The Son-in-Law They Regretted Losing

Chapter 2: Sixty Minutes to Live

The pressure was too much. I urgently needed the money, and if I tried to go through the slow process of raising it myself, it would take weeks. 

My mother’s critical illness simply could not afford to wait. I fell silent and raised no further objections to Sloane's demands.

Sloane continued packing her things into her leather suitcase, barely glancing at me as she moved around the bedroom. 

She mentioned casually that she was attending a high-profile charity auction tonight. 

"The final item is a legendary ring," she said while zipping up her suitcase. "Rumor says it contains a great secret."

She smirked.

"And the CEO of Aether Semiconductor will be there too."

Even I had heard of Aether Semiconductor.

In just one year, the company had gone from the brink of bankruptcy to becoming the most influential company in the country. Its mysterious owner was the subject of endless speculation among the wealthy elite.

A dreamy look appeared in Sloane's eyes.

It was a look I knew all too well.

"If I could marry a man like that," she murmured, "my life would be perfect."

After saying that, she picked up her suitcase and headed for the door.

I looked at her, my voice tight. "What about my mother's medical fees?"

Sloane frowned, looking down her nose at me with an annoyed expression. "I said I would consider it. And now that I have considered it, my answer is no."

A hot wave of anger surged over me. I accused her of going back on her word, my fists clenched tightly at my sides.

Sloane dismissed me with a cold shrug, entirely unaffected by my rage. 

"You are just a live-in son-in-law, Riven. You cannot even scrape together ten thousand dollars on your own, let alone a full million for a major surgery. I suggest you just take your dying mother and go home."

Just then, her phone rang. It was Lysander Croft. Because the room was so quiet, his voice carried loudly through the receiver. 

Lysander said he had his eye on a luxury watch at a local boutique that cost two million dollars. 

However, he had already set aside his entire ten-million-dollar monthly budget, all of it earmarked specifically for bidding on the legendary ring at the charity auction. 

He asked if Sloane could lend him the two million dollars so he wouldn't miss out on the watch.

Sloane laughed softly, her voice instantly turning warm and sweet, a tone she had never once used with me. 

"Do not worry about it, Lysander. I will buy it for you. You have contributed so much to the company lately consider it a reward."

I stood there like a statue, listening to my own wife casually drop two million dollars on another man without a second thought. 

My chest felt so tight I could barely breathe. I pleaded with her once more, my voice cracking as I swallowed my remaining pride. "Sloane, please. Just one million for the surgery. I am begging you."

Sloane only mocked me, telling me to stop being pathetic, and walked right out the front door. 

My heart completely shattered into a thousand pieces.

I did not waste another second. I left the Mercer house and rushed as fast as I could back to the hospital. I needed to raise the surgery money as quickly as possible. 

Standing right at the hospital entrance under the rain, I pulled out my phone and called my uncle.

As soon as he answered, he mocked me loudly. "Oh, isn't this the live-in son-in-law of the Mercer family? You are calling me to borrow money? I do not have a single cent for you."

"Please, Uncle," I pleaded, wiping the cold rainwater from my face. "Mom is your own sister. She is fighting for her life."

He spoke with absolute disdain. "She refused the arranged marriage and turned around to marry that beggar of a man. She has abandoned the family. I won't help with a single cent!"

He slammed the phone down. My mother had chosen to elope to be with my father, which had caused our entire family to be ridiculed by everyone for years.

I gripped my phone tightly until my knuckles turned white. 

I spent the next twenty minutes calling every other relative in my contacts list, but I was rejected by every single one of them. 

With no other options left, I called the boss of my food delivery station.

The boss flatly refused before I could even finish begging. 

"I heard you can make ten thousand dollars a month if you work hard. My own annual income isn't even one hundred thousand dollars. And you are asking for fifty thousand right off the bat? I do not have that kind of money to lend you."

"Ten thousand would work too," I pleaded, lowering my voice. "Just anything to keep the hospital from stopping the treatment."

The boss just mocked me and hung up the line.

I was in complete despair. I walked into the hospital lobby in a total daze, my boots dripping water onto the floor. 

I walked up to the ward and saw my mother lying weakly in the hospital bed. Scenes from my childhood flashed through my mind. 

I remembered how my mother had humbled herself to work as a maid for years, scrubbing floors and cleaning up after wealthy families just to raise me. 

I held back my tears, my throat burning with a deep ache.

The doctor in charge of my mother walked up to me. 

He looked at me with a sympathetic expression, but he had to remind me of the harsh reality. 

"The payment deadline for your mother is approaching. If the payment is not made within the hour, her treatment will be stopped."

I begged the doctor to treat my mother first, promising him that I would find a way to scrape together the money.

The doctor shook his head and refused. The hospital required full payment before continuing any treatment. Those were the rules. 

I pleaded with him again, but the doctor could only suggest that I check with the payment office to see if I could take out a loan to pay.

I walked down to the lobby and leaned against the wall, my face etched with total despair. 

My wife had utterly betrayed me. She was perfectly willing to spend two million dollars on a luxury watch for her lover, and she was even willing to hand over shares of her company to him. Yet, she refused to give me a single million to save my own mother. 

I had asked everyone I could possibly borrow from, but no one was willing to help me. I had reached the absolute end of my rope.

As I stood there, my eyes drifted to a news report playing on the television mounted on the lobby wall. 

The broadcast was talking about Aether Semiconductor. The company, which had been on the verge of bankruptcy a year ago, had seen its profits increase three thousand-fold after getting into the semiconductor chip industry, becoming the company with the highest price-to-earning ratio in the city.

I looked at the television screen and envied them deeply. If I had shares in that company, I wouldn't have to worry about my mother's surgery expenses.

The irony was, I had only ever bought one thing after our marriage a small company on the verge of bankruptcy, Veridian Global. 

I had invested a mere thousand dollars of my own savings into it back then, and Sloane had completely torn into me, calling me a reckless spendthrift. 

But it was my own money I had spent. I had never received a single cent from her since the day we got married.

Just then, my phone began to vibrate in my palm. The screen displayed an unfamiliar number. I answered it automatically.

"Hello, Boss," a professional voice said on the line. 

"This is President Alistair, the head of Veridian Global. "

"Congratulations, sir. The total dividends from Aether Semiconductor under your name last year amounted to one point five billion dollars, which have been transferred to your bank card. Dividends from the other companies will arrive in succession."

I leaned my head against the wall, completely stunned. "Isn't this a scam call?"

President Alistair chuckled lightly on the line, his tone deeply respectful. 

"Boss, don't joke around. Your net worth is now over ten billion dollars, and this dividend is just the beginning. Your fixed assets total over one hundred billion dollars. "

"You can check your bank card balance shortly. I will come to pick you up later. There is a charity auction tomorrow that requires your presence."

The call clicked off, leaving me standing in silence. The small company I had invested a mere thousand dollars in had actually yielded me a staggering one point five billion dollars in returns.

With shaking hands, I opened my banking application. I tapped the screen to reveal my available balance. The numbers loaded immediately.

$1,500,000,149.00

I stared at the long string of figures, my heart racing, unable to calm down for a long time.

From today onward, I was no longer the abandoned live-in son-in-law. I turned around and began walking straight toward the hospital payment office with heavy, confident steps.