CHAPTER 1
It was 5 am inside the bedroom. A man in his mid-twenties was seen lying on a mat on the floor beside an elevated bed. His name was Michael Robinson and he was the live-son-in-law of the Stephen family. On top of the elevated bed was his wife, Rose Michael. She had long brown hair and cold green eyes. Also, her appearance was amazingly beautiful like that of an angel which made Michael count himself a lucky man on earth to have gotten married to her. However, Michael and Rose had never slept together as a couple even though they were legally married because Rose disliked him due to his poor status. Just then, Rose rolled herself on the bed, facing the direction where Michael was lying. As she opened her eyes, her eyes suddenly glanced down on her worthless husband lying on the cold-tiled floor, snoring that got her provoked. “I don't just know why this thing won't let me sleep in peace in my own house again. All he does is snore, snore and snore.” She muttered to herself with an annoying sigh. She stood up from the bed and walked quietly to where a bottle of water was. Taking hold of it, she turned around and headed back to where Michael was. She quickly and quietly opened it and instantly poured it all on him. “Get up you good for nothing man. Get up now!” She yelled with anger in her voice. Quickly, Michael jerked up from the mat. An annoying frown made its way to his face, as he stood on his feet. He tightened his face and clenched his fist in anger but he quickly held himself back from striking, seeing that it was his wife. “You want to hit me? Then go ahead and do it.” Rose said sharply, as she stepped forward, waiting for Michael to hit her. “No, no, no, Rose. Why should I do that? You're my wife and I won't dare raise my hand on you. Never!” He said, his voice calm and void of anger. He paused and then continued calmly. “But you shouldn't be doing this to me. Pouring me cold water when you know that I do sleep on a cold floor. That's not good. At least, treat me with some respect as your husband that I am.” The action of Rose was not surprising to him at all because that had always been her pattern of waking him up. But what annoyed him the most was the fact that he had warned her countless times. “Slam!” Rose was so furious that she couldn't hold back her anger. She had warned him several times never to address her as his wife and him as her husband. That was why she slapped him. “Shut up that trash you call mouth! Never address me as your wife. I'm not your wife and you're never my husband. And why should I treat you with respect when you can't fulfill your responsibilities as a man?” She demanded, her tone sharp. Michael bent his face in shame, his eyes filled with inflowing tears. Raising up his head, he said. “Rose! I know why you are treating me this way. It's because I'm not wealthy like other men and I understand. But I promise to be the kind of husband you wish to have someday. I promise you that.” “But I promise to be the kind of husband you wish to have someday.” Rose mimicked him, ridiculously. “Just look at your mouth!” “And When? When will that be? You have been saying this for years now and yet nothing to show for it. You're such a worthless man I have ever met in my life. I regret getting married to you in the first place.” She spat and then scoffed, pointing fingers at him. “Stop depending on my parents' little wealth. Go and find a job, fool!” She added and moved away from him, heading to the bathroom to take her bath for the office. Her words were so cruel that they caused Michael's heart to sink in pain. He didn't know when he threw himself onto the bed, covering his face in shame. “Michael! Why is your life like this? Why Michael? You're older than so many successful men out there. And here I'm living with my in-laws in the same house with my wife. I can't even provide for the family. I'm such a worthless person like my wife had described me to be.” He sobbed silently to himself. As he was lost in thoughts, Rose's voice suddenly snapped him out. “Will you get up from that bed! Just get your stinky buttocks out of my bed now!” Michael's eyebrows furrowed as he raised his head and looked at her. She had just finished changing her clothes and was having a towel wrapped around her, ready to take her bath. His eyes lingered on her fairly smooth body. It was so lusting that Michael felt like going over to touch her at least once. “Have you suddenly turned deaf? You worthless man? I say get up from my bed.” She yelled again at him. “I'm sorry. I won't do it again.” Michael apologized as he stood up from the bed. “Better! If you want to sleep on a bed then go get one.” Michael nodded affirmatively. “And…” She paused and continued as she seemed to remember something. “I'll leave for the office once it's 6 o'clock sharp. So, go to the kitchen and prepare breakfast for the morning. Do you understand?” Michael nodded. “Yes, I do. I'm going to prepare your most loved meal, Ma Po Tofu.” He said with a smile, hoping to also put a smile on Rose's face because he didn't like seeing her always angry. He had been trying to put smiles on her face several times with his funny words even though he wasn't able to provide for the family. He only wanted her to be happy. But instead, Rose frowned annoyedly which caused his’ to quickly disappear as it came. “You must be very stupid. How many times are we going to be eating Ma Po Tofu in a week?” She asked, her expression grim. “I want you to prepare a different thing today.” Michael nervously scratched the back of his head as he asked calmly. “Please, what do you want me to prepare?” As soon as he asked that, Rose glared at him for a moment without a word, her eyes blazing in rage. She shook her head angrily. “Just go. Go and prepare Black Pudding.” She instructed. “Black pounding?” His heart sank as he asked. “I don't know how to prepare that. I'm only good at preparing Ma Po Tofu.” He admitted. “You are mad. Just do as I say.” She yelled at him, then entered the bathroom and slammed the door behind her. Michael stood, biting his lips. His face was evident of how frustrated and disappointed he looked. He knew he wasn't going to make what Rose had just demanded for but his desperation to make her happy left him in a train of thoughts. Suddenly, something seemed to run into his head. “Yes… yes, Michael, you can do it.” He said, tapping his head. Quickly, he wrapped up the mat and headed to the kitchen.Chapter 2 As Michael got to the kitchen, he took a deep breath with the hope of getting everything done thereby fulfilling his wife's wish. He quickly dipped his hand into his pocket, bringing out his cheap Android phone which had several broken glasses and was half blind. The phone was so bad that he struggled to type, ‘step-by-step tutorials on how to prepare Black Pudding' on YouTube. After several minutes of struggling, he was able to type it and multiple results came out and he selected one of them and began to watch. “What a nonsense day for me. I can't even see anything on the screen. I'm not seeing a single thing.” Michael mumbled as he struggled to watch the video but couldn't see a single thing. Not seeing anything that was on screen got him so annoyed that he angrily switched it off. And with an annoying sigh, he pocketed it and sat in the air. “I can't even afford a good phone. How then am I going to make my darling Rose the meal she demanded?” He sighed and got u
Chapter 3 “Why? Rose, isn't he your husband? Why can't he dine with us?” Isabella queried, looking disappointed. “He's not my husband and can never be until he's capable of doing what other men are doing for their wives and family.” Rose retorted with a sharp tone. “Period!” Everyone supported, which made Michael bow his head in shame as he stood speechless. Not wanting to prolong the conversation which seemed unfavorable to her, Isabella sighed deeply and quietly opened her bowl to eat. The rest of the family also opened theirs. While Michael turned to go back to the kitchen. Just as he moved, Rose's angry voice caused him to halt in his steps again as he turned. “What the hell is this? Why Ma Po Tofu? Why did you prepare it? Didn't I tell you to prepare Black Pudding?” She angrily slammed her hand on the table, standing on her feet. “Yes, you did. But I don't know how to prepare Black Pudding.” Michael admitted calmly, walking closer and standing beside his father-in-law.
Chapter 4 “Rose, you know that I don't have money for now but I assure you that I'll fix everything right soon.” He said, concentrating on his driving. “Then dare not ask me a single thing about my family life ever again when you're not capable of helping.” Rose shunned and remained silent. Michael noticed how angry she looked so he also kept silent and gently drove not wanting to cause any more ire. “Why is my life so miserable like this? I can't even help when they need me the most. Dear God, please help me.” He muttered to himself as he drove. After driving for half an hour, the car abruptly stopped in front of an open building painted white and red. It was the small company that Rose had inherited from her parents as a result of their trust in her. Most of the staff were already carrying out some necessary work and they were all on black and white shirts as it was mandatory for all of them. Most of them who noticed their presence didn't fail to murmur as they saw Michael
Chapter 5 Michael drove on the street and finally stopped beside the roadside, parked the car, and sat under a giant tree that gave him a shield from the hotness of the sun. Onlookers didn't fail to throw at him mocking words. However, he ignored them and was left alone to his thoughts. Who didn't know him as the popular broke man in the whole town of Maple? He slumped down onto the ground, having his head buried between his legs as he sobbed. “I am such a useless man. I can't even provide for my wife and in-laws. Soon, we'll be kicked out of the house and I don't even know what to do.” His heart sank deeply as tears welled down from his eyes. “Father-in-law was right. I'm just living off their earnings instead of providing. What a worthless man I am.” He couldn't hold back his tears. Immediately, he wiped off his tears and raised his eyebrows, he spotted a car driving towards where he was and he quickly wiped off his tears and stood on his feet as he watched the car appr
Chapter 6 John took Michael around the entire building and after everything was concluded, soon Michael signed all the crucial documents making him the new CEO. He was filled with joy because his Uncle whom he had once looked down on was the same person making him move from a nobody to somebody. “Thank you, Uncle, I'll have to go back home now. I know they might have been waiting for me.” “Alright, but don't forget to resume your office tomorrow.” Michael nodded and left and headed for home. “Rose, how is everything going? What are your plans to settle the loans we borrowed? You know we can't afford to lose everything because we have nowhere to go.” Stephen and Maria were curious to ask as soon as Rose returned. “Mom, I don't know what to do right now. I received a letter from Yonggi Cho's family today back in my office and they're threatening to throw us out of the house and even take our properties including the company if we fail to refund their money.” “We're in a
Chapter 7 The next morning, Michael was the first to wake up. He woke up twenty minutes after 5, he glanced over Rose who was fast asleep. “Thank goodness, she's still asleep.” He muttered to himself taking a deep breath. He stood up, folded his mat, and dropped it at its usual place. He also put a $20 note into Rose's office bag before leaving for the kitchen to prepare breakfast for the day. Not up to five minutes after he left, Rose woke up and glanced down to Michael's sleeping spot but she didn't see him. “This is what he should have been doing and not waiting for me to wake him up to prepare breakfast.” She mumbled to herself. “If he had been doing this, I wouldn't have been waking him up with bottles of water.” Still mumbling, she got from the bed and walked straight into the bathroom to take her bath. Before everyone else in the family woke up, Michael had finished every one of the house chores and went out. When they finally woke up, they dined together an
Chapter 8 The news of Golden Group of Companies accepting the collaboration proposal from Best Fashion Company circulated the whole town. Everyone was fully aware that a new CEO had finally stepped on board. And the entire family of Miller White was set at the edge of extreme happiness. The White family had been in enmity with the Stephen family over the years now unbeknownst to Michael. It all started when White chose to betray Stephen and went ahead to establish his own company after stealing from the company they both had together. That was how Stephen's family fell into the huge loan they were owing because Stephen, Rose's father, was the one who borrowed the money, and the signature was signed under his name. As Michael was cleaning the furniture which was his regular work, the entire family was busy watching TV shows together. It was weekend so everyone was present at home and no one went to work. “Rose! Have you heard about the news?” Maria was the first to talk,
Chapter 9 The following day, the news of Golden Group of Companies terminating collaboration with Best Fashion Company overnight went again throughout the whole town leaving everyone wondering. Rose couldn't hold back her happiness as she heard the news. It was all she had prayed for. So she quickly picked up her phone to call Cordelia. Although she had blacklisted her contact before, she now felt the urge to unban her and called her. After she dialed her number, it rang but there was no answer, however, she didn't stop calling. And finally, Cordelia picked up. “Hey, you fool! What do you want?” “You silly girl, what do you think I'll stoop so low to ever need something from people like you and your family? You know that can never happen.” Cordelia remained silent while Rose continued. “Oh, my darling friend. I heard what happened. They approved your proposal and not even up to a day they terminated it because it seemed they had gotten to know your true identity. Ha ha