From Frying Pan to Strange Fire

After saying goodnight and parting ways with Grace, Joan returned to her house, slightly tipsy from all the wine she had at the restaurant.

Entering her home with a light step, all of Grace’s words and actions resonated in her ears, making her smile.

As she walked into the sitting room, she was met with an unexpected sight her mother-in-law, seayed on the sofa, her eyes fixated on the TV screen.

“Mrs. Charles, you’re here.” Joan greeted the older woman, her voice filled with warmth and a hint of surprise. “I didn’t know you were coming. How was your trip?”

The woman remained engrossed in the television, seemingly ignoring Joan’s presence and greetings.

The woman had never liked her, not even for one day, and Joan knew it. But she always tried not to let it bother her too much.

Undeterred, Joan tried again, “Is everything okay, Mrs Charles?”

A tense silence hung in the air for a moment before Mrs. Charles finally spared her a glance, her eyes narrowing. “I don’t need your small talk. I’m watching something important.”

“Oh, okay. Enjoy your show, Ma’am.” Joan sighed and decided to retreat to her bedroom upstairs to avoid any further trouble.

As she reached the staircase, her eyes caught sight of her luggage piled up at the foot of the steps, just by the side so it didn’t block the way.

Confused, Joan turned to Mrs. Charles, “Why are my things here? Did something happen?”

Mrs. Charles sighed, her gaze never leaving the TV. “You’ve been kicked out of the master bedroom. You’re supposed to move your things to the guest bedroom downstairs.”

Joan’s heart skipped a beat. “What? Why? What’s going on?”

Finally tearing her eyes away from the screen, Mrs. Charles explained, “Richard has decided to make some overdue changes. You should follow his rules as you are supposed to. No need for drama. Do as he has said. Move to the guest bedroom.”

Disbelief etched across Joan’s face, she stammered, “Just… like that? How can he do that randomly without discussing anything with me?”

Mrs. Charles remained stoic. “That’s not my concern. He should have done it a long time ago. I wonder why he had to wait until now.”

Angry and hurt, Joan stormed upstairs, determined to confront Richard and make sense of the situation.

She flung open the bedroom door, only to be met with a sight that shattered her world Richard, her husband, entwined in their matrimonial bed with his supposed ex-girlfriend from college. The sound of the door opening made them halt their activity.

In all their years of marriage, Richard had never brought a woman home. He didn’t try to hide the fact that he misbehaves outside. But he keeps it all outside, the reason why Joan could endure all of his atrocities.

But what she would not swallow was his bringing his rubbish into their home. That would be the last straw.

“Richard, what is the meaning of this?” Joan’s voice trembled as she demanded.

Caught in the act, Richard neither looked remorseful nor tried to explain what was going on.

Instead, his brows furrowed in annoyance. “Are you sick in the head? Why will you barge into my room like that without first knocking?”

“Your room? This is our room.” Joan corrected, her head still trying to make sense of what was happening. What did he mean by his room? The same room they had shared for three years up till this morning when she went to work.

Joan’s gaze moved to Belinda, who already covered herself with a sheet. Just like Richard, there wasn’t a single trace of guilt on her face.

She only looked Joan over, then relaxed back on the bed and looked away from the couple as if what was happening didn’t concern her.

“Am I to believe that you were too blind to see your things downstairs? This room now belongs to me and Belinda. If you still want to remain here and remain married, then you should never come into my room without knocking. Now, get out.” Richard pointed at the door to emphasize his point, but Joan was too shocked to react.

“Richard-”

“Out!” Richard cut her off.

Before she could move or do anything, a hand pulled her shirt from behind with such force that she moved backward against her will until she was out of the bedroom.

She only discovered the person who pulled her was her mother-in-law after she was out of the room and the door was shut.

“Mrs Charles-” Joan started speaking with a shaking voice, but was instantly cut off by the older woman.

“Shut up. I always knew you were stubborn but was only pretending. After telling you that you’ve been kicked out, you still had the nerve to come here and disturb my son with his new wife.”

“New wife?” Joan couldn’t believe her ears.

“Yes. New wife since the old one is so useless and can’t produce a child even though her entire family feeds off this household like pests.” Mrs. Charles affirmed, her face exuding fury.

“How is it my fault that I haven’t had a child? You know what your son does and yet you blame me? What kind of a mother are you?” Joan asked, tears already pooling in her eyes.

“The type who wants the best for her son. What man would reject a good and useful woman? It’s because you are as useless as the K in the pronunciation of knife, that’s why a full-blooded man will stay that long without touching you. The problem is not Richard. You are the problem.”

Joan’s heart clenched in pain as the woman’s words tore into and shredded every piece of consolation she was still holding onto.

The door to the bedroom flung open and Richard walked out with Belinda trailing behind him.

“That’s enough, mom. Let her be.” He uttered.

“Yes, mom. She looks terrible already.” Belinda chipped in, eyeing Joan with fake pity.

“No. She has to apologize to you or I’m calling the lawyer right now.” Mrs Charles declared.

“Apologize for what? What did I do wrong?” Joan asked in incredulity, the tears she held back dropping onto her cheeks.

“For disrespecting my son and I.” Mrs Charles responded to Joan, and to all their surprise, a laugh was what they received from her.Copyright Nôv/el/Dra/ma.Org.

“The only person that was disrespected here tonight is me. Apologize my foot.” Joan spat, then walked away from their presence.

Infuriated, Mrs. Charles took out her phone and dialed a number. As soon as the person picked, she gave out an instruction.

“Prepare the documents.”