Chapter 1 - How Dare You?

"Joyce, what do you mean you can't drop me off at work? It's not out of your way at all."

"Damon, I don't have to explain myself to you." Joyce Ramsey tossed over her shoulder at her husband, not bothering to dignify him by even staring at him when responding. She just continued with her make-up application.

Damon opened his mouth to speak but closed it and sighed. Maybe there was a perfectly reasonable explanation for why she didn't want to take him. He couldn't let himself believe that she was just being mean and malicious to him like the rest of her family.

Despite all recent indications to the contrary, Damon still tried his best not to believe that his once loving and caring wife had somehow become just like his in-laws who treated him like a rag just because he was from a poor background.

"Are you heading somewhere before going to the office? You could just drop me off at the closest junction to my stop then I'll find my way."

He sat on the edge of the bed behind her, his voice pleading.

Joyce let out a loud exasperated sigh and immediately turned on him, foundation brush in hand.

"Damon, would you just leave me alone? I already said I can't drop you off, why are you trying to make my life difficult!" Her eyes were blazing and she looked like she could spit fire on him the next instant.

Damon was taken aback.

"Wh– what brought about this reaction Jay? It's just a simple request."

"Who are you calling Jay?" Her eyes narrowed to slits and she pointed her makeup brush at him like it was a dagger, enunciating each word with a jab, she said, "My. Name. Is. Joyce. And if you ever call me Jay again, you're going to regret it."

She looked at him from up to down in completely undisguised disgust, then huffed and turned back to the mirror.

Damon looked so confused. He looked down at himself. He was wearing his usual navy blue slacks, sky blue top – emblazoned with his delivery company's logo –, navy blue cap with the company's logo as well, and white sneakers.

Why was Joyce looking at him like he was wearing rags or like he was stinking?

He gritted his teeth as he felt his chest ache. He'd not done anything to offend Joyce. He loved her with all his heart and she'd promised to love him forever on their wedding day.

He swallowed. He was going to trash this matter now whether she liked it or not. He might not have much but he still had his dignity and he deserved answers.

He leveled his eyes with hers in the mirror, staring straight at her as though he was looking into her soul.

"Joyce it's fine if you don't want me to accompany you," he began, his voice firm and strong, "but I deserve answers as to why you've been behaving this hostile to me for some time now. It started as thinly veiled insults but now you don't even hide the disgust it seems you feel for me."

Joyce stopped applying makeup, her eyebrows raised as she stared at him with an amused look from the mirror.

"What happened to the loving, caring wife I married? I thought it was supposed to be I love you forev–"

Joyce immediately jumped up at that and landed a hard slap across his face.

"How dare you?" She hissed, "How dare you say that to me, Damon!"

Damon's hand was on his cheek, his eyes dazed with confusion and the effect of the slap. Had Joyce really just slapped him?

"You know what, I'm not going to keep quiet anymore!" She shouted at him, pointing her index finger in his face. "I had a little respect left for you before which is why I've tried to be civil but it's obvious your inbuilt nature to be greedy won't allow you stop reaching for more and more!"

Damon shook his head unconsciously, what the hell was going on?

"I loved you and tried to protect you from my family but it turns out I was the fool and they were right all along! You've become so comfortable being a miserable delivery boy and enjoying my family's wealth that you disgust me! You think I don't see you? Ordering the servants and cooks around? Whereas you don't even earn up to their salary! You've never bought me anything worthwhile since we were married!" She spread her hands wide.

"And how can you? You're just a poor, miserable delivery boy! And you're not even trying to be better! You're penniless and you love being penniless! Just because you believe you can continue to live off my family!"

She pushed her face toward his, their eyes inches apart and she snarled at him, "You disgust me, Damon Langston!"

Then she turned around and spat on the floor, storming out of the room as though she couldn't stand to breathe the same air as him for one more minute.

Damon swallowed as Joyce's words rang in his ears. So this is what had been going through her mind? So she'd been harboring resentment for him all this while…

He bowed his head. Shaking it in pain and hurt.

It was not true. He'd worked his butt off at his company since he and Joyce had gotten married so that no one would call him a lazy ass or a gold digger. Because of his hard work, he had become the head of the delivery department for this region of the state. The pay still wasn't much but it was proof that he wasn't comfortable being poor like Joyce had accused him of.

His chest ached as he left his in-laws mansion thirty minutes later. It had taken a lot for him to pull himself together after Joyce's words. Hearing such horrible things said to him by someone he was so in love with, it had nearly wrecked him.

He could take it from everyone else knowing he still had his wife in his corner, but now knowing that even Joyce was no longer with him, it made him wonder what his purpose in life was.

He looked around and finally accepting that his only choice was to call a taxi, he did exactly that.

The trip with the taxi would cost him an entire day's pay, but he had no other choice. Joyce was complaining that he was poor but by not letting him ride with her, she was making him even poorer.

He sucked it up and got into the car. He couldn't let this affect him so that his job would not suffer.

But it was all he could think of on the way through the city.