Double Life of the Useless Son-in-law

Chapter 6

Coulter raised a brow, his teeth slightly clenching. Not only was this woman a representative of so many bad things, but he was sure he absolutely didn't want anything to do with her, especially right now.

"Good to see you," he said in his usual polite ways. "I was just about to leave. I had some business to attend to."

With a slight nod to Amelia, he started to make his way into the elevator, expecting that Madam Gabriella and her friends would go off.

Before he could walk past her, however, Madam Gabriella swiftly moved to block his way, herbjands going to her waist.

"Stop right there," she said, her eyes wide, her tone still the same condescending tone she used back when he was in the house, serving her scones. "Did I give you permission to leave?"

Coulter could feel his annoyance rising at the thought of being spoken to like that, especially in a neutral environment.

"Why do I need your permission, Madam Gabriella?" He asked, his voice low. "I have already settled the divorce with Melissa, and that has ended my connection to your family. I don't believe that whatever I need to do from now on would have anything to do with your family."

Madam Gabriella gave a small snort, her eyes scanning him mockingly. "So you believe a divorce allows you to do whatever you want to do? Where you are from, does a divorce allow you to disrepect your elders? It is quite normal for an elderly person like me to care about the welfare of younger people, especially someone who was once affiliated with my family. Or is there some shameful thing you are up to that is making you so fidgety?"

Madam Gabriella's eyes slowly fell on Amelia, and she looked between them, slowly enough to drive home her message.

"So is this your new wench? You really have no taste regarding anything, do you?"

"Show some respect," Coulter said, his voice now laced with ice, all the politeness in his face immediately disappearing.

Madam Gabriella broke into a laugh, turning to her friends as she gestured to Coulter. "Look at this litfle leech. You lived off my daughter for so long, and now you somehow have the guts to speak about respect?"

"The bloodsucking vampires are always the first to care about image," one of the friends chimed in, and they all started to laugh.

"That is enough," Amelia said, moving forward. "Show some respect. Whatever happened, divorce or not, he is an honourable man worthy of admiration."

"Shut up!" Madam Gabriella snapped, her forehead popping with veins. "Who do you think you are to lecture us when I am teaching this worthless bastard a lesson? Who do you think you are to butt in?"

Amelia swallowed hard, her eyes darting to Coulter. She didn't care what these women thought of him, but all he was to her was her saviour. A blessing personified. Watching him being ripped to shred like that only made her cross her boundaries, despite the fact that she did not want to meddle in a family matter.

"I think you should calm down," she said, trying to diffuse the situation. "This must be some sort of misunderstanding, and you could all....

"Oh," Madam Gabriella said, a smile playing on her lips. "You are the whore he just slept with, isn't it? Seeing how you are defending him, he must have given you a lot of money, didn't he?"

Before Amelia could say a word, Madam Gabriella roughly shoved her to the wall, her voice rising.

"You shameless prostitute! You are nothing but a cheap slut! All the money he gave you, best believe it is my daughter's, and you will give it back right now! Now!"

Coulter wrapped his hand around Amelia's waist to steady her, his eyes wide as he looked down at her. Amelie looked up at him, her eyes meeting his, her heart beating wildly in her chest.

Coulter turned away to Madam Gabriella who was still screaming profanities.

"There is nothing like that between us! Stop harrassing her and making a scene!"

"Nothing like that, you say? But both of you are in a hotel? Did you come to pray to the lord to forgive your sins?!"

"We are here because he was helping me look at the penthouse. We only got here a few minutes ago."

Madam Gabriella froze, her brows furrowed. "The penthouse, you say?"

Amelia nodded, confusion filling her as she turned to Coulter.

Madam Gabriella broke into a laugh, her hands clapping together as she turned to the other women, who immediately joined in.

Amelia and Coulter stood there as the women laughed like that had just heard the biggest jokes of the century.

"Guess what, you little slut. You were tricked! A homeless loser like him will never be able to show you the penthouse here or even help you secure it! How can he even afford it? Probably in his stupid dreams! This penthouse was given to us by my new, competent, son-in-law, not some lowly bastard who is only good with laundry!"

Amelia stepped forward, but Coulter wrapped his hand around her arm, stopping her from retaliating. She turned to him, and he shook his head, affirming his decision.

"Let's go," he said instead, and Amelia let out a small sigh.

She turned to glare at Madam Gabriella as Coulter led her into the elevator.

"Look at them running," Madam Gabriella laughed, clapping her hands as the elevator slowly closed. "You got lucky this time, you bastard! Next time I see you hanging around us for scraps again, I will make sure to tear your skin off!"

"Oh please, Madam Gabriella. Don't worry too much about low lifes like them. Remember, you won with a competent daughter-in-law, and a son-in-law now to match," one of the women said, and the rest nodded in agreement.

"Of course. Besides, is the penthouse he claimed to have not the same one we are going to check out now?"

Madam Gabriella nodded, letting out a breath. "Of course. Let's go."

They walked down to the locked door, and she pulled out a key card from her bag, waving it lightly.

"It is really just a place to live," she said in her usual falsely modest tone. "I did tell son-in-law not to spend too much on it, as Melissa isn't the type of woman to be attracted to wealth."

"Is that so?"

"Yes, it is," Madam Gabriella laughed. "Just that he was stubborn, insisting on only the best, as he wants me to move in also, as I am now aged, and he would like to take care of me."

"He is indeed, a very kind man," one of them said, and she smiled, before turning to try the card on the scanner.

There was only a loud beep, and no other response.

Her smile immediately fell, and she straightened her posture to try again and again, but it was all in vain.

She laughed awkwardly. "The scanner must be faulty," she said, wiping off sweat from her forehead. "I will try again."

She swiped it again, and immediately, the alarm system went off. The entire building went off with the sound of the alarm.

"What's happening?" The other women asked, their worry rising with Madam Gabriella's apparent panic.

Madam Gabriella could barely form a coherent statement, and seeing that the alarm had been triggered, the women started to slip away from her, towards the elevator.

Before they could get to it, the elevator opened, and five guards walked out of it. They took ome glance at the women, and immediately stopped them from walking away.

"You will need to come down with us!"

"Wait," Madam Gabriella said, trying her best to smile through the panic and sweat. "This must be a misunderstanding. We were supposed to..."

"I said," the leader of the guards snapped, walking forward. "You need to come down with us now!"