BELITTLED SON-IN-LAW

Ring ring…

A young man's cell phone began ringing, seeing the caller he smiled and became very happy. It was his wife, he felt so happy, and that was like he had won a lottery because his wife rarely calls him.

"Hey sweetie, I am glad you called me."

"What took you so long to pick up?" An angry voice inquired.

"I was busy, glad you called me, are we still on…" He was trying to say, when his wife chimes in,

"Look I didn't call you for pleasantries, come to the hospital right now, mum needs a transfusion."

"Was that why you called? I thought we were going out." He said.

"Are you coming or not?" His wife asked with no ounce of love in her voice.

"I am on my way." Immediately he said that, the call got disconnected.

Adrian McCain got married to Linda Pierre three years ago, he loved her so much. It was because of his love for her that made him get married at all.

They were both young when they tied the knot.

Adrian McCain thought they loved each other equally, what he didn't know was that his wife Linda Pierre married him because he had something her mother needed, a rare type of blood.

Linda's mother Dorathy Pierre was sick and needed blood transfusions on a regular interval and only Adrian McCain had that exact blood type they needed. Only he has the blood since it was a rare blood type.

'I thought you called for a date.' He thought as he left the house.

He boarded a taxi and took it straight to the hospital just a few miles away from his place of domicile.

But then such a short distance turned out to be long due to traffic.

But almost two hours later, he arrived at the hospital.

"What the hell took you so long?" Linda Pierre blurted out in rage to her husband.

"I am sorry, I just needed to freshen up and…"

"Enough with your explanations I don't need them right now, they are just excuses, just… get to the chase." She retorted.

Adrian felt he had angered his wife, which was something he never wanted.

So to get to the main reason he was there, he walked into the hospital ward or cure room and found his mother in-law sitting down on the hospital bed staring at him with rage.

"Good afternoon mother." He greeted her warmly but he was sneered at.

"Save that greeting for someone who actually needs it, cause it's not needed here. How long would it take you to get here from the mansion?"

"I just needed to freshen up, and had to board a taxi… there was traffic so I couldn't."

"If you had been working and earning something, you would have a car of your own you dimwit."

"I just tried to look for a…"

"If I was dying, what would you have to say for yourself, you foolish man? I wonder what you are doing here, in our lives."

"Don't look down on me mother, I graduated the best in my class and so I don't get what you are saying, your family forbade me from working and I don't know why that is a problem."

The real reason why he wasn't allowed to work was they were scared that if he was working and earning his own money then he wouldn't be interested in transfusing blood to his mother in-law Dorothy Pierre.

While he was yelling out loud to his mother in-law Dorathy Pierre, his wife walked in with furrowed brows. Deep down she was scared that he would leave without transferring the blood.

But then, she knew that he loves her so much and she was willing to exploit that to her own gain.

"My mother is right, Adrian. What if she was dying? The fact is that we are paying you so do your job. It is the only task given to you, yet you still can't do it right. In case you are forgetting you are being paid for this." Linda, his wife, stated vehemently.

Adrian felt pained by what was happening, but then he didn't want to infuriate his wife or make her upset than she already was, so he just shut up and began getting ready to give his mother in-law his precious blood.

As soon as he was ready, the doctor came in and asked his wife to excuse them and the latter did, leaving just her mother and husband in there.

After all, she had nothing else to do than sit outside and wait for the operations to be over, so she could see her mother healthy and full of life.

The infusing and transfusion took about an hour, all this time, Adrian's mother in-law was still raining abuses on him. But he kept it all in, because his wife might just be listening in.

After about an hour, Adrian McCain was done and this process had weakened Dorothy so she couldn't speak up and instead was sleeping.

He walked out of the hospital ward feeling dejected and lost, but there was something that gave him hope.

The hope or longing of getting to the one he loves with all of his heart.

He was feeling very proud of what he has accomplished and hoping to get a thank you or commendation from his wife.

He rolled up his sleeves, and went to the visitation area in search of his wife, but he couldn't find her.

He began to look for her relentlessly, and when he finally did, he saw her doing something he had never seen her do for years. In fact, since the day they got married, he had never for once seen it, from her, a genuine smile.

But what was quite infuriating was the fact that the genuine and radiant smile wasn't in any way directed to him like it should.

What was even more surprising was who it was directed to.

Adrian McCain found his wife with another man smiling radiantly and looking quite intimate.

It was an image he never thought he would ever see.

The way the man was laughing out loud with her and the way his wife Linda was acting smoochy with this stranger, was enough to bring out the jealousy and envy in him which in turn led to rage.

Adrian tried to calm down but he couldn't, he just couldn't turn a blind eye to this so he did what any husband would do which is protect his territory from threats like him.

'I have been calm, trying to take in everything but not this, no I won't lose you to someone else, never, you are mine.' He thought as he walked towards the duo who were still lost in their conversations and crashed the happy moment which was all he wanted after all.

"Honey, who is this man you are laughing with? Aren't you going to introduce us?" Adrian asked authoritatively with coldness visible in his voice.

Hearing his voice and seeing how domineering and obsessive he was, Linda sneered inwardly. Her mood slowly turned cold, there was no ounce of warmth that Adrian saw a few minutes ago, her smile was suddenly gone and was replaced with coldness.

"I asked a question honey, who is he?"

Linda felt disgusted by his jealousy, and abruptly turned to him and said