"Kayson! We must have been cursed in past lives to end up with a useless son-in-law like you!"
"Not a penny to your name, and you drag your sick old mother around like a burden!"
"Medical bills? I don't owe you a single dollar!"
"Tomorrow is the last day! Three years are up! Pack your things and get out of my house!"
Inside an upscale apartment in Maplewood Estates, Aster City, a vicious family argument was unfolding.
A well-kept woman in her early forties stood at the door, shouting and pointing her finger directly at a young man's face.
The young man wore a faded floral apron and scuffed work boots.
This was Kayson.
The woman berating him was his mother-in-law, Linda Sullivan.
Kayson's eyes reddened. "Insult me all you want, but don't you dare talk about my mother that way."
Linda had been ready to call Kayson's mother a useless old hag, but when she saw his bloodshot, wolf-like gaze, she hesitated, afraid he might snap.
She changed her tone. "I have no duty to take care of your mother!"
"Other daughters get successful, respectable sons-in-law. I got garbage!" she sneered.
"You think I own a bank? This family's bad luck is all because of you! No money. Final answer!"
Just then, Linda's husband, Dylan Sullivan, walked in. "I found an old Song Dynasty teapot. It's on sale for $60,000, and I'm gonna hold onto it until the price spikes."
"In a few years, it'll easily triple in value!"
"Honey, give me $60,000 so I can buy it."
Linda's eyes lit up at the thought of turning $60,000 into $180,000.
Deal.
Without hesitation, she pulled the cash from her purse, counted it out, and snapped: "Hurry and buy that teapot! Don't scratch it!"
"On my way, honey!" Dylan took the money, licking his fingers as he counted. "Sixty thousand even."
He glanced at Kayson and rolled his eyes. "What are you standing there for? Moping? Go clean my shoes."
Kayson stared at the thick stack of cash in his hand. He swallowed hard.
"Dad, I'll clean your shoes tonight. But can you lend me that money first? I'll sign an IOU. I'll pay you back $180,000—no, $600,000!"
"I'll put it in writing. I'll record this right now as proof. We can even get it notarized!"
"My mom's in the hospital… she's not going to make it."
Kayson broke down crying.
Before Dylan could respond, Linda jabbed a finger at Kayson. "All you do is cry! You're worthless! Your tears aren't worth anything!"
"This isn't a charity house! We're not feeding a deadbeat and his baggage! Get out of here!"
She shoved Dylan toward the door. "Go buy that teapot! Ignore this fool!"
In Linda's mind, Kayson and his mother combined weren't worth a single antique teapot.
Kayson stamped his foot in panic. "Mom, I'm not begging for money—I'm asking to borrow it!"
"My mom needs emergency surgery right now. She needs $50,000! Are you really just going to let her die?"
"I'll pay you back ten times over—$600,000, I swear!"
"I'll work day and night. I'll do anything. Just please lend me the money!"
"Pay it back? With what?" Linda shouted.
"You're completely broke! If you had any talent, you wouldn't be a live-in son-in-law! Get lost—I'm sick of looking at you!"
Dylan shoved Kayson aside and rushed off to buy his antique. He'd dabbled in antiques for years and never made a dime.
He always said antiques were like gambling on raw gemstones—hit the right one, and profits were a hundredfold.
This time, he believed that old teapot was his big break. Linda was greedy, and the two of them fed each other's obsession: buy, buy, buy.
Kayson hung his head and walked out.
Behind him, Linda's voice continued to cut through the air.
"What a waste of my daughter's beauty!"
"My daughter was born to live like a queen!"
"Every man in the country would want her!"
"Ever since she married a loser like you, I'm too ashamed to leave the house!"
"When people ask about you, I have nothing to say!"
"But finally, it's over! Tomorrow marks three years—we're divorcing you!"
Three years ago, the Sullivan family's oldest daughter, Chloe, had fallen deathly ill with a mysterious condition.
It struck fast, and she slipped into a coma. The Sullivans were desperate. They took her to every specialist in Aster City, but her condition only worsened.
In a panic, Linda turned to a fortune-teller.
The fortune-teller claimed:
"To break the curse, you must find a young man to marry into your family as a live-in son-in-law. The arrangement must last three years to bring good fortune."
At that time, Kayson's mother was bedridden and needed constant care. Medical bills left him unable to work.
Broken by poverty, Kayson agreed to be their "luck charm."
He married into the Sullivan family for $200,000—barely enough to keep his mother alive.
But Chloe was unconscious and couldn't attend the wedding.
The Sullivans had three daughters, known around Aster City as the Three Jewels:
Chloe, the eldest
Mia, the youngest, only 17 and studying in Westbrook Academy
With Chloe bedridden and Mia away at school, Linda forced her second daughter, Sophia, to take Chloe's place and marry Kayson.
Sophia was the most stunning of the three.
At just 20, in the prime of her youth, fresh out of Haleford University, she was forced to wear a wedding veil and marry a man she barely knew.
Today, Sophia was the CEO of the Sullivan Group's Aster City branch—young, brilliant, and powerful.
Then, suddenly, Chloe recovered.
The first thing she did after waking up was disown Kayson and push him onto her sister.
"I was never his wife! Whoever married him can keep him!"
"I got better on my own. Kayson had nothing to do with it."
"The fortune-teller said three years, but I healed in days."
"He didn't help me at all. We're nothing to each other."
Just like that, Chloe washed her hands of the entire mess and walked away.
She immediately started dating a mid-level manager at her company, just to make sure Kayson wouldn't cling to her.
And so, Kayson became Sophia's unwanted, nominal husband.
That arrangement had lasted three years.
For three long years, Kayson woke before dawn and slept late at night.
He cared for his sick mother while serving the Sullivan family like a servant.
He washed clothes, mopped floors, cooked meals, and did every chore.
Yet the Sullivans never treated him with a shred of respect.
They had only ever waited for the three-year contract to end…
so they could throw him away forever.