Chapter 2. Terrible Mother-in-law

The next morning came like an unwanted visitor, as I heard a persistent knock on the door, its loudness echoing through the quiet house like a drumbeat of unwelcome news. It was terrible enough that I hardly got any sleep throughout the night. Now, incessant loud knocking on the door again, even at 6 A.M.?

As I walked to the door with my defeated feet and sad face, like a wilted flower bending under the weight of an unexpected storm, “Hey!” said Diana the moment I opened the door. 

“Move out of the way, you donkey honk,” she added, almost crushing me to the floor with her weight and size, like a bulldozer clearing a path through fragile emotions.

Diana was Tyler’s mother, who never liked me even before Tyler and I got married. She was that wicked witch who decided to haunt me even in my own house just a few weeks after our wedding.

I understood the fact that Tyler’s family was going through a period of bankruptcy, and they needed every help they could get. And as his fiancée, I worked my ass off at two jobs so that I could pay for a home for us to move into immediately after our wedding. From my little saved up money, I also established a small-scale eatery, which I handed its ownership to Tyler’s. And now he chose to pay me back by cheating?

I never long for any other man throughout the year we dated, despite all the guys coming at me and offering to take me out to dinner at a fancy restaurant. "I am engaged," I always said, even when he had not proposed to me yet. And while we got married, having an unnecessary conversation with another man irks me to the bone marrow. Is it a crime to be so faithful to one's man?

"Where is my food? I want to eat this minute!" Diana yelled from the dining room.

“Alright Diana, I will do that right away.” I answered from the entrance door. 

“Don’t f**king tell me you will do that right away. Just f**king do it. You useless brat!” Diana cursed. 

It had always been like that since she moved in with us. I was the one who did everything in the house—from sweeping every morning, to washing the plates, to cooking the food, to washing and mopping the bath. It got worse when Diana made it one of my mandatory chores to always wash her clothes and clean her shoes for her. 

As time passed, I became a maid in my own house. Hearing how Diana yelled at me from where she was, I smirked a bit like a cat with an unknown intention. But if I were to have any intention to hurt her, it was a lie. I loved my husband, and for this love, I still did anything for his family.

I walked into the kitchen, turned on the cooker, and boiled some rice instantly so that my mother-in-law could eat and be satisfied. At this moment, I heard the entrance door open again. When I turned to look at who it was, I saw that it was Tyler walking in.

Taking a good look at him, I saw that he was still dressed in the same suit he wore to work yesterday, and he carried the same briefcase he carried to work yesterday. “A symbol of a typical man who had indeed gone to a meeting overnight,” I thought and smirked immediately.

“Hey darling!” Tyler greeted me after he greeted his mom and walked over to me in the kitchen, then placed a kiss on my cheek. In the same manner, I feigned a smile on my cheek as if last night never happened. “How was the meeting?” I asked in a tender voice as I began washing the plate in the sink while the rice continued to boil.

Seeing how I was starting to wash the plate, Tyler wrapped his arm around me and kissed me again on the cheek from behind. If only he knew that was one way he had exposed himself to his cheating ways. I could immediately smell another woman all over him like a lingering perfume.

“That reminds me, what were you saying on the phone yesterday?” He asked suddenly as he turned me around to face him and kept his gaze locked into my eyes.

"ugh!" Taking a deep sigh, everything I saw in those eye bulbs of his was a strange woman making love to him on a strange bed, and that again irked me to the bone marrow.

“Don’t mind me. I guess I missed you too much, and I wanted you back home so quickly,” I lied. Discussing our personal issues where his mother could hear us was one thing I detested. However, it was not the case for this day. Hence, I looked at him and let out a smile again.

“Why not go in and freshen up before breakfast?” I said this as I leaned on my toes and kissed his forehead immediately.

“Why is my f**king breakfast not yet ready? Are you going to starve me to death, you nasty idiot?” Diana yelled from the dining room suddenly and instantly, “I apologize for my mother, Alda, please..."

“It’s okay, Tyler. Go in and freshen up so you could have breakfast,” I interrupted him with a crafted, reluctant smile, like a fragile flower bending under the weight of unspoken understanding.

“I will be going upstairs then,” he said, kissing my forehead as he left immediately.

***

“The rice is almost cooked, Diana. Just wait a little bit more,” I said aloud from the kitchen.

“Well, waiting a little bit more is enough to send me to the grave. If you won’t cook my food fast enough, why don’t I tell my son to get a divorce and leave your nasty ass alone? You are no good for him anyway,” Diana yelled.

“My dearest son, I don’t know why he married you. You are just as useless as a flashlight with dead batteries. I can’t wait for the day when it will finally happen. I will be the happiest on earth,” Diana added.