Chapter I His Miserable Life

"Please open the door," Jerome banged on the door. It was raining heavily, and he was very cold. 

"I told you to be home in thirty minutes, and it's been an hour now since you left. Why are you coming back so late? That is your punishment—stand in the rain," Mia stood behind the door and said in a harsh tone without opening the door. 

"I am sorry, but I was stuck in traffic. Please, it is very cold outside; open the door," Jerome's voice was very shaky. 

"Mia, why must you waste your time on this good-for-nothing husband?" Mrs. Cambridge stood on the stairs and said with disdain. If not for her father-in-law who brought this good-for-nothing home and insisted her precious daughter get married to him, she wouldn't have accepted him. She wondered what the old man was thinking. Anytime she went out, she couldn't talk about her daughter having a husband when her mates were doing so because she saw her son in law as a lowlife shameful person. 

Jerome stood in front of the door, hoping they would have mercy on him and open it for him, but to his disappointment, nothing like that happened. His emotions couldn't be described: sadness, pain, humiliation. Only God knew how he felt. Tears began rolling down his cheeks. What had he done to nature to punish him that way? Hadn't he suffered enough? When would this end? He was getting tired and might give up one day. 

"When will I escape this situation? Why do I have to suffer every day?" He raised his head to the sky and said with a tinge of sadness in his voice. 

He stood there for almost an hour, before it stopped raining. Seeing that it had stopped raining, he was finally relieved after all his wife might come to open the door for him to come in.Just as he thought, the door was opened, with his wife glaring at him coldly.

"Can I come in?"He asked to see her cold glare

"Come in? Do you want to flood the place? Stand there until you're dry." 

"What? You know I can't endure the cold," Jerome said, astonished. How could he stand till his shirt dried up?" 

"No, I can't believe Mia would just leave me outside to freeze," he thought to himself and shook his head in disagreement. 

A loud bang from the door snapped him out of his thoughts. She had indeed shut the door and left him outside. He began to feel sharp pains in his left leg, so severe that he couldn't stand it. He had no choice but to sit on the ground. His face twisted in pain, beads of sweat dripped from his brow, and he bit his lip to stifle his cries. 

As if his stomach didn't know what was going on, it rumbled. "Damn, I haven't eaten since morning," he cursed under his breath. The rain, which had briefly stopped, started pouring again. It felt like he was being punished for something he didn't do. The pain became unbearable, and he clenched his teeth while holding onto his knees. 

Inside the room, Mia had a slightly worried expression, she seemed a bit worried not able to speak out. After a while of holding her words, she looked at her mom. "Mother Jerome can't bear....." 

"Why wouldn't he be okay? It's not like we're going to kill him. This should teach him a lesson. You need to assert yourself, so he becomes more obedient. Women shouldn't be weak. Don't feel sorry for him; he wouldn't have shown you any mercy if you were in the same situation," Mrs. Cambridge reassured her daughter before going to sleep. She had seemingly forgotten that Jerome was someone's son as well. 

With her mother's words in mind, Mia paid no heed to the plight Jerome might be going through outside. After a while she went into her room and slept. After some time, Mia woke up from her sleep. She didn't know how long she had slept, she frowned realizing everywhere was dark. 

"Did I oversleep?"  She muttered and checked the time. 

"Oh  my God."Her  eyes widened. It was 30 minutes past 1 a.m at midnight. Seeing this, her heart started to race faster. She had left Jerome outside till midnight. Without wasting time, she quickly rushed out of her room and walked downstairs to open the door. As Mia cautiously swung the door open, a wave of disbelief swept over her as she laid eyes on Jerome. 

There he was, huddled in a tight position, his head resting on his laps, and the unsettling shivers of sleep gripping him. Fear clenched at Mia's heart, her body trembling as she observed his distressed state. Despite the shock, her eyes softened with concern, compelling her to approach him with deliberate care. Slowly, she moved towards him, her steps measured, until she knelt beside him.After kneeling beside him, Mia started to move her hand towards him as if wanting to touch him.

But after her hand got midway she stopped retracting it back. "Why should I even care about him? He destroyed my life by coming into it, he should suffer more than this. "She muttered angrily

With this in her head, she hit his head, "get up you lazy man, you're sitting outside sleeping like a child without any worries. Get up!" She yelled at him, "

The piercing yells jolted Jerome awake instantly, raising her head, her eyes met with that of Mia's, "M... Mia... Mia y...yo... You  came for me?" He asked with softened eyes still shivering.

"Came for you?"Mia sneered. "It's like the coldness has made you go crazy, get up and come inside. You want to stay here till the next day so that if someone mistakenly sees you I become a bad person right?" She yelled at him.

Jerome frowned and sighed, he wondered till when all this was going to come to an end. 

“But.. You asked me to stay here…”

“Shut up. Mia yelled, silencing him. Get inside no more words from you. She got up and turned around walking inside.

Jerome watched her slender waist as she walked inside, he couldn't deny the fact that Mia was beautiful. 

I'm sure one day everything will be fine and she'll love me just like how I love her. He sighed and got up walking inside.

Jerome struggled to his feet, "aha," wincing in pain once more. He had almost forgotten about his leg's agony. He held his right leg and limped into the kitchen. Mia stood by and watched, offering no help. 

To Jerome's utter shock, there was no food in the kitchen. “Mia, is there no food?" Jerome said after he saw all the bowls were empty. 

"Hahahah, arriving late, and you expect someone to cook for you? Do you think we're your servants? Nonsense! Just sleep on your empty stomach; you won't die from one day without food," Mia laughed loudly and with disdain. 

"Mia, at least I'm your husband. Do you despise me this much?" He asked, his voice trembling. 

"Yes, I don't like you. It's mostly because I think you're not very useful, and your only good quality is your good looks. I'm so embarrassed by our marriage that I can't even tell people about it. 

"You're a big disappointment. If I were your mother, I might have regretted having you. But I can't blame her entirely; she probably didn't expect you to turn out this way. If you ever dare to use the word 'wife' with your rude mouth, I won't hesitate to throw you outside. You're a foolish man," she scolded, leaving Jerome very confused. 

Hearing the cold words of Mia made Jerome feel like his heart was being sliced into pieces. Without a word he held her hand, his anger boiling like that of a new erupted volcano. His eyes reddened like a lava as he stared at her. “You keep saying bad things and insulting me but I keep quiet, it doesn't mean I'm a food Mia. Don't you call me stupid because I'm trying my best and don't involve my mom in any conversation.” He said, pushing her back lightly. 

“Right then, he wished he had never been born. His poor mother died in an accident when he was just three, and that's how he hurt his right leg. He always feels pain when it's very cold. 

He had no idea who his father was or where he came from. His mother never told him about his family. All he knew was that he one day woke up in this mansion after the accident. Sadly, the only person who could tell him about his background, the old master, had passed away. The people he called his family considered him worthless. Sometimes he wondered why the old master insisted on him marrying his granddaughter when he knew she didn't love him.

Mia stood there in shock with his mouth wide open. “Did, was that Jerome?" She still couldn't believe her ears.