109

CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND NINE.
Shannelle got a call from her mother in the morning to come meet her immediately and she had no idea what that was about. As the obedient daughter she was, she hastily got herself ready and went over to her parents house to hear what her mother had to tell her.
“Mum.” She called once she got into the living room. The television was on, meaning her mother was somewhere around. “Mum.” She called, looking around.
“Shannelle.” Aliya called from the staircase. Shannelle looked up and saw her mother descending that staircase with an eternal frown masked on her face. Shannelle could help but wonder why her mother was so furious early in the morning.
“Mum, you called. Is everything alright?” She was concerned and her mother scowled at her. She was confused.
“I heard you hung out with Adele yesterday. She accompanied you to your dress fitting. Is that true?” Her mother asked as she stood before her and that was when it dawned on Shannelle. Her mother had called her over to reprimand her for spending time with Adele.
That talk was going to be a long and intense one.
“Mother, that’s true.” Shannelle agreed and Aliya shook hard on the sofa. She turned to face her with the frown on her getting even scarier.
“What?” She asked aghast. “Why the hell would you go out with that girl?”
“Because we’ve made up. I no longer dislike her mother. I apologized to her and she forgave me, now we are on good terms together and to tell you what? This is the best decision I’ve made in a long time.”
“No! You cannot be serious!” Aliya lamented. “I knew it! I knew you staying back there would lead to something like this. Jamal and his wife have succeeded in getting under your skin. They have succeeded in turning you against me!”
“Mum No.” Shannelle flatly denied as she looked at her mother in total disbelief. “My God mum I can’t believe you are this dramatic for your age. You never want to reason things out.”
“Now you are insulting me. Wow! Well done Adele!” She threw in her emotional blackmail and Shannelle simply rolled her eyes.
She was used to her mother’s tricks already.
“Mother.” She called calmly as she looked at her mother who was fuming in anger. If Adele was to show up anywhere around her at that moment, she(Adele) would be ripped into pieces by her mother. “I didn’t reconcile with Adele because anyone forced me, I did it on my own accord. Mother, if we have to look at things critically, you’d agree with me that Adele never did anything wrong to any of us. We have no reason to hate her.” She tried to talk sense into her mother but she went ballistic.
“What the hell do you mean by that? That poor orphan has brought nothing separation ever since she was brought into that house. You grandmother never gave me peace because of her and even when she grew up, she found her way into my son’s life and continued to bring me trouble!”
“Adele didn’t give you trouble, you gave yourself trouble, mother.” Shannelle flatly deciphered and her mother was shocked by her words. She leaned backwards to take a better look at her face to see if it was really her daughter seated before her.
“Shannelle…” she called calmly, in shock.
“Mother, Adele was adopted by grandma because she took pity on her and wanted her to have a better life. Adele had never caused you any trouble. Even when you insisted that you didn’t want her around, Grandma sent her to England. Mum Adele only came back home because Jamal wanted her to. He was in love with her.”
“And that is what haunts my soul every night. What is it about that girl that makes him love her so much? She is a nobody! She has absolutely nothing!”
“Mother, you were a nobody and had nothing as well when father met you.” Shannelle blasted and her words shut Aliya up because they were nothing but the truth.
She had been poor and wretched and only got to meet her husband in a prestigious college where she studied on scholarship.
“But…” she tried to defend herself but Shannelle shut her up.
“No buts, mother. You really don’t have to do all this when your case is almost similar. If grandma had persistently tried to sabotage your relationship with father because she didn’t like your status, you wouldn’t be here, living this very comfortable life. Leave Jamal and his wife alone.”
Aliya was dumbfounded by her daughter’s words.
She looked at Shannelle long and hard, hoping that she would smile and tell her she was just pulling her legs, but she didn’t. Her daughter kept frowning at her and that made her understand that she was serious.
That only increased her hatred for Adele. Now both her children were against her because of Adele.
“Wow.” Was all she could say as she smiled. “There’s indeed something going on in that mansion. I can’t believe you just said all these things to me.”
“Mother, you are happy with the man Jamal chose for me, aren’t you?”
“Yes… I am.” Aliya responded.
“And you want me to get married and have my own family.”
“That’s my ultimate wish.”
“Have you ever imagined the fact that my in-laws, especially my mother-in-law could possibly not like me?” She asked with creased brows and after a long while of thinking, Aliya shook her head in denial. “Just imagine that I Marry into a family where just one family member likes me, which is the Grandma of that family. Imagine my mother and sister-in-law treating me the same way you do Adele.”
“They would never dare to do such a thing, you are not an orphan. You have a powerful family backing you and they know your brother will bring them down if they try to do anything stupid.”
“Oh… so, you treat Adele poorly because you know she had no one to step in and defend her. What does that make you, mother? A ruthless predator?”
“Shannelle !”
“Yes mother. Because of you I can’t sleep at night. I keep wondering if Karma is going to get back at me for all the things you and I have done and to Adele. Mother Adele lost your first grandchild, but you didn’t even sympathise with her. Imagine me losing a child and my mother-in-law comes to tell me she had been waiting for that to happen. How would you feel?” She asked with a serious voice and Aliya went mute.
She had no reply to give to her daughter.
“Mother everything you and I did to Adele was evil and till today I still feel guilty everytime I look at her even though I have begged for her forgiveness. Mother, Adele is going to be your daughter-in-law for a long time. She’s going to bear your grandchildren. There’s nothing you can do about that, so stop trying to tear them apart. If you don’t want to beg for forgiveness, think of me, think of the fact that Karma might get back at me by making me go through a tough marriage as well. Adele has done nothing wrong to you mother, so please, go and make peace with her. That’s what’s best for the family.”
Aliya didn’t say anything till Shannel was out of the house. When the door closed, she let out a heavy sigh and leaned on the backrest of the sofa, her eyes glued to the chandelier above.
Shannelle’s words kept ringing in her mind and the truth they carried stabbed her heart like arrows, tearing it apart.
She tried to imagine someone treating Shannelle as poorly as she had treated Adele and her heart hurt. That’s when she realised that she had indeed been an evil woman.
A Monster-in-law to her son’s wife.
************************************************
“You are welcome, Mrs King.” The butler of the mansion welcomed Adele when she stepped into the living room. She smiled and nodded at the man who led her to the sitting area where she made herself comfortable on one of the sofas.
“Mrs. Dominick will be joining you soon.” He announced and Adele just nodded.
The butler left and began admiring the sophisticated living room. She had been working in her office when she got a call from Aliya, asking her to come over to her house so they could talk. Adele didn’t want to go at first, but she decided to obey since she was, after all, her husband’s mother.
She didn’t tell Jamal about the meeting because she knew he would insist on coming with her which was something she did not want. She wanted to come alone so she would be able to say anything to Aliya if she tried to taunt her. Having Jamal by her side would limit her from talking and putting his mother in her place.
“Adele.” Aliya’s familiar voice came through. Adele turned to the direction of the voice and saw Aliya descending the staircase with a bright smile on her face.
She was shocked.
Aliya never smiled at her.
The only thing she ever did was frown in Adele’s presence so seeing her smile shocked her to the core.
Adele, out of respect, rose to her feet to greet her mother-in-law.
“Good afternoon Mrs. Dominick.” She greeted formerly and the smile on Aliya’s face broadened. Adele felt like she was in a trance.
“Adele ! She called enthusiastically as she went to meet Adele. “I’m so happy you honoured my invitation. You are welcome.”
“Thank you, ma’am.” Adele forced a smile.
“Please take your seat.” Aliya offered and Adele gladly took her seat once more. She was so shocked by Aliya’s sudden friendly behaviour that her feet were trembling.
“Is… is everything alright?” Adele couldn’t help but ask. Aliya, who understood why Adele had posed the question, sighed heavily and the smile on her face faded away.
She looked up at Adke with a sorrowful look on her face.
“You must be wondering why I invited you over.”
“I was a while ago, but right now I’m not. I’m wondering why you are acting nice to me and I’m worried. Did something happen?” Adele asked, concerned.
“Yes, something happened. Shannelle spoke some sense into me and made me realise that I’ve been such a horrible mother-in-law to you all this while.” She explained and Adele looked at her, not convinced at all.
She was still waiting for Aliya to let out a loud hysterical laughter and say she was just kidding when proceed to drive her out of her house.
However, several moments passed and that did not happen.
“You… you look serious. Are you trying to say you feel bad for everything you did to me?” Adele asked with creased brows. She was flabbergasted by her sudden calmness.
“I know it’s hard to believe, but that’s the truth. When grandma brought you in many years ago, I was furious, for absolutely no reason. I resented you and caused a lot of trouble which made her send you out of the country. Even when you came back and got married to my son, the way I felt about you didn’t change. It only got worse.” She stopped and looked at Adele whose eyes were wide open.
She was still trying to process what was going on. Her mother-in-law, talking calmly to her. That was a miracle!
“Adele, I know this will sound absurd, but I’m never going to feel at ease if I don’t say it. I am immensely sorry for the way I’ve been treating you. I can’t give a reason why I did all that I did and said, because there’s none. I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me. I truly regret all that I’ve done to you and I’m ready to mend things. Please Adele, I know it’s too much to ask, but please forgive me.”
Adele just sat there, petrified. Aliya asking for her forgiveness was not something she had expected to happen even in the next ten years, but there she was.
That was nothing short of a miracle.