2. Dinner

With his heart full of joy, Jason walked out of the living room, this made him think less of his mother-in-law's harsh words. To date, he has yet to understand why the old lady was so cold toward him.

Constantly making references to a poor wretched status, whereas the house they lived in, was under his name. She had never purchased a single appliance or contributed to maintenance, everything concerning this exotic mansion came out of Jason's bank account yet he was compared to a street beggar.

He was also turned into an errand boy, and without a single maid in the mansion, Jason had diligently done everything that a maid could have done, yet neither his wife nor mother in law seemed to be satisfied with his efforts.

He has chosen to take his mind off how they treated him, it was a prize he had to pay for keeping his identity concealed, but their pride and arrogance grew with each passing day and became unbearable.

Each time Melissa's success got to a higher level, they made themselves equal with a prime minister or a military commander, feeling the need to dish out orders and expect his submission and obedience, and he got nothing but insults whenever he failed to comply.

Despite all of this, Jason was committed to his wife. Despite it being a five-year relationship, he loved her like they'd been together for centuries and he'd go to any length to make sure that she achieved success.

Because he did it all secretly, Jason did not expect any form of gratitude from his wife because she did not know, and the only reason he put up with her mother's attitude was because of her, or else no one dared tell him what to do in his house.

To celebrate his wife's success and congratulate her upon her return, Jason dashed into the kitchen. Years of spending time with his late mother had transformed him into a master chef, and what better way to celebrate his wife than to make her favorite dish?

But before he started, Jason called Grace immediately, and the lady picked on the first ring, it felt as though she always waited for his calls because she never failed to pick up.

“Hello, sir.”

“Yes Grace,” Jason began, his voice full of excitement, yet maintaining his professional demeanor and seemingly authoritative tone.

“First of all, well done. You've done exactly what I asked, you made sure she won the award. So continue doing that even until the next production. I want her name to be known all over.”

“I will, sir,” Grace replied, hinting at her submission to his commands.

“Also, I want you to prepare a transfer of agreement for my company shares… you should know which of the companies I'm talking about.”

“Yes sir, I assume the entertainment industry?” Grace inquired, just for confirmation.

“Yes,” Jason replied,

“Send them over to me before 5 pm, you can do it earlier, but not later than 5 pm, do you get that?”

“Yes sir, I will get to it immediately.”

“Good, I hope to receive them soon,” Jason said, and concluded the call, he placed his phone on the slab and began to make preparations for the dish.

________

At 6 pm, dinner was set, the living room was rearranged and decorated, scented candles illuminated the place, and flowers from roses to petals decorated the floor and dining table.

The aroma of the food he prepared filled the room and could leave anyone drooling once they inhaled. Glasses and bottles of her favorite drinks were arranged as well, and the company paper that he had requested earlier was neatly placed by the side.

But an hour had passed and Melissa was yet to return. Jason didn't want to call at first, to avoid giving her hints of the surprises he had installed for her, but seeing how much time had passed, he decided to find out where she was and if she was okay.

She missed his first call, and now genuinely concerned about her whereabouts, he called again and this time Melissa picked on the third ring.

“What the heck Jason, why are you blowing up my phone!”

His wife's harsh words were the least he expected from her, but he quickly paved off any negative thoughts and proceeded to speak to her in such a manner that he knew she couldn't resist.

“My love,” He said,

“I was just wondering why you aren't back home yet, it's past seven, and I hoped to see you by now, I just got worried for a second.”

“So that's it?” Melissa cut him off, her tone carrying a hint of disregard and ingratitude for his concerns.

“You didn't even call to say congratulations… I mean, how could you, when you don't even know whether or not I won the awards.”

“I did, my love, I've just been occupied all day, do you want me to come and pick you up from where you are?” Jason asked her, but he couldn't help but feel perturbed by the voice he heard in the background.

He was certain that it was a man's voice, and without hesitation, he asked her,

“Where are you, my love, what's happening?”

“Look, Jason,” Melissa raised her voice,

“I'm at the bar, celebrating my success with my colleagues since you couldn't, so don't worry about picking me up, I won't be coming back home today either. And please do not call my phone again, okay? bye.”

Before Jason could say another word, she dropped the call, leaving the young man perplexed for a few minutes. He did not want to immediately assume that she was alone with someone else, but from her behavior, and the voice of the man in the background, that was his obvious conclusion.

He drew out one of the chairs, sat down and ran his finger across his hair after tossing his phone aside. Jason couldn't believe he had worked all day, and went through all this trouble to make sure she would come home to a proper date, only to get such an ungrateful and suspicious response.

“I guess that there is no need for this then,” He thought to himself, and even though he was tired, Jason switched on the white light and blew out the candles, the wasted effort took a toll on him and it was evident in his facial expression as he cleaned up everything he worked for.

While at it, a single notification on his phone caught his attention, and with the nature of his job, he can't afford to skip any messages just in case it was work-related, so he picked up his phone and opened the message, and he was shocked by what he saw.

His eyes widened, and his jaws dropped in disbelief. If anyone had told him that his wife would do something like this, Jason would have never believed it, but it was staring right at his face, a photo of Melissa taken outside the bar. She appeared to be passionately kissing someone who Jason immediately recognised as Alex, Melissa's first love at high school.

He was tempted to throw his phone across the room, smashing it to pieces on the wall, but rather he dismissed the page and proceeded to call Melissa to clear his doubts.

However, her phone was switched off, something he believed that she did on purpose to avoid his calls, and at this point, Jason was full of rage, he hated to imagine this scene, but having seen it play out in real life, he couldn't handle the betrayal.

Other than his phone, he picked up a scented candle from the table and threw it across the room, shattering its glass casing on the wall, but knowing how much damage he would cause unchecked, Jason sat down on the couch, he knew a better way to handle this situation.

Meanwhile, at a luxurious presidential suite in the same city, Melissa was lost in the arms of another man. His kisses left her breathless, and with his hands all over her body, she could only dream of eternity with him.

“Was it your husband who called earlier?” He whispered into her ear, his tone as soft and tempting as she liked it.

“Uh huh,” Melissa nodded her head and drew in the blanket to cover themselves a little bit more.

“Why haven't you divorced him yet?” He inquired, confidently cuddling another man's wife with her hands all over his bare chest.

“I need some time,” Melissa replied,

“The divorce papers are ready, so I just need some time to tell him off.” She added, gently playing with Alex's beard.

So far she dreaded telling Jason that she had filed for divorce. They had been married for five years, but Alex was someone she always dreamt of since she was seventeen. Even though he was currently a struggling actor whose name was barely known, she couldn't resist the urge to be in his arms.

In her words, he made her feel a million times better than Jason ever did, he was present, unlike her good-for-nothing husband. And she was a successful actress after all, so why should her so-called husband stop her from being with the man she truly wanted?

Now she was ready, ready to live her life the way she wanted, her success and stardom were on her side, and besides, she wasn't the first celebrity to get a divorce to reunite with their true love.

“I'll tell him soon,” she assured him, and urged him to get back to what they were doing before this conversation.