? Apologize to that fool?" Her words spilled out venomously, laced with resentment.

"But Harriet, it's the only option we have if you want to avoid being thrown out of his house," her mother pleaded, trying to reason with her.

Harriet saw it as a deep insult to consider going to Adonis and apologizing. She couldn't fathom doing such a thing while she still had breath in her body. "And the truth is, I'm not in the wrong here. He embarrasses me daily. He's just being dramatic, nothing more."

"I'm not saying you're wrong, Harriet. Just consider going and apologizing. It doesn't mean you're admitting fault. It means you're wise, unlike him," her mother explained, but Harriet couldn't even entertain the thought, let alone act upon it.

"I'm sorry, Mom, but I can't do it. Not for that waste of space. I'd sooner die," Harriet retorted defiantly.

"What's your plan then?" her mother asked, concerned.

Harriet paused, contemplating her options. She needed to devise a plan quickly.

"I can see you don't have a plan, Harriet, so..." her mother started to say, but Harriet interrupted her before she could finish.

A wicked idea suddenly struck Harriet—a plan that would render him speechless and powerless, forever. A sinister smile curled on her lips.

"You were about to say something, Harriet," her mother prompted, snapping her out of her thoughts.

"Don't worry, Mom. I have a deadly plan—one that will surely bring him down, forever even." Harriet replied promptly.

"And what is the plan, Harriet?" her mother inquired, her curiosity evident. But Harriet only smirked in response, leaving her mother wondering why. "Don't worry, Mother. Just trust me on this," Harriet assured her.

"Are you sure, Harriet?"

"Don't you trust me anymore, Mom? You know what I'm capable of, don't you?" Harriet asked.

"Yes, I know."

"Then don't worry about a thing. When I'm finished with him, I’ll be the new owner of this house as I should be and he will be out of our lives sooner than you can imagine."