I'm Not Useless Son-in-Law!

In a café, a young man about 25 years old, deeply engrossed in his laptop screen, was suddenly approached by a server who said:

“Sir, you’ve been sitting here for over five hours with just one cup of coffee. Could you please order something else or give up the table for other customers?”

The young man looked up at the server, then around the café, which had only a few customers and several empty tables. It was clear they were tactfully trying to ask him to leave.

Out of options, he was broke and couldn't go home where his wife's family always despised and looked down on him, urging him to be independent. If not for a project he urgently needed to submit to his boss, he wouldn’t have been at the café using their Wi-Fi like this.

He looked at the server and pleaded: "Could I possibly have another half hour? I need to urgently finish this project and hand it over to my boss.”

“Look, if you don’t have money, don’t come to a café and sit for half the day. And now you’re begging to stay longer?”

“There aren’t many customers, I’ll just stay a little longer, please…”

“Hmph, you penniless fool. If everyone were like you, this café would have to shut down. I’ll give you five more minutes, and if you don’t leave then, I’ll sweep you out!”

The server walked away coldly, leaving the young man in despair. Five minutes was not enough to complete his project. What was he to do? If today hadn’t been his wife’s grandmother's birthday celebration, he wouldn't have been in such a tight spot. To afford a decent gift for her, he had taken on this challenging project, which would pay him a commission of five thousand dollars – not much, but enough for a meaningful present.

His wife’s family always scorned him, seeing him as a useless son-in-law. If he couldn't even present a gift to his wife’s grandmother today, she would surely humiliate and berate him.

These thoughts reminded him of a time a few years ago when he was at the pinnacle of glory, acclaimed by everyone. His wife's family had also treated him with immense respect.

His name was Anderson Campbell, the eldest son of the Campbell family, one of the four leading families in Lightharbor city. Anderson Campbell was a prodigy, graduating from university at eighteen, with a reputation that spread far and wide. Many elite families sought alliances with his, including the Harrises.

The Harris family had an eldest daughter, Lauren Harris, renowned for her beauty and fame across the city. Anderson and Lauren were a perfect match, celebrated for both their talents and looks. It didn’t take long, after a few business meetings between Anderson and Lauren's grandfather, for the latter to personally propose the marriage.

But the joy was short-lived when Anderson's father was suddenly sabotaged. Shareholders withdrew their investments en masse, and businesses simultaneously cancelled contracts. 

In no time, his father was burdened with a colossal debt amounting to billions of USD and declared bankruptcy. The only remaining asset of his father, the Campbell family's mansion, had already been covertly forged and transferred by his stepmother, Jillian Moore, and his brother, Adrian Campbell. What's more, the stepmother had deceived his father, Adrian Campbell was not his biological son. She had fabricated DNA evidence to marry his father.

When Anderson's father went bankrupt, Jillian and Adrian finally showed their true colors, seizing the house and expelling him and his father. His father fell gravely ill thereafter, spending his latter half bedridden in a hospital, never getting a chance to recover.

Those wretched people. Had Anderson's father not gone bankrupt, he would never have learned that Adrian wasn't his son. And if the Campbell family hadn't faced bankruptcy, his wife's family wouldn't have looked down on him. But, more infuriating was someone behind the scenes, pulling the strings, causing shareholders to withdraw and the Campbell family to fall. Who exactly were the ones who had sabotaged his family?

Ring ring ring!

Suddenly, Anderson's phone rang. Looking at the screen, he saw it was Lauren, his wife.

"I'm listening."

"Anderson, where are you? The celebration for my grandmother's birthday is about to start! If you don't come, everyone will..."

But before Lauren could finish, a voice spoke up behind her: "Young mistress Lauren, come here, let's have a drink with the young master."

"That's right, Lauren. Being favored by Young Master Miller is an honor, so be sensible."

Anderson clearly heard the conversation over the phone. Some Young Master Miller wanted Lauren to drink with him. For years, his grandmother-in-law and mother-in-law incessantly pressured him to divorce Lauren, even planning to marry her off to a scion from another influential family. Although Anderson was furious, he could only endure, using the words before the death of Lauren's grandfather to salvage the situation.

About three years ago, Lauren's grandfather died of illness. Before his death, he insisted that even if the Campbell family went bankrupt, they must fulfill the promise to marry Lauren to Anderson and not allow her to divorce him. Because of his grandfather's words, he was still able to stay with Lauren, but for how long, as the influence of the Harris family grew with the support of young masters from renowned families.

Smash!

In anger, Anderson threw his phone, unexpectedly hitting the laptop in front of him. In an instant, both the phone and laptop screens went black, heavily damaged.

"Damn it!" Anderson cursed, the heaviest swear he had ever used.

Everything bad always happens to him, anger making him lose his senses, and now he can't even send the project to his boss. 

But it doesn't matter, his boss isn't exactly a saint either, always suppressing him, looking down on him. His mother-in-law constantly humiliates him, pushing his wife to divorce him. 

They are not worth his concern or thought. Throwing his phone at his laptop was his way of ending these headaches, ending the unfeasible project, ending the gift that never met his mother-in-law's standards! How could a once-famous prodigy in Lightharbor end up in such a situation?

Suddenly, the laptop screen flickers with a mysterious light, followed by a mechanical voice: “Hello, Host Anderson, I am the All-Powerful Reform System here to assist you.”