The Son-in-law's Revenge

Chapter Four

The sound of a constant beep stirred Elijah up. He opened his eyes slowly as he tried to adjust to the lighting in the room. He heard the beeping sound again and he opened his mouth to complain, mumbling words at the sound. He carefully turned his head to the side, noticing a white wall and a wide window that did not look familiar. Then he turned to the other side and he saw a tube that extended from his hand to an IV bag, which made him realize that he was in the hospital.

As he glanced at his hand, something white underneath his gaze caught his attention. He looked down and saw that his legs were in a white cast, raised, and he began to remember everything that had happened, but not the details of how he had gotten to the hospital. The thought of Bianca made him frown. All he felt at the thought of her was hatred. The position he had met her in, in that room was imprinted in his mind. He tried to think of other things, but all he could think about was Bianca and everything he had gone through.

Elijah never dreamed he would suffer as much as he did after signing the deal with his grandfather. He remembered the first time he saw Bianca at the coffee shop, and how he had turned on his charm to woo her. Elijah was a handsome man with brushed back clean-cut hair. He had small striking hazel eyes and thick eyebrows, one had a slit through it that bore a scar from when he was young. He had a strong jawline and a clean stubble on it. He had a 6'5 figure. Elijah enjoyed working out a lot, so his body bore all the signs of a gym devotee. So getting the ladies' attention was not always a problem. 

On the day he approached Bianca, he was dressed as an average dude, not a billionaire. He had talked to her, and she had responded to him with a few words of her own, but she always gave a smile, here and there. Six months into their relationship, he had proposed to her and she had accepted. Until now, Elijah could not understand why she had accepted his proposal even though they were from different social classes, or so she thought. 

His introduction to her family had been awkward. He recalled Bianca's mother continuously questioning Bianca's decision to marry him. Her family had rarely spoken a word to him that day. It was so clear that they did not want him, they agreed to it just to please Bianca. Then they got married, and the insults started rolling in little by little, which escalated on his mother-in-law's birthday. 

Two days before his mother-in-law's party, Elijah had asked Bianca what he could get for her mother who was turning 59. Thinking about it now, Bianca did throw subtle jabs at him that he had ignored. That day, she had stated causally, "You can't afford anything she likes right now Elijah," and then the bitch smirked after.

He realized how foolish he had been because he laughed it off. He had saved money and had purchased flowers and perfume that Bianca's mother, Rachel had called cheap. Elijah had packaged the gift and had tried to dress appropriately for the event. He had even asked Bianca to pick out an outfit for him, which she did, but her choice did not prevent him from appearing like a pauper beside Rachel's other guest. 

The party had dwindled down, with the other guests departing, leaving only the immediate family. That was when Elijah presented his gift to Rachel. She beckoned on one of her servants to collect the gift from him, as she stared at it with a scrunched-up nose, as if the gift could transmit a severe disease to her, simply by being in the same space as it. She instructed the maid to take the flowers to the back of the house and use the perfume in the servant's toilets.

That was the opening show of the constant humiliation and disgrace he got from the Gardini family. 

He stared at the cast that had been used to wrap his legs. He raised his hand to touch the bandage that had been wrapped around his head and he regretted it immediately, as a sharp pain struck through his arm. 

The door to the hospital room opened, revealing Marcus' face. Then he remembered the old man who had assisted him on the road. He recalled the stranger handing him his phone and the number he had dialed was Marcus, his childhood best friend.

"Hey man," Marcus said as he drew the only chair in the room next to Elijah's bed and sat in it. "You look like a truck ran you over, with all these bandages and stuff." 

Elijah's throat felt dry, so he looked at Marcus and pointed to the water jar on the small table beside him. Marcus understood immediately and reached out to pour some water into the glass cup close to the jar. When he was finished, he removed a straw from its wrapper and placed it in the cup before raising it to Elijah's lips to drink. When Elijah was done drinking, he said "Thanks for your kind words."

"Hey, don't give me any attitude, I didn't put you on that bed," Marcus said, dropping the glass cup on the table, sitting down, and relaxing into his seat, his legs crossed. "Now that you are awake, you need to tell me what happened to you." 

Elijah sighed, "Bianca happened." 

"Huh, Bianca now throws blows like a boxer?" 

Elijah raised his brows at Marcus, who responded with a snarky expression of his own. In a deadpan tone, Marcus said "Start talking." 

"Long story short, I caught Bianca cheating in a meeting room. I got angry and punched her partner. He got his boys to tie me upside to the ceiling, beat me with a metal rod, and now here I am." 

"Fuck! That is a full feature-length film right there. Man, I'm so sorry all that happened to you." 

Elijah watched Marcus trying to avoid his gaze as he spoke. He waited till he caught Marcus's eyes and raised his brows again. 

Marcus let out a nervous laugh, and replied, “Man, you're not gonna like this." 

"Like what? What are you talking about?" Elijah asked.

Marcus responded by bringing out a folded paper from his jeans pocket and offering it to Elijah. Elijah took it and carefully opened it. His face turned stone-cold, and his nose flared as he read the contents of the paper.