Chapter 2 Two

Everyone turned to see the owner of the voice, Julian walked towards Pearl. His face burned with anger.

"You really need to know your place in this family," he said, looking at Pearl who was still on her knees." Apologize to my mother now!"

Humiliating her was not enough for them, now he wants her to apologize to his mother? This is not the first time he was doing this.

Pearl was on her knees, she raised her head and stared at her mother-in-law.

"You fool, stop staring at her and do as you're told" Tricia said.

Pearl chuckled, "I should apologize to your mother? You won't ask what happened?" she wiped off the tears from her cheeks, "Your sister just humiliated me, and all you can say is I should apologize to your mother?"

"Why should I ask you, Pearl?" Julian frowned as he sat down close to his mother.

"Julian, I'm your wife. You should treat me as one". Pearl said, confidently as she got on her feet.

"Did you just call yourself his wife?" Tricia spat.

Mrs Reed laughed out loudly," see what your grandmother brought to this house". She said pointing at Pearl.

Pearl took a deep breath, "I want to take over my company" she announced.

The house was silent for a few minutes and laughter could be heard from the living room.

"Your company?"Julian asked, "Listen to me, you have nothing under your name" He said, sternly.

"You lie, Julian. You and your family took away my comp.."

TAA!

The slap came with so much force that Julian's expensive wristwatch fell off his wrist, breaking into pieces.

"How dare you insult my family?" Julian fumed as he stared at her.

"Ha!" Tricia growled, "just take a look at the mess you've done. The wristwatch you just destroyed cost more than 10 million dollars. It is a hundred times the amount you have made in your entire miserable life".

"I'm sorry and I understand everything but you didn't have to overreact by hitting me. I obviously didn't say anything wrong, or break your watch".

"What?" Mrs Reed was dumbfounded. How could she still have the guts to talk?

Julian was shocked as well. How surprising? Did this little brat know how incredibly furious he was?

"You're going to pay for my watch. I don't care how you intend to pay for it". Julian's anger heightened as he grabbed Pearl by the collar of her maid gown.

"Julian, please you're hurting me. Please" Pearl cried out in pain.

"Let her go, I know how to handle her" Mrs Reed said.

"Mother?" Tricia called.

"I don't want people to say I killed my daughter-in-law. Do you want to be known as a family that killed their poor wretched daughter-in-law?" She asked.

Julian let go of Pearl's collar, "I don't care how you handle it, mother, but do something, " he said, walking out of the living room.

"How dare you insult my family?" Tricia yelled as she glared at Pearl.

"You won't dare talk to me in this manner if not for this marriage. are you tired of jumping from one man to the other?" Pearl turned glaring at Tricia

" How dare you talk that way to my daughter?" Mrs Reed yelled at Pearl.

Pearl frowned as she stared at her mother-in-law, she had other things to say but she held it back.

"I'm sorry, but I'll have to say the truth". Pearl frowned as she glared at her mother-in-law.

"What truth?" Mrs Reed fumed.

"How dare you glare at my mother?" Tricia asked, fuming with anger.

"You've bitten more than you can chew". Mrs Reed fumed. "I won't waste my time and energy exchanging words with you, tomorrow is my birthday and you'd be serving my guests. Any stupid act from you.." she paused, taking a few steps towards Pearl. "You'd regret stepping a foot in this house ".

Mrs Reed left the living room, Tricia followed behind her. "You'd wish you never came to his house" Tricia muttered.

***

Pearl had been on her feet since 5 o'clock in the morning, making sure the venue for her mother-in-law's birthday party was perfect. The event planner was there but she was told to be useful, so she was helping with the decorations.

She had no choice but to do this to please her mother-in-law to ensure her peace of mind. She knew even if she did everything alone, Mrs Reed would never be pleased with her.

She carried the last decoration materials inside the hall in the villa. She dropped it, letting out a sigh of relief as she wiped sweat off her face.

"Are you tired already?" Mrs Reed yelled, this startled Pearl as she didn't see her in the hall when she came in. She wasn't even expecting her there that early in the morning.

"Am I talking to myself?" She asked.

Pearl nodded her head before she opened her mouth to reply, " No moth...No ma'am, I'm not tired?" But she was really tired, she had been running around since yesterday without resting. There was nothing she could do, she just had to do it to avoid further embarrassment.

"Hey, isn't that chair too heavy for you?" Mrs Reed asked the worker carrying the special chair meant for her. Before he could reply, she turned to Pearl, "Make yourself useful by carrying that chair, he'll show you where to keep it".

Pearl looked at the chair, it looked heavy for a lady to carry. "But..."

"Do you have anything to say?" Mrs Reed asked, when she heard Pearl's voice.

Pearl nodded and was leaving when she added, "Mind you, that chair cost a fortune. If anything happens to it while you're carrying it, I'll make sure you never see the sun for the rest of your life".

Pearl lowered her head in shame, refusing to meet the eyes of the worker, who was looking at her curiously as he dropped the chair and stepped backwards. Creating space for Pearl to carry the chair.

Pearl walked to the chair with a smile on her face and carried it, it was very heavy. Such weight could be carried by three men. She couldn't walk with the chair,she turned to seek help but everyone was busy. She turned and carried the chair slowly without making a face to show it was heavy.

She looked at her mother-in-law hoping she'll see her pains, then she could ask two workers to help her. Mrs Reed simply looked away and left the area.

Pearl carried the chair to its position in the hall, she stood for a while before she sat down to rest a bit. She was startled by a familiar voice behind him.

"Are you going to stay there all day?" she turned to see Tricia behind her, " Don't you know there's a lot of work to be done here? And time is not on our side ?" She said and walked towards the other two ladies who had been laughing the whole time.

When she got to them, they hugged her and turned to face Pearl. The three ladies laughed out loud.

"I told you we have a low-life wannabe living with us, do you believe it now?" Tricia asked the two ladies.

" I believe dear, that was so funny. Is she that scared of you?" One of them asked.

"She's scared of everyone in my family. I don't know what my grandmother found in her. I'm sure my brother will divorce her soon". Tricia replied to her friends.

"You're lucky dear, I wish I had someone like her in my family" the other one added, her statement made them laugh again.

"Let's head back to the villa, I have to get dressed and check on my mum as well" Tricia said, " Hey bingo, there's so much to do, stop being lazy" she added as she pointed at Pearl. She left the hall with her friends.

Pearl took a deep breath as Tricia and her friends left. She stood for a bit studying the venue. The hall looked different from the usual hall in the villa. That's the same hall where his wedding was held but looking at it now, it looked sophisticated.

She looked at the hall again, memories of her wedding flashed through her mind. Her gown, the music, the guests and the vow they took. The hall looked different from then, they had married in a hurry. There was no time for perfect decorations and lights, it wasn't her dream wedding setting. But that day was the best day of her life.