"Tell him I'll want to see him now!"

I heard a voice downstairs. I had just woken up from bed. Jordan was still fast asleep. We went to bed after our wedding party with our clothes and shoes on. I took off his shoes this morning when I woke up.

"Yes, ma'am." It was Anna, the househelp.

I peeped to see the owner of the voice.

My mother-in-law! It dawned on me that I had not been properly introduced to my husband's family. Especially his mother!

Anna came up to me, where I had been standing. I didn't think of waking Jordan. I just stood there, still trying to process what I would tell his mother. She had been away for some time. She came in for the wedding a few days back, but we did not meet until the wedding day. I mean, we never even spoke for once. I only saw a picture of her. The ones Jordan showed me. I've not thought of her reaction after Penelope's drama at the wedding.

"The boss's mother is here, ma'am. She asked to see him." Anna told me. I heard her approaching earlier, so I immediately pretended like I didn't hear anything.

"I would speak to him. Go and make sure she has something to eat. We'll come down shortly." I told her. At this point, my heart was pounding fast.

I was about to go in when I heard her voice again. She had a loud voice. Too loud for an elderly woman like her. She was on a phone call.

"Your mother wants to see you." I woke him up.

"Why? Where is she?" He asked, as if I were her personal assistant.

"Well, I don't know why she would want to see you. She's your mother."

He stood up and walked out. I called out to him to take off his clothes from yesterday, but he said nothing.

I went back to where I was standing earlier to listen to their conversation. I just wanted to know something.

"There you are, coming at any time you like. Where is that wife of yours?" I heard her ask him. I was waiting for the worst.

"Mum, you have no business with my wife. Tell me why you're at my house this early. It's unlike you."

How is he able to speak to his mother like that? Before the wedding ceremony, she congratulated us. But something was weird about it. It was like she was talking more to her son and not to me. She did not ask me any questions. I wondered if she wasn't curious about knowing who her son was getting married to. But then, I did not want any further complications. I ignored it too and moved with the flow. I'm sure everything must have escalated now. All thanks to Penelope.

"Why are you still in these heavy clothes? Did you sleep in them?" She asked him.

"Do not start acting like you care, mum. Why are you here?"

I was kind of surprised. I never knew Jordan could speak like that to anyone, not to mention his own mother. What was this sudden tension all about?

"You have not learnt to respect me. Well, that's none of my business. I..."

"Nothing is ever your business. It cannot begin now. Say what you want to say, let's get done with this." Jordan interrupted and sat heavily on the couch. He still had hangovers.

"I see. Have you seen the news?"

"What about it?"

"Look at this, Jordan." She opened her phone for him to see. "Everyone is talking. What is this I hear about you marrying someone else? I thought this was the woman you told me about? Who was the other lady at your wedding?" She asked.

We were trending online. Some said Penelope was jealous. Others said I snatched him and many other things. I never thought I could see myself one day on posts and blogs. The joy of marrying a rich man. Though we were trending in a bad way, low-key I was glad the world would now have a chance to see me. It was something.

"The Internet is never silent. They would always talk. It will soon die down." Jordan said.

"It doesn't look that way to me. You're on every blog for God's sake! Doesn't it bother you? What does that say about you? Your reputation! This is not good. You'd better look for ways to salvage this."

"Just say it. You're here because this affects you and whatever business you have going on. It has nothing to do with me."

"Is that what you'll say to me? Well, yes. It doesn't affect you alone. It affects me! It affects your sister! It affects every other person involved in the business. The partners and all. So yes, Jordan. It's not all about you. Nobody should suffer because of your terrible decision."

"I've told you not to bother. It's my problem and I'll sort it out. Besides, you don't care about me or Racheal. And I don't see how this affects you. Last I checked, you withdrew from the family business to start up another that no one knows about."

She was silent for a while after he said that.

"And where's your wife? I want to see her." She said after some minutes. My heart was beating fast.

I didn't know when Anna came up to where I was standing. I turned sharply.

"What are you doing here!" I was startled, and annoyed at the same time, that she had to see me eavesdropping.

"Sorry, ma, I came to clean." She said. I was sure she was surprised that I was listening to their conversation.

"Leave. You'll do it later." I told her, feeling slightly ashamed.

"Alright." She said and tried to leave in a hurry.

"And hey," I called her back. "You did not see anything."

"Noted, ma," She said. I watched her leave until she was out of sight.

"Aren't you going to answer me?" Jordan's mother asked again.

"I've told you, you have no business with her."

"I will be back, Jordan. This isn't over. You have a lot of explaining to do." She grabbed her handbag and left. I heaved a sigh of relief.

I quickly went back to the room so that Jordan would not know I had been eavesdropping.

"How'd it go with your mum?" I asked as soon as he walked him. I was pretending to arrange the clothes in the cabinet.

"Never mind," he said, and relaxed on the bed.

"I know, right, online trolls."

"You did not come down to greet her." He said, ignoring my statement. I was wondering. Was I supposed to? Maybe I would have, if I wasn't eavesdropping.

"I thought she wanted to speak to you about something important. I didn't want to interfere." I said, unsure if I lied correctly.

"She's your mother-in-law. You should have come down to say something."

"Why will I do that? You don't even respect her yourself. How would I have approached her when her own son despises her? Why didn't you introduce me to her? What could I have done? It was you she wanted to see, not me!" I felt the urge to say all this to him, but I kept it buried in my head.

"I'm sorry, Jordan." I said finally after some minutes of silence."

"Never mind. I wouldn't even want you to."

"You just said I was supposed to," I said, pretending to get annoyed.

"Don't mind me. It's nothing. Just pulling your legs." He said and invited me to the bed. He began kissing and caressing me softly.

Pulling my legs! That was the tip of the iceberg. With what I saw there, I knew a lot would come my way. There would be so much to deal with. The woman I saw, my mother-in-law, looked like trouble. Trouble was written all over her. When I first saw her on the morning of the wedding, I was scared that I might not be enough. Even though I had this confidence within me, I was still scared that she might not like me. Now it was all confirmed.

It's too late to back out now. I should have probably left my sister with her baggage.

I did not just wake up one day to say I wanted to marry Penelope's fiancé. I watched from my window some weeks back as her billionaire boyfriend, Jordan, dropped her off and kissed her goodbye. I watched as she waved at him and walked towards the door. I slowly covered the curtains and lay back on my bed.

"We went to supervise some of his businesses, and then we went for lunch in a very beautiful place. He took me shopping afterwards." I heard her say to my parents downstairs. I could feel their excitement already. There was happiness in her voice. I decided to get a cup of coffee. I just felt like taking it.

"Come here, Laura." My father called when I walked past them. I knew it was bad timing. I shouldn't have left my room.

"You called me," I said as I came closer to him.

"Why did you just behave as though we were strangers? You've been in that room since morning, and you just don't say hi to anyone." He said. I wondered why he always tried to act like the nice one, as if he cared. He is just as terrible as my sister and mother.

I opened my mouth to speak, but Penelope's words came before mine.

"She's just jealous. I know she's not happy for me." Penelope said with a smirk, while admiring the gifts she came with.

"Why would I be jealous of you?" I asked her, already getting furious. Wondering why she would even think about something like that.

"Because she has achieved way more than you. Let's not even talk about how good-looking she is. But look at you, you've been sleeping for the whole day with nothing to show. Just like that riff-raff you call a boyfriend. You cannot even attract important people in your life to save you." It was my mother.

There was a knock on the door immediately.

And just like magic, my riff-raff of a boyfriend, as my mother described, was at the door. Thomas knew he was jobless and also knew about the constant crises with my family. Yet his audacity was what pissed me off. The effrontery! Coming to my parents' house. At this time!

"What are you doing here?" I whispered immediately as I opened the door and saw him. I was signalling him to leave while trying to close the door. It was a bad time already. Yet he stood there, like an idiot!

"What's going on there?" My father asked.

"It's her broke boyfriend. She's trying to hide him." Came Penelope's voice. Her annoying voice. I felt like smacking her on the head.

"Let him in," my father said.

I was still signalling Thomas to leave. He still did not get the signs. He was smiling while he walked in.

"Good afternoon, sir," he greeted my father. He was about to greet my mum when she turned her face. He understood and kept quiet. I was just by the corner. Waiting for the worst to happen.

"Who are you here to see?" My dad asked. Such a stupid question. He came to see me, of course.

"I... I came to see Laura." He stuttered. We were supposed to go out today.

I felt like burying him. Did he have to mention it to my parents? I knew we were supposed to go out. He should have called my line. That was a simple thing to do. I checked my phone and saw five missed calls from him. I sighed.

"Out to where?" Penelope asked, laughing. "To the gardens, forest, or maybe the hills?" She asked again and laughed harder. It was all so embarrassing. I kept looking at her, my heart hurting. My mother was laughing with her. My father smiled too. He wanted to laugh with them, but he tried not to show it.

"You want to take her out, you mean? Do you now have a job?" My father asked.

"I don't. I'm actually helping her to look for one. We are going to check out some places." Thomas said. He must have thought saying that would make them pleased.

"Interesting! You do not have a job, and you want to help her find one. Isn't that amazing?" Said my mother.

"Have you seen? Have you seen what I'm talking about?" She said, turning to me. I just watched her. I haven't said a word since they began questioning him.

"Honestly, sweetheart, I think you should just let Laura do what she wants. It's obvious she's not ready to change." My mother said, and I watched her with so much anger and hatred in my eyes as she sat on the couch. I was finding it hard to believe she actually gave birth to me.

"She does not know what it means to attract things of good value," Penelope said and laughed again.

I couldn't bear it anymore. I raised my hand to slap her across her face, but my father's voice stopped me.

"Don't you dare! Your mother is right. They are right. Laura, why can't you..."

"Enough!" I cut in. "At least I'm not like y'all, fantasising over mere gifts and rewards like wretched people!" I snapped and walked to the door. Thomas followed me silently.

"She is strange." I heard my mum say, while we were walking out. I didn't hear what else she said. Thomas closed the door behind him.

"I'm sorry." He said as we were walking down the road.

"Sorry for what?"

"For what happened earlier. It was all my fault. I shouldn't have made things worse for you by showing up."

"Of course, Thomas, it's your fault! You should have called me! You are not making it any easier for me. If you're not ready to find a job, you tell me so we end this thing called a relationship. I'm tired of having to deal with my family's bullshit and now you!" I screamed.

"But you know I'm trying. It's not easy for me either. Do you think I enjoy watching you do all the things I'm supposed to be doing?"

"Then wake up! I'm tired of listening to your complaints!"

"But I called you. You were not picking up. That was why I decided to come to your house. I thought something was wrong."

"Honestly, Thomas, I'm sorry I missed your calls. But you need to do more than care for me. I can take care of myself! I'm not a child. I'm tired of all this pity party." I said and began to walk faster. I knew I was a bit harsh on him, but at that point, I was angry about many things and could not control my words. I hated everything happening to me.

"We'll be having a family dinner tonight at seven. Make yourself available. I do not want to hear any excuses." My mother woke me up with the announcement. It was unnecessary. She could have waited for me to wake up. I'm sure she did not wake her precious daughter like that. I hissed and went back to bed, but I couldn't sleep anymore.

It was always like that. I was always given instructions as though I was a hired maid. Well, we did not have one, so I did everything, while Penelope did nothing. When we were in high school, I would wash our uniforms both. My mother had an annoying saying everytime. "She's your little sister. You should do it so that she'll learn from you."

But she never learnt anything. Till now, she's still learning from the "older sister." I scoffed. I heard footsteps approaching my room. It was Penelope.

"I would need your help today." She said as she walked into my room. No one actually spoke about how disrespectful my own younger sister is to me. Nobody actually cared.

"What is wrong with everyone in this family? Can't I at least have some peace? You keep disturbing me. What do you want, Penelope? I asked.

"Check the time." She said, rolling her eyes like an old witch.

"Are you crazy? If you have something to say, say it, or get the fuck out of my room."

"Well, if you don't want to, I'll help you." She walked towards my bedside table and took the wristwatch there.

"The time is 1pm. And you're still in bed. What does that tell you?"

I looked at her sternly. I had the urge to crush her but I stood still.

"You won't make it in life like this, sister. You won't. Such a shame." She said and twisted her mouth.

"What do you want, Penelope? I'm not in the mood for this."

"We have dinner at seven today. It's compulsory." She said, with one hand on her waist, while swinging the other slowly.

"Mum told me already. Now get out." I said and covered myself with the sheets.

Penelope dragged them away and threw them at the other end of the bed. I was amazed.

"Penelope! What was the meaning of that?"

"Meaning of what? I'm not done talking to you. So listen to me. It's not just any dinner. Jordan would be coming. Mum invited him. And we have a special announcement to make."

"I have no business with you, your family, or Jordan, whatever you call him. I'm really not in the mood for this. Just leave." I told her. I was already getting impatient.

"I know dear. Of course you have no business with us. But you do have business in the kitchen. Mum said you would cook the meals."

"And why would I do that? Isn't he your boyfriend?"

"And so what? Your duty is to make the meals. I was told to tell you. And you know what will happen if you don't do it right? I'll send you the list of what you'll make." she said.

"Why can't you do it yourself? Ohhh, I see," I laughed. "Poor girl, you can't even boil water. You should be ashamed of yourself."

"Don't insult me," She said. Her boldness had died down.

"I'm not insulting you. It's a fact. I wonder how your "boyfriend" would take it when he realizes that you cannot do anything. A waste of sperm!" I blurted.

She was filled with rage but she couldn't do anything. I could see the veins in her head sprawling out. She said finally:

"News flash. He knows and he loves me that way. You cannot say the same for yourself, can you? And I see where your cooking skills have taken you. To the jobless guy right?" She laughed.

"Don't forget to make the food tasty." She said again and banged the door.

"Bitch!" I hissed behind her. I was like a slave in my own house. I was wishing it would end one day. It definitely has to. They can just tell me if I was adopted. I would gladly look for my parents.

I proceeded to get things ready for the so-called dinner. I had to get a few things in the supermarket to make everything set. I realized when I got to the kitchen that some foodstuffs were not there. I looked at the other side of the kitchen that was covered with sooth just above the microwave and the thoughts of what happened that day flashed through my mind.

Penelope decided to make rice and her own. We were still in college. She was back before me and decided to make something to eat, but ended up burning the whole thing. I walked into the house, and saw my mother standing by the door. I greeted her, and a resounding slap followed.

"What did I do!" I was confused.

"Check what you caused in the kitchen," she said.

I walked to the kitchen and saw the mess. I came out quietly, with tears filled eyes.

"This house would have been burnt down. All because of you! Why did you let your sister cook alone?"

"Please, mum tell me, what exactly did I do? Or do you just hate me? I was not even around! I just came back. Why should I be punished for what Penelope did?" I asked, still crying.

"You are her older sister. You are supposed to guide her. Why did you let her do it on her own?

"Am I now her bodyguard? Is she a child?"

"I told her to help me but she said she'll be busy at school. I knew she was lying. She just wanted to avoid me." Penelope said.

"Are you not even ashamed of yourself?" I said, turning to her. I carried my bag and stormed out. That was the day I met Thomas.

I sighed heavily, leaving my thoughts. I took note of what I needed and left for the supermarket.