I took my in-laws to our place for Christmas without telling my wife. It was supposed to be a surprise, but the moment George, my father-in-law, stepped into the house, my wife's assistant shoved him. He crashed into the shoe cabinet and threw out his back.

"Ms. Sampson's villa doesn't let homeless people in. I can't believe you're her father-in-law. Look at you. Even a homeless guy wears better than you."

I told the maid to hold George, but the male assistant stopped me again. He even shoved my mother-in-law, Diane.

"You think you own this place? That's Ms. Sampson's maid. It's enough she has to serve a leech like you. You don't get to make her serve your parents."

The fury consumed Diane whole, and she had a heart attack. I called my wife and asked her to come to the hospital.

Wendy Sampson, however, shrugged it off. Scoffing, she said, "Zack told me everything. I can't believe you brought your parents to my house! And you want me to see your mother? She's faking her heart attack! I know she is! I want them out of my house! So what if they die? Best Christmas gift I could ever hope for."

Heartless Daughter

She hung up, and the ER's doors swung open. The doctor pulled his mask down, and the look on his face told me things were not going well. Then, he handed me a notice. Critical illness.

My heart sank.

The nurse approached me and gently reminded me to pay for George's bill. Of course. Zack Gosling pushed him down. Now George was in a ward. I took my wallet out. Just when I was going to pay the bill, they told me my balance was insufficient.

I tried all my other cards, but they were all frozen. Wendy. Who else but her could do this? Furious, I called her again, but it took me three tries just for it to get through.

"Are you out of your mind? Why'd you freeze my cards? Your parents are in the hospital, and they need the money! Their lives are on the line!"

Wendy's answer came colder than winter winds. "This is a lesson, Felix Shaw. We had a deal. Never bring your poor fishermen parents to my house. You broke the agreement."

"This is your own mother we're talking about! Unfreeze the cards! Lives depend on them!" I roared. The fury in my soul was erupting like a volcano threatening to devour an island whole."

She sneered. "I knew it. You married me for my money. You'd make up stories just to get my money. Don't even think about it. Count yourself lucky I'm even supporting you."

"You're unbelievable! Your mother's critical! The doctor's given us the notice! Get over here and see for yourself. It's probably going to be the last time you'll see your mom."

A moment of silence ensued. When she spoke again, Wendy's voice carried hesitation in it. Just when I thought she would change her mind, I heard Zack's voice.

"No way they're your parents, Wendy. I mean, they were wearing tatters. Also, you told me they went vacationing in Altya, remember? Even if it's true that they're your parents, one of them isn't ill. How about you talk to him? You'll see if he's your dad."

That gave her blind confidence. She said, "I'm not going to the hospital. If they're really my parents, get my dad to talk to me."

I massaged my forehead. This was hopeless. I was starting to feel helpless. George fainted the moment the doctor showed us the notice. He was still in bed and unconscious. So I was supposed to wake him up and prove that he was his daughter's dad?

Well, I had no choice. "Give me a minute. He fainted from shock. I'll wake him up."

I approached the bed. George was pale, and his lips were trembling. All he could make out were vague, indistinct sounds.

The doctor came up to me. "Excessive shock. He's down with a mild stroke, but he'll be fine. Just give it a few days."

Well, nothing I could do. I said, "Your dad can't even talk. He had a stroke."

Useless Daughter

"Unfreeze the cards. I need to pay the bills!"

"Likely story." Wendy snickered and hung up.

I was shaking with rage, but I had to make her unfreeze the cards. I called her again, but she blocked me.

Then, Zack texted me. It was a video. A video where he and Wendy were sharing a passionate kiss in the office. 'Stop calling her. We're in the middle of something. You're going to get punished if you try.'

The provocation and mockery were palpable. My eyes was bloodshot. I stared at the video in disbelief.

My once gentle wife was now intimate with another man. Still, this was not the time to deal with my sorrow. My in-laws needed the money. Without it, they would die.

Even if it wasn't for Wendy, I had to save them. I tried my connections and tried borrowing money from my friends and relatives. I even tried calling the business partners that weren't too close to me.

Every single answer they gave me pushed me deeper into despair.

"You know business is hard for me now, Felix. I just don't have the extra money."

"Felix, I'm strapped for cash. I'm afraid…"

Decline after decline. I had no idea how much longer I could take this. I wondered why no one wanted to help me, so I demanded answers from my close friends.

They told me Wendy posted a status on her page. She claimed that anyone who lent money to me was an enemy of hers. She said I could never return the money.

Unbelievable. She'd go this far? This was unbelievable. I lowered myself even further and explained my situation to my relatives. I promised I would pay them back. All I asked for was a little help.

They still refused. Some of them even blocked me. And that was it. I had no way out, so I slumped onto the hospital bench.

…

We'd skipped going back to Selcia for Christmas for two years. Her parents were starting to miss her. So, to surprise Wendy and make up for the last two years, I took her parents to Halton, where we were living. We wanted to have a Christmas together as a family.

And then the surprise turned into a nightmare.

The first thing my in-laws received after they went into the villa was not a hug. Instead, it was a basin of dirty water. Zack was standing at the porch, sizing us up with disgust.

"Ms. Sampson's villa isn't home for the homeless. They're your parents, aren't they, Felix? Figures. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree. Ugh, I can still smell the mud on them."

Rage flared within my heart, but I held it back and quickly wiped the water off my in-laws.

Diane had a short fuse. She would not stand for this insult, so she snapped, "And who are you supposed to be, you uneducated swine? How dare you call Felix a homeless man!"

Zack did not hold back. Instead, he pressed on the attack. He picked up a ceramic ornament and hurled it at Diane. I deflected it with my hand, and the ornament grazed me.

Diane was spared from the hit, but the ornament sliced my arm open, and blood flowed like a river.

Smug, Zack stepped ahead. Arrogantly, he announced, "I'm the future co-owner of this villa and Ms. Sampson's boyfriend. Your precious Felix is going to get kicked out of this place, you hag!"

My in-laws were shocked. Words failed them. They couldn't believe the daughter they were so proud of would do something so… filthy and immoral.

George was shaking in rage. He stepped ahead, trying to confront Zack, but he shoved George into the shoe cabinet.

"Ms. Sampson's villa doesn't let homeless people in. I can't believe you're her father-in-law. Look at you. Even a homeless guy wears better than you."

Zack scoffed. Mockery was oozing from his tone. George was groaning in pain, and color was draining from his face. I held him and called the maid to help us out. This was an emergency.

Taken to the Hospital

The maids who usually respected me pretended they didn't hear me. All of a sudden, they were deaf.

Zack blew on his nails with disdain, as if some gunk had gotten stuck there. "Guards, tie these bumpkins up and toss them into the snow! Roll them around! Wash the stink off them!"

The maids assaulted us. Diane stood in front of me and her husband. "You better not! Wendy is my—"

Zack shoved her out, and she staggered backward before falling into the snow with a thud. My eyes went wide with rage. I wanted to rush ahead, but a couple of maids pinned me down.

They unceremoniously tied us up, and they made sure the knots were secure. Then, they dragged us into the snow like we were roadkill.

Halton's winter bore witness to heavy snowfall. The layer of snow was thicker than ever before, and with every footstep landing on the ground, a crisp crunch followed.

I was hurled to the ground, and the melted snow seeped into my clothes. The chill drenched into my bones, and I shivered.

Zack stood at the entrance, his smile sardonic. He clapped his hands, and the maids got the message.

They grabbed the snow off the ground and made snowballs. Then they hurled the snowballs at us. The snowballs exploded the moment they came in contact with our skin. The chill seeped in worse than ever.

This was humiliating. It almost felt like I was a toy. I struggled and thrashed around. "Stop! They're Wendy's parents!"

Yet the roaring winds covered my shouts. No one cared about my protests. The snowballs came in hard. They hit my face and whole body. Pain seared from the skin of my cheeks, and I was slowly losing feeling in my body.

George was no longer young, and his health was on the decline. This torture drained what little color he had left, and his lips were turning purple.

Diane could not endure the cold and insult. She kept cursing Zack, and the woman was clearly agitated. Then, her curses came to an abrupt halt.

Her whole face was turning an ugly shade of purplish-green. She was spasming like someone possessed by a demon. Then, her eyes rolled into the back of her head, and she fainted.

"Diane!" I shouted in horror, and I thrashed wilder than before. I wriggled across the ground, trying to see if Diane was okay.

The maids were scared by the sudden fainting of Diane. They stopped their torture and exchanged worried looks.

I broke free of the binds and crawled over to Diane. I called out to her over and over, but her breathing was only getting weaker and weaker. She did not look good at all.

Panic seized my chest. I kept asking for the maids' help. I wanted them to call the ambulance, at least. Perhaps Diane's condition spooked some of them, and finally, someone did call us an ambulance.

Zack was still at the entrance. Though he'd witnessed everything, he still smiled with scorn and contempt. He told us imperiously, "You're lucky your mother fell sick. Now get out of my sight. You're dirtying my place!"

…

George was crying silently in his bed. He held my hand so tightly, his knuckles were turning white. His lips were trembling, yet he couldn't say a word.

Something was weighing down my heart, pulling it down. It was clasping its hand around my throat, suffocating me.

I resented and hated Wendy for how heartless she had been. For a moment, I wanted to leave her parents for dead, but only for a moment. I saw the look in George's eyes. It was despair. I couldn't just leave them now.

I must see Wendy and make her do her job as their daughter. And so I made a beeline for her company and smashed into her office, but what I saw froze me in my place.

Wendy sat astride Zack, and she wore nothing but a men's jacket. The collar was wide open.

Their clothes were messy, and so were their hair. The air was thick with the stench of pheromones. The sight of me did not scare Wendy in the slightest. Instead, she smirked at me with disdain.

I had to chomp down on my lip as hard as I could to keep my pain from flowing out. Yet my eyes went red, and tears blurred my sight.

"Oh, what now? Trying to act like you're a loving man again?"