1 | I brought your birthday gift

The rain poured heavily as a cold breeze whipped through the air. It was evening and they were just little passersby on the lane. A thin, young man, Alexander Sterling in a shabby-looking jacket trudged down the lane as he hid a rose inside his jacket.

It was his wife’s birthday and he had planned to surprise her with a gift. In previous years, he was unable to buy her any gifts because he had no money.

He proudly walked into the opulent mansion, as his worn-out shoes stained the clean, tiled floor with dirty mud. He was prepared to do anything to make his wife happy again after so many arguments and problems.

Inside the opulent mansion was a crowd of wealthy people in the living room, drinking and dancing roughly with music playing loudly. Alex was a little confused with this.

His wife, Bella had texted him about calling a doctor when she had a fever, but she didn't inform him about throwing a party or inviting her wealthy friends.

Alex silently walked past the crowd as he didn't want anyone to notice him. Suddenly, a voice yelled from behind. “Alex is here!”

Alex stood still. He was a little anxious about what his wife's wealthy friends will say about his poor appearance.

A tall man who wore a big top and baggy jeans walked up to Alex, with a bottle of alcohol in his hand. He wrapped his hand around Alex’s neck, squeezing him teasingly as he announced. “Everyone look at him! My poor brother-in-law!”

Alex cowered his head at this statement. It was very usual for his brother-in-law, Garrett to insult and embarrass him publicly because of the difference in their status. Everyone there laughed at him as usual, and only after that was Alex able to walk away from the mocking crowd.

He softly walked up the stairs as he walked towards his wife’s room with hopes that he would surprise her with his early arrival from his works. When he reached the door, his jaw dropped to the floor as he heard moans and gasps in the room.

Alex barged into the room, his eyes widely scanning his wife. His wife, Bella who texted him about having a fever was lying on the bed, moaning at another man's intimate acts with her.

Alex could not believe what he had just witnessed. His wife with another man?! His heart shattered at what he had just witnessed as his knees suddenly went weak.

He had worked extra hours and had taken extra jobs to buy his wife a good birthday gift this time, but here was his wife, cheating on him without any sense of remorse as she continued moaning.

"Bella!" Alex bellowed as he jolted his wife from her fantasies. Bella's heart raced at the voice of her husband, as she didn't even notice him before.

Hurriedly, she pushed the man above her away while the other man stumbled on the bed. He looked up and when his gaze fell on Alex, he hastily put on his pants before getting off the bed. He appeared muscular, tall, and handsome compared to Alex, who was thin and rough-looking.

Bella hurriedly wore her gown as her disheveled hair and the sweat on her forehead showed the intensity of what had just taken place. It pained Alex to see her like this, and before Alex could react, Bella hissed.

“I forgot that I had a husband,” Bella spoke, placing a strand of her hair behind her ear.

She stopped the other man from going out of the room, and turned to her husband before yawning loudly. "Alex, get us a bottle of wine. As you can see, I'm stressed up already and what I need now is to be a little tipsy with my man."

Alex balled his fist, annoyed and ashamed of his wife. His veins throbbed in his neck and he could not even comprehend what his wife had done.

Without thinking twice, Bella threw her heels at Alex. The heels hit Alex’s face, which gave cuts and Bella yelled at him. "Alex, it's you I'm talking to! Be useful for once!"

"I should get going now," the other man whispered.

"Simon, no" Bella stuttered. The other man, Simon pecked her on the lips and whispered, "Let me go before your poor husband goes crazy."

Bella sighed. She nodded and they kissed before hugging each other.

At that time, Alex could no longer control his anger. Without any thought, he struck Simon's face, flinging him to the bed, before he pounced on him.

“Alex!” Bella yelled, weakly dragging Alex from Simon as she became anxious. With all the strength she could gather, she was finally able to pull Alex from beating Simon.

Her heart raced loudly and she sent a hot slap to Alex’s cheek before spitting on him. “Shameless fool!”

She rushed back to Simon who was lying on the bed, a bit unconscious and she sat him up. With tears filled in his eyes, Alex gazed at his wife, as he wondered why she was so bothered about the other man and not him. He proposed to her when he had nothing, and she accepted him. So what went wrong?

"Apologize to him right away!" Bella ordered.

Alex chuckled miserably at his wife's statement as he felt like he was in a nightmare. He had been married to Bella for three years even when he had nothing, and even when her family disagreed with the marriage.

Simon groaned as Bella helped him sit up. He glared at Alex from head to toe as he spat at Alex. “Mannerless fool, I can sue you for what you did!”

"I'm so sorry, baby," Bella spoke sweetly. She caressed his face as she tried to calm him. “Forget about Alex. He has always been useless.”

Simon smiled and he responded. “Why bother about him when I have you?“ Bella chuckled at his statement and she muttered. "I'll go get you some ice, okay?"

"Alright then," Simon replied and Alex stood still, observing his wife’s attitude. He had never experienced anything like it before, and he didn't know how to react to it.

Bella rushed to the kitchen and she dragged Alex with her. The kitchen was silent with the clean floor and cabinets sparkling. It was unlike the living room which had music booming loudly or people drinking and dancing roughly.

Bella placed a bag of ice in Alex’s hand and she instructed him quietly. "Give Simon this ice and apologize to him...on your knees."

Alex chuckled, a little disappointed at his wife’s response. He assumed she dragged him into the kitchen to explain that what he had seen was a joke but her response almost made him cry. He dropped the ice and looked at his wife. "Bella, please tell me this is a joke."

"Joke? No, honey. It's reality," Bella answered, and Alex staggered. "No, this can't be!"

He bellowed, "I loved you, Bella! We got married, why would you go ahead and have another man on our matrimonial bed?! Don't you have any sense of loyalty?! I've done so much for you!"

Bella coughed, chuckling silently. "So much?” She rolled her eyes as she continued her statement, “Tell me, what have you done? You've never taken me to a cinema, you've never bought me a car, we don't go to the beach! You did nothing!"

"Bella, I gave you love, attention...and my kidney!"

Bella crossed her arms as she fumed. "And what about money? What about jewelry and cars? And about that kidney you talked about, I paid you in return. I gave you this marriage. With three years, a reputation of a son-in-law from a rich family! Is that not enough for any poverty-stricken man?"

Alex stayed mute as he understood that his wife was now annoyed. He suddenly recalled how he resolved their arguments in the previous years of their marriage and he decided to try it again.

He stepped further, taking away any steps between them, "What has gotten into you, Bella? Did that man threaten you to do all that you did?" Alex spoke calmly, trying to resolve the argument.

He expected Bella to turn cold, as she always did, but instead, Bella burst into laughter. "Oh, my dear husband, that man over there is my dream man, a trillionaire to be exact! He loves me a lot, and I love him too!" Bella spoke sweetly with a smile dancing on her lips.

Alex's heart sank as her hurtful words cut through him like a knife. "Bella, please stop! You cheated on me.. for money?" he asked, his voice trembling with emotion.

Alex had always been underrated by other people because of his status but he did not expect his wife to do the same.

His heart yearned for Bella to give him a good response but then, she spat out her retort. "Don't be naive, Alex! You can't expect me to stay with you forever. You are poor, useless, a burden... What else? Oh yeah, you are a pain in the a$$. You can never, and you have never been useful to me or to anyone!"

Alex became more pained, but despite her harsh words, he mustered up the courage to present her with the gift he bought, hoping to win back her affection. “But... I brought your birthday gift.”

Bella's face lit up with anticipation. She stretched her neck to look at what the gift would be as she assumed it was something very expensive and important.

Alex smiled as he noticed her anticipation, then he pulled out a single rose from his jacket. The rose was a beautiful one, but unfortunately, its petals were already stained with mud and they fell off immediately.

The smile on Alex's face dropped as the petals fell off. The rose was not as beautiful as he bought it. He looked up at his wife as he scanned her expression.

Bella's smile had quickly turned into a scowl. She threw the rose on the ground and spat on it. "Useless fool!" she screamed before storming off in a fit of rage, leaving Alex to be heartbroken and alone.