THE SURTR: SON IN LAW

CHAPTER 01 DIVORCED

Ellen returned to the apartment he shared with his beloved wife, Marlene, after a long day of work.

But he was completely unaware of the plan that was forming in her mind; he took off his coat at the door and called out,

"Honey, I'm back!"

Instead of greeting him, Marlene just rolled her eyes and shouted back from the couch,

"And why the hell are you ten minutes late? You know what, I don't care. Just quickly peel an orange for me, I am starving because of your carelessness."

Ellen didn't react, he was quite used to such words from her. He ignored the taunt and instead grabbed an orange from the fruit basket before sitting down to peel it obediently.

"Here you go, Honey. How was your day today?"

She didn't reply to his question as she took the orange without any hint of gratitude and asked,

"What about dinner?"

"I think I should take a shower first, and then I'll make you something. How about that?"

Marlene's face scrunched up with disgust as she nodded,

"Sure, I thought I would have to ask you myself, but it's good that you already know how disgusting you actually are. It's better that you don't go into the kitchen with this stink."

As Ellen walked toward the bathroom, Marlene's calculating eyes followed him. She simply threw away the peeled orange, and picked up the phone from the couch.

She typed a message to Sam,

"Didn't I tell you, Ellen is such a good dog? He follows everything I say obediently."

She had a smirk on her face as she scrolled through her phone.

As Ellen came out of the shower, a sense of excitement bubbled inside his heart. He was really looking forward to the surprise he was planning tomorrow, which was both his birthday and their wedding anniversary.

Finally, he would be revealing his real identity in front of her, and he was getting excited only by imagining the surprise and delight on Marlene's face.

But his imaginations shattered when he stepped into the living room, and heard her voice.

"Ellen, I am filing for divorce."

Marlene declared coldly, her eyes devoid of any hint of remorse. While Marlene said the unexpected words in a chilling tone, Ellen stood frozen in shock.

He just didn't know if he had even heard it correctly, or if it was a hallucination. He felt like the ground had been snatched from under him.

Marlene didn't even bother to look at him until he managed to control himself and ask,

"Divorce? Marlene, are you serious? Why… why did you say this all of a sudden?"

Marlene completely ignored the disbelief in his voice, and said with a dismissive tone,

"What the fuck is wrong with you? Are you really so dumb that you don't know why? Fine, if you want to hear it, then let me tell you. I am divorcing you because I am tired of you!

I don't want to be mocked by my colleagues for my lifestyle anymore. Can you even imagine my humiliation when they saw you this afternoon, washing dishes in the restaurant downstairs? I wanted to bury myself out of shame!"

Ellen was still trying to make sense of her words, and he stammered,

"Mocked? Why would they mock you? Marlene, it's just my part-time job, there is nothing humiliating about it -"

Marlene's disgust for him deepened as she interrupted,

"I don't care! I don't care if it is your job, I hate it! I really hate it when you touch me with these hands you wash dishes with, these hands which you use to carry the dirty plates of strangers."

Ellen's face was turning pale as his entire world had been turned upside down so abruptly. But Marlene continued to rant bitterly,

"What's even more annoying is that I don't even have a car of my own! I am stuck with a stupid taxi whenever I have to go anywhere, and you have no idea the kinds of things my friends say to me because of that.

They get driven around by chauffeurs and flaunt their latest luxurious cars, and I have to keep flapping my hands, hoping that a useless yellow taxi will stop for me!"

She exclaimed with irritation, and her resentment became clear on her face.

"And on every tax day, I have to find and work with these pitiful 40 or 50-dollar receipts. I feel like everyone is watching and judging me when I have to carry these dumb receipts from home, just to calculate how much tax I have to pay.

Do you even know how much I suffer every day with you? But I have had enough, I can't force myself to go through all this…"

With a bitter edge to her words, she continued,

"Whenever I look at the people around me, I can clearly see that I am no worse than anyone else. So why did only I have to marry a pauper like you?

Every day, I curse the fact that my father chose you as my husband. I should be living a life of luxury, not worrying about penny- pinching with someone who can't even keep up with the basic necessities of life."

As Marlene vented her frustrations, the weight of her discontent settled over the room, and particularly on Ellen's shoulders.

But despite her relentless complaints, she was completely ignoring the sacrifices that Ellen was making just to provide her with a luxurious lifestyle.

His daily schedule was filled with multiple jobs after his regular job, all to fulfill her never-ending list of desires.

He had willingly stood in a long line to buy the latest iPhone for her; and on top of his regular job, he had taken on five different part-time jobs just to be able to afford it.

Although Marlene was complaining about the lack of a car, the reason that they didn't have one was because of her own extravagant spending habits.

However, Ellen did not say any of these things.

He had made a lot of preparations for tomorrow, and he didn't want to reveal his true identity until the last moment. But right now, he needed to calm her down somehow.

Thinking of something, he walked towards the door and took out a beautifully wrapped parcel from the pocket.

He handed the gift to Marlene and spoke with a tone of anticipation.

"Honey, I understand what you are saying, but I think you should not be so hasty. Why don't you take a look at this first?"

The gift he had handed her contained a credit card – but not any ordinary one. It was a special credit card which he had been granted as the Supreme Commander.

It had no limits and came without a repayment date; and it was the perfect opportunity according to him.

Seeing this, Marlene would be satisfied for now, and he would still save the surprise for the party tomorrow.

But Marlene didn't want to even look at the gift, and tossed it away.

"I don't need your stupid gift! What can a dishwasher like you can give me... you are showing this like there are some precious gems inside this small little packet, just keep it for yourself.

Come to the Wisemann and Shull Law Firm tomorrow morning. We will sign the divorce agreement there."

Marlene declared as she stood up and left him alone in the room without saying anything else. Panic took over his mind, urging him to chase after her.

He hurried down the stairs to catch up with her, but by the time he arrived downstairs, he saw Marlene slipping into a Porsche and slamming the door shut.

Within seconds, the engine roared to life, and the car sped away, leaving Ellen standing by himself as he watched his marriage crumble to pieces.

When he returned to the now-empty apartment, the clock showed that it was almost 12:00.

Ellen's phone started to buzz with messages of congratulations from his subordinates, each one expressing good wishes and congratulations.

All his subordinates had prepared many gifts for his wife, but Ellen felt even more gloomy on seeing these blessings and wishes, which meant nothing to him now.

Instead replying to everyone's messages, he just typed a short and direct reply to his female guard;

"My wife divorced me because I had no money."