My thunderous roar shook the entire mansion. His mother and I stopped laughing. When they turned and saw me standing in the doorway, fuming with anger and red eyes, all color drained from their faces. Doña Matilda dropped her cup. CRASH!
“E-Elias…?! B-Babe?!” Valerie stammered, trembling. Her legs began to shake. She quickly stood up and tried to change her expression. “B-Babe! When did you get here?! M-You’re thinking wrong! Dad was just helping us clean up because he said he wanted to exercise—”
“SHUT UP, MONSTER!” I shouted, walking quickly towards him.
When Father Ruben saw me, he cried so hard and struggled to stand up. “E-Elias… my son… t-you’re here…”
I ran to my father and caught him before he fell to the floor. I hugged him tightly. He smelled of sweat and his body was very thin, proof of the long-term abuse and hunger he had suffered. I sobbed into my father’s shoulder, not caring if my suit got dirty.
“Forgive me, Dad… Forgive me for leaving you with these demons,” I whispered tearfully as I kissed his head and rough hands. I helped him sit on a clean chair.
I faced Valerie and Doña Matilda who were now retreating in extreme fear towards the wall.
“E-Elias, son… p-listen to us first…” my mother-in-law pleaded tremblingly, forcing a smile even though her lips were trembling.
“DON’T CALL ME SON!” I yelled. I pointed at both of them. “A hundred thousand pesos a month! I made you live like queens! I bought you all your luxuries! But my father, the man who was the reason I’m here today, you made a dog in our own house?!”
“Babe, please! I’m your wife! Please forgive me!” Valerie knelt on the floor crying and tried to reach for my shoes. “T-Your father is just stubborn so I just punished him a little to make him obey! This is my house too, Elias! I have a right to it!”
The Title That Broke Them
I stared at him with pure disgust and hatred. I backed away so he couldn’t touch me.
“Your house?” I laughed bitterly and coldly. I took out my backpack and pulled out a brown envelope. I threw it right in Valerie’s face. “Read whose name is written on the Title of this land!”
Valerie took the document tremblingly. When she read the name, her eyes widened as if tears were about to fall from her skull.
“R-Ruben Alcantara…?” he whispered, trembling.
“That’s right,” I replied coldly. “This mansion is not named after my husband and I. It’s named after my father! Before I left for Dubai, I had it built as a gift for him. That means the woman who acts like a queen and has him clean the floors is just a lowly resident!”
Doña Matilda’s jaw dropped and she fell completely to the floor. « W-What?! T-The house isn’t yours?! »
I took my cellphone out of my pocket. “Hello, Attorney Mendoza? Cancel all of Valerie and I’s joint accounts. Freeze all of the credit cards in her name. And prepare the papers for the annulment and the criminal charges for Elder Abuse.”
« NO! Elias, you’re so pitiful! My mother and I are not going anywhere! » Valerie screamed while sobbing.
“Pack your things right now. I’ll give you ten minutes before I have the guards drag you out the gate,” I ordered coldly. “And all the expensive jewelry and designer bags you bought with my money? Leave them here. You’ll leave my father’s house with nothing but the dirty clothes you’re wearing.”
The Justice of a Father and Son
Valerie and Doña Matilda screamed, begged, and went crazy while packing their clothes. They tried to hide some jewelry, but the responding security guards of the subdivision I had called quickly confiscated it. They were mercilessly thrown out of the mansion.
I left them crying on the street, with no money, no car, and no face to present to society because tomorrow, what they did would be spread to everyone we knew.
I took Father Ruben back to the living room. I carried my father to the largest and most beautiful master bedroom in the mansion. I personally gave him a warm bath, dressed him in clean clothes, and cooked him a hot and delicious soup that he hadn’t tasted in a long time.
“Thank you, son… I thought I was going to die here without seeing you,” Dad said crying as I tried to feed him.
“I will never leave you, Dad. I will never leave the country,” I promised as I held his hands tightly. “I will do business here. My family is now just the two of us, and I will serve you as king in your own house.”
I learned the hard way that the true value of a wife is not seen when your life is prosperous, but in how she treats the people who are important to you when your back is turned. Money can be easily earned back, but my father’s safety and dignity are a treasure I would never trade for any queen masquerading as you.
