The Rich Son-In-Law

Chapter 1: Useless.

"You idiot! Aren't you good for anything?" Amanda screamed at Aaron. "You're so lazy, you can't even do a simple task, I wonder why my daughter is still married to you, she should get a divorce and find a man worthy of her or anyone else but you" she added. Amanda, Aaron's stepmother, was having one of her fits again, taking out her anger on him as usual, Aaron didn't know what he had done to make her so furious, and it seemed to Aaron that his very existence infuriated her. By now he had grown accustomed to her mistreatment, but some days felt particularly unbearable. Aaron had entered the Prescott family through marriage four years ago, becoming their punching bag from day one. Despite everyone's disdain for him due to his humble background, he cared little for their opinions as long as he was with Sarah.

Sarah, Aaron's wife, had initially dated him out of genuine affection, but her grandfather's dying wish for her to marry him changed things, To Sarah, marrying him was more of an obligation than a personal choice . However, Sarah's grandmother harboured deep resentment toward Aaron and spared no opportunity to insult him. Over time, Sarah grew embarrassed by Aaron's lack of wealth, average appearance, absence of connections, and passivity, distancing herself from him more each day.

Aaron understood Sarah's feelings of shame; he possessed no apparent value, making it seem like she had married a freeloader. Aaron had tried to prove himself but despite his efforts, his lack of resources, skills, and connections hindered his progress. Sarah's grandmother the family matriarch banned him from working at any company affiliated with the Prescott name, if he did, Sarah would be kicked out of the family and thus, Aaron was forced to become a house husband.

When he was done cleaning the house, Aaron checked the time, it was 5 p.m., Aaron decided to fetch Sarah from work since her car was undergoing maintenance. "Where do you think you're going?" Amanda questioned.

"I have to pick up Sarah from work," Aaron replied, knowing Amanda wouldn't like this decision, Aaron didn't have a car, and his only form of personal travel was an old scooter.

"My daughter doesn't need you to embarrass her even more, Now get back to the kitchen you lazy shit and make me dinner now!," Amanda retorted, dismissing Aaron's plan to use his scooter as transportation.

Ignoring Amanda's remarks, Aaron left for Sarah's office to pick her up. He arrived at the large building, Sarah's company, or at least the company her grandmother let her run. He felt the weight of judgmental stares and heard whispers around him. This was a common occurrence, as everyone knew about Aaron's situation and how he was considered the useless son-in-law of the Prescott family. Aaron ignored the whispers and proceeded directly to Sarah's office.

When Aaron arrived at the door to Sarah's office, Marcus Johnson opened it. Marcus Johnson was a wealthy man who had pursued Sarah a long time ago but had been unsuccessful. He often made advances toward Sarah even in Aaron's presence. Upon seeing Aaron's face, he sneered.

"Well! Well! Well! Look who it is—the freeloader himself. Have you come to ask your wife for more money?" Marcus said loudly.

Aaron clenched his fists tightly. "What are you doing here?" Aaron inquired angrily.

"Discussing business," Marcus replied with a sly smile. "Sarah needed my help with some important matters, so, being the gentleman that I am, I was happy to oblige."

Aaron couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Why would Sarah need your help?" Aaron asked angrily.

"Maybe Sarah is ready for a real man in her life. You can only tolerate a useless man for so long. Sarah is tired of your sorry ass and needs someone who can take care of her, and I won't disappoint her like you do. I can actually show her a good time, if you know what I mean."

Hearing this, Aaron became furious and grabbed Marcus's collar. He was ready to beat the fear of God into him, but he heard his wife's voice.

"Aaron, what the hell are you doing? Let go of Marcus right now."

Aaron looked at his wife's concerned face and sighed heavily. Hesitantly, Aaron let go of Marcus. Aaron could see Marcus was not pleased with being manhandled, yet Marcus still took pleasure in seeing Sarah defend him despite his rude remarks. It made Aaron even more furious, but Aaron knew he should not upset his wife. Marcus walked off, smiling widely as if he had won some sort of battle.

Aaron turned to look at Sarah. "Why was Marcus here? "Aaron asked with a frown.

Sarah didn't look up from her desk and just replied, "It's not important. What are you doing here?"

Aaron always hated when Sarah kept things from him, but it was all too common. It seemed even Sarah would rather trust a stranger than him at this point.

Aaron sighed and replied, "I came to pick you up."

"Pick me up?" Sarah began. "I can drive my—" before she could finish her sentence, Sarah remembered her car was unavailable and sighed.

"Did you bring my mother's car?" Sarah asked.

"No," Aaron replied. He knew that Amanda wasn't the sharing type, especially when it came to him.

Sarah looked him straight in the eye and said, "Don't tell me you brought your scooter." Aaron wanted to say yes, but he felt embarrassed. Unfortunately, Sarah had already guessed the answer. She became upset.

"When are you going to get a decent car?" she inquired angrily. "In fact when will you buy a car at all, you can't honestly expect me to ride on your scooter. What would people say if they saw the CEO of the company riding on that piece of junk? They would lose all respect for me." Aaron didn't know what to say. He wished he could buy a car and so many other things, but he possessed nothing of value. He told himself that one day he would make a fortune and make Sarah the happiest woman alive, but each day that dream seemed to grow even more distant.

"Maybe Mom was right. Maybe we should get a divorce," Sarah said with a sigh.

Aaron felt a pain in his chest; what Sarah said felt like a stab to the heart. Amanda had always scolded Sarah and encouraged her to divorce Aaron, but Sarah had always ignored her. Now it seemed like she was considering it. Despite his wife's words, painful as they were, Aaron did not protest.

Sarah was about to speak when her assistant rushed in, seemingly out of breath.

"Miss Prescott, I have the reports you asked for," the woman said. She wanted to continue, but then she saw Aaron standing there. Sarah noticed this and said, "Aaron, shouldn't you be heading home to prepare dinner? Don't worry about me; I'll take an Uber home."

Aaron knew when he was not needed, so he headed toward the door. As he exited, he overheard the conversation between Sarah and the assistant.

"Ma'am, I'm afraid it's not good, not good at all," the assistant said. "The reports indicate that there has been a loss of profit for the past six months, but somehow, it went under the radar. The accounting department couldn't tell me what the problem was, but it seems there have been many failed orders that weren't recorded, not to mention possible embezzlement."

Aaron listened intently outside the door. It seemed as though the company was facing financial problems.

"What options do we have to save the company?" Sarah asked with visible concern on her face.

"Well, ma'am, we need a large sum of money—at the very least 20 million. That should pick us up, but in terms of profit margins, it's going to be a while before we can be profitable again."

Sarah sighed in frustration. She knew acquiring the funds to save her company would be very difficult. The banks weren't willing to give them a loan. Sarah's grandmother had also refused to help her in her time of need and she had no friends she knew who could lend her that kind of money.

Aaron continued listening for a while but eventually decided to leave, he worried about Sarah. He knew how hard she worked on this company despite all the setbacks and lack of support from the Prescott family, when she had been given the company by her grandmother after her grandfather's passing the business was already struggling financially, everyone expected her to fail, but Sarah, through her hard work was able to make it profitable. Aaron drove his little scooter to the supermarket. He needed to get groceries soon for dinner; otherwise, Amanda's temper would flare up. He picked up a few items and headed outside. Just as Aaron was getting on his scooter, he heard a groaning sound coming from the alley. He walked toward the alley. As he went deeper, the groans grew louder. Eventually, Aaron came across a man who was covered in blood. The man seemed to be in his late 60s. Aaron quickly rushed to help him.

"Hello sir, can you hear me?" Aaron called out with concern. The man slowly lifted his head toward Aaron, his eyes fading.

The man pulled out something from his pocket—a collar-like card with gold letters and gold edges. He placed his thumb on the card, and it seemed to light up. He then handed the card to Aaron. Aaron didn't know what the man wanted him to do with the card, but he took it anyway. Aaron kept trying to stop the bleeding. He checked his pocket for his phone to call the emergency helpline number but soon realized the phone wasn't there.

Aaron wanted to call for help, but he knew that by the time help arrived, it would be too late. So, Aaron carried the man on his back. He quickly waved down a taxi, and when Aaron entered, the taxi driver was very shocked. He stared as Aaron helped the man into the car. Aaron shut the door and told the driver to drive to the nearest hospital. The stunned driver snapped out of it and drove as fast as he could.

As the car raced toward the hospital, the old man turned to Aaron and asked for his name. Aaron was confused as to why the man wanted to know his name but answered regardless.

"Aaron Turner," he said.

After hearing Aaron's name, the man weakly typed something into his phone. Aaron looked to the driver and asked, "How long until we arrive?"

"We're almost there," the driver replied loudly. Aaron was afraid the man would die before they arrived. Aaron turned to look at the man, who seemed to be done typing. The old man handed Aaron his phone. Aaron was confused. The man kept giving him his personal belongings, and Aaron assumed it was because he wanted him to keep them safe. Aaron took the phone.

The car suddenly came to a stop, and Aaron realized they had arrived at the hospital. He opened the door, and the driver did the same to help Aaron carry the man into the hospital. They entered the hospital, and the nurses took the man out of Aaron's hands. The driver took his leave, and Aaron stayed for a while before deciding to leave as well.