I wiped the sweat dripping down my forehead and neck, then glanced at her. "It'll be done soon." I replied as I continued to sweep the room.
Since the morning, I hadn't stopped doing this and that all day. I cleaned the house, washed clothes, and prepared breakfast until I prepared dinner later, but none of the work was done by my mother-in-law. I didn't mind, though, I knew she was pretty old and probably tired and didn't have much energy left. But my mother-in-law scolded me too much. Almost every day, she would complain about me.
"You really are useless." I tightened my lips at her words, my heart beating rapidly, making an uncomfortable feeling in my chest. Every time she said something like that, I felt like a weight was tightly gripping my heart, making it impossible to ignore the pain. "There's nothing you can do right in this house. Cleaning the house is simple!" But Anna had never done any housework since I married Jaxon.
"That's because I'm doing more than one job, and I'm so tired." I looked at her.
"Excuse me, you're just taking so long to clean up, can't you manage your time well, huh?" I've been dividing my time more than well, including preparing for her needs, and she still feels inadequate about it. "You're not working anymore, you should be doing your homework as best you can. It's the least you can do so that your husband doesn't lose out on your marriage."
My chest felt hot hearing her words. I really had no value in my mother-in-law's eyes. "I did everything I could, mom." I kept my tone in front of her because I didn't want her to get the wrong idea and think I was fighting her.
"As much as you can, as much as you can? All you can do is relax. Look, even in the afternoon you're still sweeping the house. What have you been doing all day?" Her face looked at me fiercely, her gaze full of dislike.
I sighed heavily. I was so tired all day, not stopping to clean up one thing and another. But my mother-in-law still questioned what I explained, and even later, if I answered, she would still feel annoyed and say that I was a lazy person who liked to make excuses.
"I'll finish it soon." I said so, I wanted to end the argument with her immediately because there was not the slightest benefit I got from her, except for the pain in my heart that continued to gnaw because of her words.
"Jaxon really doesn't deserve you." Her eyes glanced sharply at me. But I tried to ignore it. I closed my eyes for a moment, trying to calm myself down.
"He's handsome, his life is established and he also has an interesting personality. He's the perfect man, but it's a disadvantage for him to have a woman like you."
I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself down. It's because I love Jaxon. After all, my love for him is still so deep that I endure this kind of treatment.
"You're useless, already living on the dole but not willing to do anything." I clenched my fists as I listened to his words that seemed to pierce my heart with various needles." You can't even give me offspring! How useless you are!" Before leaving, he glanced at me sharply, looking at me more contemptuously than at something disgusting.
I bit my lower lip, holding back the tears from falling from my eyes as much as possible because I didn't want to cry over his words. I rested my hands on the table to keep my body upright and not fall to the floor miserably.
The pain in my chest refused to go away, his words cutting right into the weakest part of me. Yes, I haven't been able to give Jaxon any offspring. But it's not my fault, not my wish. I've checked myself at the hospital, and the results say I'm healthy. Maybe it's not time for me to have children. I try to think positively so as not to hurt anyone.
What woman doesn't want herself to be perfect by having a child and being a mother? But God hasn't given me a chance yet. I can't force it. Jaxon and I had tried, but the outcome wasn't up to us. I was the woman who hoped to hold a baby that looked like me and Jaxon, but maybe the time just hadn't come yet.
"There's no more time." I saw that the clock on the wall showed the time before dinner. I looked at my shabby clothes. "I haven't had a chance to shower yet." I sniffed my body odor and felt the smell of various things clinging to it and making me smell bad.
I hurried to finish my work before Jaxon's time came home. I cleaned up the still-drying clothes and moved them to the room, where I tidied and ironed them. Then I turned to the dinner I had to prepare.
I spent a lot of time because I washed the heavy bed sheets and bed covers today. It would have been a quick job and more straightforward if I could have washed them in the machine, but my mother-in-law wouldn't allow it. She asked me not to machine wash them so the fabric quality wouldn't be damaged. If only she would understand just a little bit, then all my work would be lighter and could be done faster.
"Aaa...." I sighed. Dinner was done, and now the dishes had to be done.
"What did you cook?" My mother-in-law came to the dining table and checked what was for dinner. "Did you season the meat properly this time?" She looked at me with an appraising gaze. I nodded yes as I dried the dishes I was washing. "Don't be like yesterday when the meat wasn't tender and tasted bland, it's like you had no intention of cooking."
I'm not an expert in cooking, but I studied it and cooked it based on the recipe I got. It tasted the same as what I ate, but I don't know if she thought my cooking was appropriate. Even so, I was grateful that she never left any leftovers on the plate, which would make me sad.
"I've cooked according to mom's request." I put down the last plate I had dried, and then I heard the sound of Jaxon's vehicle entering the yard.
I saw my mother-in-law immediately run to open the door for Jaxon. I quickly removed my apron and ran to the door to greet Jaxon. When I arrived, my mother-in-law had opened the door, and Jaxon stood in the doorway.
"Jax..." I ran up to him with a smile, about to hug him, but Jaxon held out his arms to restrain me. "What's wrong, Jax?"
"Don't you come any closer!" He said with a twitch on his face. "You smell bad and it'll stick to my clothes, you slob!"
I sniffed my body odor. What he said was true. My smell was disturbing enough, but Jaxon's cold and seemingly changed gaze on me disturbed me even more. I suddenly became uneasy and nervous. "I'm a little busy with housework and... oh yeah, I cooked your favorite meal." I tried to smile in front of her and raised my face to be able to see her because I had been looking down. But I couldn't hide my nervousness. I unconsciously moved my hands to press my fingernails together.
"You're so lazy, you can't even take care of yourself." My mother said, cornering me. I intended to deny it, but my attention turned to the woman who suddenly came to put her hand on Jaxon's arm.
My eyes opened wide at the sight of the woman, and my hand moved to point at her. "Jax, who is that woman? Why is she wrapping her arms around you like that in front of me, your wife?" I stared at the woman angrily. How dare she touch my husband, Jaxon.
"She's my girlfriend." Jaxon replied casually as if it was no big deal. I couldn't believe he was acting like that towards me. He then looked at me coldly. "I've had it with you." He took something out of his bag and threw the folder at me." Sign there right now, I want a divorce from you." Jaxon gave me a disgusted look while I was stunned in my place.
I could hear my mother-in-law laughing happily beside Jaxon. I opened the letter to confirm it and found that Jaxon had already signed it. I covered my mouth to hold back my tears, my body shook violently, and my eyes felt hot. I felt like my heart had been hit with a blunt object until the pain was overwhelming.
"You want a divorce from me?" I wrinkled my forehead at him, and he stared back at me coldly as if there was never any love in his eyes for me.
"I've really had it with you." Jaxon looked at me with disgust, his gaze so unfriendly and painful. "You can't give me offspring when you know I want offspring so badly. But even now you're not showing any signs. Besides, look at you!" Jaxon pointed at my appearance with his hand, making me take notice of my current build. "You look shabby, shabby and not pretty. What do you expect from me, Vanessa? Are you asking me to put up with you looking like that?"I clenched my jaw. I couldn't accept her giving such an excuse. "I'm like this because I don't have time to take care of myself. All day and even into the night, I keep taking care of the house. Taking care of you, taking care of your mother, you guys asking me to do this and that until the only time I have for myself is to rest." I let out the grievances that I had been holding back.At first, I always accepted and tried to understand, to be patient with him for all the treatment I didn't deserve. But they didn't understand. They di
"Now that you're here, it's time for you to take over the family business." My father sat in front of me with my mother. We were having tea together in the back garden, enjoying the peaceful afternoon.I gazed at the back garden, the large yard that used to be my place for fresh air, as I was pretty happy to stare at the sky with its various colors and feel the wind blowing past me. It was unimaginable for me to come back and see that place again after I chose to leave."Vanessa?" I turned my face towards my mother."Yes?" I stared at my mother for a moment and then turned to look at my father's face."Are you listening?" She probably thought I was lost in thought, but I was listening to what my dad was saying. "I'm listening, Mom." I smiled at her, lightly stroking her hand because I knew she was worried about me. But there was no need because I was fine so far.Well, not that good. Perhaps I would have been ruined if I still loved Jaxon, but other than the hurt from their treatment
"You scared me." I tried to sit up by pushing my hands on the mattress. "What are you doing? How did you get here?" I was sure I had completely locked my bedroom door, but how could he be here?Andreas looked at me with a look in his eyes that made me feel uneasy every time I saw him. "I missed my brother who I haven't seen in a long time." His excuse made no sense to me.I wrinkled my face when I saw it. "Still, you shouldn't have come into my room. You can wait until morning, and we live in the same house anyway. We're bound to see each other."He seemed to be quietly listening to me, now that I noticed him presence really made me uncomfortable. What's more, what's with his clothes? Why is he shirtless and exposing his upper body like that? But I admit, those muscles are perfect. They were beautifully sculpted, I wanted to touch them and feel how hard they were and feel their warmth. I shook my head quickly, realizing my dangerously wild thoughts about Andreas. I cursed him silently
"There's a lot of business that needs to be done, so stop joking around, Andreas," I told Andreas.My heart was beating noisily, and it was starting to make me distracted and uncomfortable.Andreas looks at me flatly, ignoring what I tell him. He pulls my hand, bringing my body closer to his. Our faces were facing each other, our lips almost touching if I didn't stop it by covering Andreas' lips with my hand. "We are family." I reminded him again firmly. I could feel the warmth in my palm as I silenced his lips. At the same time, his eyes looked at me intently without moving. "I don't want our family relationship to fall apart over something like this."Andreas began with his unreasonable attitude, making it difficult for me to deal with him.Andreas was silent, and he didn't reply to my words. But his jaw hardened, the expression on his face looking determined."I'm exhausted." I returned his gaze with some frustration. "I want to rest soon. There are many things I'm going through r
"Are you guys going home yet?" Eva looked at me with her clear brown eyes. She stood up and placed the tray of cookies on the counter.I hugged her for a moment, feeling again the scent of cookies lingering on the delicate old woman. "Yes, Ev. We've been sitting here for quite some time. It's good to see you again after all this time."Eva smiled at me. "Come visit next time." She patted my shoulder kindly. The woman was always warm and pleasant.I nodded, then set my sights on Jhonny behind the counter. "Jhonny, we're leaving first. It was nice to taste your milk tea again." I waved goodbye to him.The old man was still wearing his glasses so he could see me. "Don't stop coming, Vanessa." He then looked at Andreas behind me. "Andreas, keep Vanessa coming to this place."I looked to the side, where Andreas was standing. I saw Andreas smiling at Johnny. "Of course, we will continue to come together to this place." I glanced at him, who made the promise unilaterally.We left the small c
"Stop looking at me, Andreas." I closed the page of the report my father had asked me to study.Beside me, Andreas was busying himself with staring at me the whole time. I tried to restrain myself and didn't comment because I was sure that if I reacted even with a small reaction, he would become even bolder.But I couldn't help myself from his gaze. That made me uneasy and uncomfortable. His blue eyes ensnared my every move so tightly that it was difficult to move.I turned my body to the side, right where Andreas was sitting. Our gazes met each other. "Don't you have anything else to do now, Andreas?" I asked in a slightly offensive tone.But Andreas was not at all affected by the way I spoke. He remained unmoved and looked at me from where he was sitting calmly. "I'm currently working, don't you see?"I snorted and started to get annoyed. Andreas had been playing with my emotions since yesterday. "You've been watching me, Andreas." I pressed my sentence heavily while gritting my tee
"It's pretty quiet now that Andreas isn't home." I smiled as I sipped the tea and gazed over the back garden.Today, Andreas was away for work. He didn't say exactly where he was going and for what in detail, but I didn't care because honestly, thanks to his work that kept Andreas busy, I could feel a little relieved.But I guess my relief didn't last long, because my phone rang and his name appeared on my screen.Could he stop appearing and let me calm down for a moment?I picked up the phone that I had placed in my desk bag and stared at it lazily. I let it ring for a few seconds and then picked it up lazily, "What's wrong?" my voice sounded flat and somewhat annoyed."What's wrong with your voice?" His voice sounded not much different from mine. I could imagine him frowning and making a long face."What's wrong with you calling me?" I ignored his question and directly asked his purpose. I didn't care if he was annoyed or what because I was also annoyed by his interruption.A sigh w
"What are you doing here?" Catherine, the woman Jaxon's mistress, asked me in an unfriendly tone.I intended to ignore her bravado and walk away from there. But the woman looked at me sternly and pulled my hand so that I would look at her and not just glance."Get your hands off me!" I pulled my hand away from her and gave her a sharp look. I don't want her dirty hands to touch my body even a little bit.Catherine gave me a sharp look. "You still dare to appear in front of me? I warned you to never appear in front of me again."That woman is really crazy.She was an extramarital affair while I was Jaxon's wife back then, but she shamelessly behaved otherwise. She's warning me like I'm the one who snatched her husband and she's sick of seeing me, how ridiculous.Moreover, who is she to forbid me to show up where? She has only Jaxon, who is currently unemployed, so what can she boast in front of me? Ah...maybe this woman still doesn't know that it turns out that her affair just got fire