CHAPTER 1

“Gaaahh-ackkkk”

Oscar clutched his abdomen, his stomach heaving as he vomited violently in the sink of the men’s room.

Oscar’s mind replayed to the moment that he temporarily left his plate of cupcakes and cookies to quickly bring a few more boxes into the storage hall in preparation for the anniversary event of Delway Group.

Oscar’s sisters-in-law, Arabella and Inara were closest to his plate of cupcakes at the meet-and-greet session so he knew that they must have poisoned his meal.

His eyes narrowed as he came out of the men’s room, his jaw clenched in anger as he thought of the injustice that had been done against him but he suddenly started hearing Arabella and Inara chattering in exchanged whispers.

“Haha, the fool thought that he could come here and eat like everyone else. How can a man be so poor and have no shame,” Inara leaned in close, her voice nearly lost in the noise of the meet-and-greet.

Arabella’s face was etched with disgust. “It's a disgrace to call that kind of man my brother-in-law. Charlotte must have gone mad to think that we will accept a poor beggar into our family.”

“I hope the poison you applied to his meal was potent enough to get the bastard killed,” Inara asked.

“Trust me, he didn't eat much but I am sure that it will require urgent medical attention and maybe surgery if he is to survive that, haha. Just don’t worry,” Arabella responded, her face bright with excitement.

Just at that moment, Arabella saw Oscar carrying boxes of wine into the Delway Hotel storage room as if nothing had happened to him.

She muttered curses under her breath before tapping Inara, signaling her to witness the man they thought would have been retching in pain.

Oscar’s sister-in-law, Inara blurted out, her voice rising with menace as she darted over to where Oscar was. “Didn’t you hear that I am calling you? Are you also deaf?”

The loud and annoying tone of Inara’s voice caught Oscar’s attention, causing him to jerk his head up in alarm as he was carrying five boxes of wine on top of each other.

His shoulders tethered with effort as he tried to maintain an equilibrium but he lost balance in the space of the slight distraction that Inara’s yelling caused.

Suddenly there was a crash.

CLINK - CLINK!

POP!

SPLASH!

Oscar’s other sister-in-law, Arabella darted towards him with her eyes blazed with red-hot fury. “What nonsense?! How do you want to pay for the broken bottles? Are you going to sniff my sister’s toes just so that she will pay this up for you again?”

Inara added, her voice cracking with rage. “I wonder what else has to happen until Charlotte dumps your ass. How does she even claim to love a disgusting man like you who can’t even do his job properly.”

Arabella yelled again. “Are you not going to answer me? I am asking you to tell me what you usually do that makes Charlotte insistent on staying with a poor beggar like you. Do you sniff her toes? Perhaps she doesn’t like masculine men who can actually contribute something financially.”

Oscar’s sisters-in-law glared at him, their fists clenched as they vented the frustration of their lack of success in poisoning him.

Oscar stood tall, his shoulders squared and his eyes flashing in defiance. “Don’t think that I don’t know what you did. You are just pained because your evil plan didn't take me out. Trust me, it is going to take more than a few doses of Oleander powder to kill me.”

What?! Arabella and Inara froze, their faces a mask of surprise and fear.

‘How could he possibly know the exact kind of dosage that he was poisoned with? What sort of man was he really?’ They reasoned in their mind.

Arabella snapped, her voice rising as she tried to mask her surprise with an outrage. “How dare you speak to me like that? Who do you think you are that you imagine that you are worth poisoning? If I wanted to kill you I would have done it long ago.”

Oscar’s tone was calm and gentle as he refused to be drawn into her anger, arching his back to pick up a few bottles that weren’t broken. “I am not going to be moved by your antics as long as my wife Charlotte still wants me. You can keep wasting your energy.”

“Who do you think you are to utter a word when you can’t even pay a quarter of your rent,” Inara spoke, her rage intensified as she picked up one of the broken bottles on the ground and threw herself at Oscar before aiming for his head.

CLANG!

Oscar blocked it, his arm clashing against the sharp edges of the bottle and the sharp clang echoing through the guest room.

Unfortunately, the shards of glass resulting from the block sliced through the air like tiny diamonds and one of the tiny sharp shards tore into the delicate flesh of Inara’s baby bump.

Inara was five months pregnant and had been looking forward to her delivery date until the accident.

“Hey, sister, what’s going on? Are you okay?” Arabella’s eyes widened with alarm as she rushed towards Inara’s side, her arm across her back.

“Talk to me, are you okay?”

A low groan ripped through Inara’s throat, her body quivering with each ragged gasp.

Oscar’s gaze was skeptical and his senses were on high alert as he sought to discern if there was a deception in Inara’s behavior. He moved closer anyway to assess if there was truly a problem.

Before Oscar could narrow his eyes completely towards Inara’s side to assess the situation, Arabella thrust him aside with her arm in a shove of disrespect.

“What are you doing trying to access another man’s pregnant wife like an aged native doctor?” Arabella gnarled. “Oh, is this because you are so impotent that you can’t even get Charlotte pregnant? Is that why you want to destroy someone else’s pregnancy?”

“Her pregnancy is the result of a capable man’s work - a capable and rich man who can satisfy his wife. Charlotte can never have that kind of experience as long as she is married to you. Your time living with us as a scumbag who has no financial reputation is coming to an end.”

Oscar’s body stiffened as he tried to suppress the rage of the humiliation that was hurled at him.

His muscles tensed as he staggered backward, the weight of the humiliation making his heart pierced with pain partly because Arabella’s words were true.

Oscar was a sewage worker and a delivery guy. He shuffled the two jobs together just because he wanted to make ends meet and at least provide something for his wife, Charlotte. But all of his efforts combined could barely buy his wife something worthy enough of being a proper gift.

But Charlotte had always been loyal to him. “I am not accepting this ring because of what you are going to give to me but because of who you truly are,” Charlotte assured Oscar three years ago while he was proposing to her despite being poor.

Oscar’s mind retraced to the matter at hand as his shoulders slumped. He was inquisitive enough to know that Inara was only exaggerating the situation and there was nothing done to her baby bump.

“Just hang in there. I will call your husband now! He will deal with the scumbag for us,” Arabella spoke, her voice carved with hatred.

Oscar’s train of thought was broken when he saw a man’s fist crash through the glass door as the man burst toward with a roar of fury and a seething rage.

“How dare you touch my wife!”