ONCE MOCKED, DISGRACED:SON IN LAW REVENGE

CHAPTER 4 GOOD DOGGY

Standing at the center of this trial, Erica's doe- shaped eyes welled up with tears. In the middle of the collective mockery and disdain, she had hoped for a hero to step forward and rescue her from this living nightmare. 

Instead, all she had was Nate, who had also embarrassed her even more by making such an absurd proposal. Why did he have to come here, when she was already trying to make the best of the situation by negotiating with her relatives? 

Forget being her knight in shining armor, he had proven that he was nothing more than a clown?! 

Her hands tightened into fists as she tried to control her raging emotions, but her frustration and disappointment were carved on her face. These taunts and words were hurting her deeper than any physical wound. 

Meanwhile, the family members continued to mock Nate;

"Have you finally lost whatever little brain you were unfortunately born with?"

"I think you need to be reminded of who you are and which dirty hole you crawled out of! Is it a joke to you, that our family is going through such a hard time?"

"Don't forget that if our family suffers financially, then there is no hope for a leech like you!"

Despite her silent pleas, no one in the room stepped up to defend Nate or to put an end to the relentless mockery as Erica's resentment continued to grow. 

She had reached her breaking point; and finally, she was unable to stay quiet. Erica turned towards Nate, and her voice pierced through the laughter. 

"Leave, NOW!" 

She commanded, pointing towards the door with her jaw clenched in anger. The room fell silent for a moment, the weight of her words hanging in the air.

Meanwhile, the people who had gathered there for a critical situation, were enjoying the fact that Erica had finally asserted her dominance on Nate. 

"That's right, you rascal! Finally, Erica has also shown you your real place in this household, now are you leaving or do I need to come there and kick you out?"

"Didn't you hear her? Just be a good doggy and obey your mistress! Shoo, shoo now!"

But in spite of all the cruel words being thrown at him, Nate's focus didn't waver from Erica's face even for a moment. 

And his own heart stopped for a moment when he saw the pain she was hiding in her heart; but it was clearly visible in her eyes. 

Everything that had been said to him by her family, he could easily let it all slide. In fact, he could even assume that she had asked him to leave, because she was not in control of her anger and not because she actually wanted him to leave.

But what actually hurt him more than anything else, was the fact that she was suffering– and he had added a layer of humiliation to her suffering by coming there. 

It was like his mind was caught in a storm, where his thoughts and emotions were colliding with each other and causing dangerous explosions. 

He had never expected things to go like this, and his brain had gone totally blank all of a sudden.

With the fog of hurt and confusion clouding his consciousness, Nate found himself moving farther away from Erica with each moment. The details of how exactly he left the hall remained blurry, but his gaze lingered on Erica until the last possible moment.

And before he knew it, his legs had carried him outside the hall, near the backyard of the mansion, just a few feet away from the gate.

Feeling both hopeless and heartless, he decided to leave the McKinney family estate for a while, until he was in a state to come back and face his wife. 

But as soon as Nate reached the gate, his phone unexpectedly started to ring, pulling him out of his thoughts and bringing his steps to a stop.

The caller ID just showed 'Private Number', which gave him an uncanny feeling.

Even though his mind was telling him that nothing good could come out of this phone call, he still answered, somewhat hesitantly.

"Hello, who is this?"

"Oh, thank the heavens! I have finally managed to contact you, Sir!" 

Nate was frozen in place, unable to believe what was going on. He had heard the familiar voice of his old housekeeper, Uncle Simon, but there was some part of him that absolutely refused to accept this. 

Just listening to his voice sent a shiver down Nate's spine, bringing up the memories of a life he had chosen to leave behind.

"Sir Nathaniel, can you hear me?"  

Uncle Simon asked with his excitement evident in his voice. 

That title…that name… everything felt foreign to Nate after years of separation. But he managed to hum in response, which was enough for the moment.

"Oh, thank God! I thought I had lost the connection again. Sir, this is Simon Prescot, your old housekeeper at the mansion. Please forgive me, Master, I forgot to introduce myself in the excitement and disbelief that I was finally speaking to you."

Hearing this, Nate managed to force a polite smile in response.

"No no, it's okay, Uncle Simon. I recognize you, but how did you find me?" 

The old housekeeper's words spilled out with an eagerness that bordered on relief. 

"It can only be called the Grace of God, sir. Because I never thought that my old and tired self would get the blessing of speaking to you in this lifetime."

Although Uncle Simon seemed to be relieved, Nate was feeling more and more anxious. For three years, Nate had been a ghost to his family– he hadn't heard a single word from them. In response, he had also never bothered to reach out to anyone.

But now, uncle Simon had called him out of the blue? It just seemed too sudden, and Nate didn't have any idea if it was a good thing that he had received this call, or if some kind of bad news was waiting for him on the other side. 

Finally, when he could not deal with the uncertainty any longer, Nate decided to cut to the chase. 

"Uncle Simon, if they have managed to prove that I am guilty, then I am ready to come back home. And I am willing to face the punishment; don't worry, I'm not going to run away–"

"Master, why are you saying all this?"

Uncle Simon interrupted Nate in the middle, almost like he was speaking gibberish. 

After a brief pause, he said softly, almost to himself, "Oh, you really haven't heard about it then…" 

He continued with some excitement;

"Sir, there is not a single soul on earth who can dare to punish you anymore. You have inherited all your family wealth, as well as the position of the Head of the family!"