RISE OF THE DISCARDED SON-IN-LAW

I WANT A DIVORCE

The weather seemed to be part of the grand plan to humiliate Alarick further because immediately he stepped out of the hotel, it began to rain. Or maybe the weather wasn’t actually mocking him, maybe the sky was actually weeping for him because of the humiliation he just endured. Whichever way, he loathed getting soaked, but at the same time, he was glad for the rain because it concealed his tears from passers by that were running to take cover to avoid being wet. He was soaked from head to toe and he was beginning to shiver, but none of it could be compared to how he felt inside. Ashamed, Disgraced, Humiliated, Dejected, these were words he could use to describe how he was feeling but they all seemed so paltry.

He was so dazed that he didn’t realise that he had walked all the way from the hotel to the mansion till he saw the gates of the Blythe mansion up ahead. At least he had saved the cab fare, it was literally all he had left, he was basically penniless. He regretted spending his life savings just to impress someone so heartless. She didn’t even care that today was their wedding anniversary, and this probably wasn’t the first time she had done this. No wonder she hardly ever let him touch her, he had assumed it was because he couldn’t satisfy her, now he knew that it was because she was seeing other men.

The security at the gate didn’t question or search him like they used to do when he was newly married into the family. The gate was opened for him and he walked to the main house.

“Sir, why were you out in the rain? you will catch a cold.” One of the maids said as he stepped inside the house.

“I’ll be fine, Carly.” He said to her and moved towards the staircase.

She still tried to wrap a coat from the rack close to the door around him even when he insisted that he was okay. He shrugged off the coat and she sighed.

“If you don’t want to cover yourself up, then at least go take a warm bath. I will bring you hot soup when you’re done to warm you from the inside”

“You will do no such thing.” His mother-in-law, Beatrice Blythe walked towards them.

She always seemed to appear from nowhere. She glared at Carly and Carly immediately left. Beatrice had ordered the house staff to not serve him because he had the same status as them in her eyes. But they were always nice to him in her absence. He really hoped Carly wouldn't get fired for being nice and offering to get him hot soup.

“Ugh! you fool!” Beatrice screeched.

“You’re getting water and mud all over the floor, don’t you know that my floors cost more than your entire life?”

He was used to receiving insults from his wife’s family. They all taunted him for being poor, they humiliated and degraded him at any chance they got. He endured it all because he loved his wife and didn’t want to leave her but he realised that his sacrifice was all for nothing. Even after all he did, she still had the heart to cheat on him and disrespect him in front of her lover.

“Clean this mess immediately! Make sure you scrub those floors till I can see my reflection on them or no dinner for you.” She huffed and walked away.

He had no choice but to do as she ordered because now that he had no money at all, he couldn’t afford to be grounded by his mother-in-law. He needed food and shelter so he got a rag and began to clean the floor like a common servant instead of the son-in-law he was.

When he was done, he went to the room he shared with Brianna. He was usually alone here since she slept at the hotel most times. He didn’t bother taking off his clothes, he just walked straight to Brianna’s precious wine cabinet. He was forbidden from touching her expensive drinks, but now he didn’t care.

“That bitch!” He yelled as he grabbed the first bottle and flung it to the wall instead of drinking it.

He had never been so angry in his life, so hurt, so devastated. Another bottle joined the first one and he laughed as it shattered against the wall. Breaking Brianna’s things gave him a little relief from his anguish so he kept smashing the bottles till there was none left.

Next, he went to her closet and began to throw things around, her expensive jewellery, her expensive perfumes, clothes, shoes, bags, scarves, basically anything he could lay his hands on.

“How could she do this to me? I loved her.” He yelled as he moved to the bathroom to destroy her cosmetics and toiletries.

He collapsed on the bed after almost two hours of destruction, his energy was spent and his anger had been abated. He knew he would regret what he just did in the morning but at the moment, he just couldn’t care less. His sleep was interrupted when the curtains were pulled open and he hissed as the sun shone on his eyes. He turned and pulled the covers over his head to shield his eyes, then there was a loud screech that could only have come from one person, his mother-in-law.

“What the hell happened here? What did you do, you fool? Get up, you imbecile. Do you know what the time is? Why are you still sleeping? And why is this room such a mess?” His mother-in-law’s high pitched voice seemed to get higher with every question she asked and at this point, her voice was loud enough to wake up the dead.

He opened his eyes and saw a maid by the curtain, and his mother-in-law by the door, staring at him with her lips curled in disgust.

“You’re good for nothing, I knew it from the moment you stepped into this house. If only my daughter had listened to me and thrown you out a long time ago. In fact, I don’t even know what possessed her to get married to you in the first place.” She sneered at him.

“Get your lazy ass out of bed, get dressed and meet us in the dining room in fifteen minutes. Don’t be late or you will be severely punished.” She said and left the room so fast like she would get a terminal illness just by breathing the same air as him.

He sighed and got out of the bed just as the maid left after Beatrice Blythe. By the time he got to the dining room, they were all seated. Brianna’s father and his father-in-law, Bruce Blythe. .. Beatrice Blythe, his mother-in-law… Brianna’s older brother, Ben Blythe…  Brianna herself, and then her younger brother, Brock Blythe. He wanted to get himself a cup of coffee from the kitchen first before sitting with them but was stopped by his father-in-law.

“And where do you think you’re going?” He asked Alarick.

“I need coffee." He simply replied.

“What you need to do is sit your ass down. Do we look like your slaves to wait till you’re ready before joining us?”

In order to avoid issues, Alarick took a seat and forgoed the coffee. Thankfully, he hadn’t drunk last  so he wasn’t hungover.

"Can I at least get something to eat? I'm starving." Alarick said after getting seated.

"You can have last night's leftovers when we're done. We were going to give it to the dogs, but I guess it won't make much of a difference if you eat it instead." His mother-in-law replied to him.

“What happened last night?” Bruce asked.

“Why don’t you ask your daughter?” Alarick sneered as he eyed Brianna.

“I already have, she said you humiliated her.”

Alarick laughed as he heard what his father-in-law said.

“I humiliated her? How can she possibly be the humiliated one after what I witnessed yesterday? I went to surprise her for our anniversary, I even ordered a special delivery from the Grand Bayou Hotel but when I went there to celebrate with her, I caught her with another man, I caught her cheating on me.”

Brock snickered.

“And why wouldn’t she cheat on you? She can’t be content with someone like you. Why are you even surprised? You should be happy that she found someone to do what you can't do.”

Ben spoke next.

“How did you even get money to order a package from the Grand Bayou? Everything there is really expensive. You must have stolen from us since you are too broke to afford anything.”

Brianna smirked as her family took her side.

“I’ve been working everyday for the past month to be able to afford a luxurious night to make her happy.” Alarick said in his defence but he only made it worse.

“You worked for a whole month just to afford a special package for one night?” Brock laughed.

“I wonder why they named you Alarick, they should have named you poverty, it suits you better.”

Alarick was so embarrassed as they all laughed at him, and he decided that he had had enough. Enough of the insults, enough of the degradation, enough of getting laughed at.

“I want a divorce.” He announced suddenly and the raucous laughter immediately turned to pin drop silence.