A Loser

The starry sky tonight made William feel a little better even though he just heard from his friend that he had been scammed by his co-workers.

William then left his room and climbed down the stairs that lined with red carpet and had golden railings. He stopped on the last stair and focused his eyes on the sight of a family who appeared to be having a small dinner party.

The Patterson family seemed happy as they celebrated Thomas Patterson's success. Thomas is the Patterson's first son-in-law, meanwhile William is the second.

"We must celebrate Thomas's victory tonight..."

"This accomplishment will belong to all of us. We will go on vacation to Hawaii..."

Proudly, they gathered in the dining room, raising their glasses of wine to celebrate Thomas's achievement in a project deal worth one hundred million dollars.

Meanwhile, William hesitated to approach them. He had just been scammed by an irresponsible person who promised William a project with a large amount of profit to be divided equally.

"Honey? Come over." Bianca walked up to her husband who was starred at the festivities of Thomas's dinner party.

The dining room in Petterson's house was decorated with golden-colored furniture that appeared luxurious and elegant. To respond the woman who invited her husband to join them, William sat next to Bianca.

"Where have you been? Why don't you join us, William?" Mr. Patterson, his father-in-law, asked when he realized that William was not joining the dinner party for Thomas since earlier.

"I was feeling tired, Dad." William answered awkwardly, he can only looking down sadly.

"Tired? What have you been doing? Didn't you just shut yourself up all day in your room?" A loud and terrifying voice came from his mother-in-law, Mrs. Patterson, as she scoffed at him. This made William feel even more awkward, and the atmosphere that had looked lively with laughter now changed to silence and became tense.

"William? Can you tell us about the business you talked about last week? Is there any progress?"

It was Arianna Patterson, the eldest daughter of the Patterson family and the wife of Thomas. The woman who idolized hedonistic life and often boasted about her husband looked very arrogant and haughty.

William did not dare to look at the mother and daughter who were looking at him with disdain. He only said, "My business failed. I was scammed."

"What?" Hearing William's statement, the whole family's gaze turned to William. Thomas, who had just swallowed a piece of steak, immediately choked when he heard that William had been deceived.

"What kind of joke is this?" After drinking a glass of wine, Thomas got up from his seat and walked towards his brother-in-law.

"You are truly great, William. I never imagined that you are such a loser." Thomas immediately belittled him in front of the whole Patterson family. Thomas even jeered and the whole family laughed at William's disdain.

"Daddy? Look at your ideal son-in-law here? He can't do anything but create trouble for our family!"

Nikki, the second child of Mr. Patterson also degraded her brother-in-law. Hearing himself humiliated, William just remained silent. He didn't have any more power to fight against them. William was aware of his inability to run a business like the Patterson family who were the owners of several large companies in various fields.

"William, why are you causing trouble again?" His wife also whispered to him, as William was humilited by her family, Bianca didn't defend her husband at all. Clearly, Bianca didn't love William, because he is a man who her father's choose to be her husband.

"Forgive me." William whispered slowly.

"Enough! What's wrong with all of you? Stop belittling William. I don't like it!" Mr. Patterson finally intervened, trying to stop the unseen behaviour of his whole family towards William.

"Thomas? Stop acting arrogant! I know what you did."

"But, Dad. I'm just discussing the fact that your chosen son-in-law is a loser..."

Mr. Patterson now looked at Thomas with a sharp gaze, although Thomas often brought the Patterson family's good name with his expertise in working, it did not make Mr. Patterson like him. He felt angry and said, "if you keep going with your nonsense, I'll reveal your bad deeds to everyone here."

Now, Thomas couldn't say anything but to stay silent and then sat back in his chair. He had a hunch if his father in law knows about his embezzlement to win the deal. 

"Why does Father always defend this loser? Look now, who's upholding our family's good name?!" Arianna was not satisfied when her father turned against her husband instead of criticizing William. 

"It's best for you to keep silent if you don't know anything."

***

"Why do you always create trouble for me, William?" As soon as they was in the room, Bianca immediately interrogated William.

"Forgive me, Darling. I thought they were trustworthy. I tried to make your family proud of me. But ..."

"But you're a loser who always causes trouble!" Bianca said in a high note. The woman was depressed when her husband couldn't beat Thomas who was always better than him.

Bianca tried to take a deep breath and then said, "Give me back all the money you borrowed from me."

"But I don't have a penny." William couldn't even pay off his debt to his wife.

"I don't care! If you're not capable to do anything, just divorce me! After that, your debt will be paid off." At this point, Bianca really wanted to separate with William. She wouldn't let her life suffer just because of a loser like William.

Bianca considers herself only worthy of being possessed by a man from a prominent family, not William, who was once a vagrant picked up by her father to be made into her husband.

Five years ago, Mr. Patterson asked his youngest daughter to agree to marry the man of his choice, William.

He was deeply indebted to William because he was the one who had saved him from a car that was about to crashed to him. Bianca, at that time already had someone she truly love, so she refused. 

However, her father promised her that some of the Patterson family's companies would fall to her, and in the end Bianca accepted the match, although not wholeheartedly, as she already had Thomas as her boyfriend. Even until now, they still maintain their relationship secretly.