A middle-aged woman screamed, moaning in pain while holding her waist. The woman winced, but still managed to curse at the person who made her fall to the floor. Who else but her son-in-law.

"Hey, Beryl. Where are you? Come here quickly!" shouted Viona. Her eyes narrowed, holding back the pain in the part of her body that was being held.

The long-haired woman was also surprised because the person who was called had not shown his nose. Looking around, there was no one either.

"Beryl!" Viona shouted again, this time louder.

Beryl, the man finally heard the call from Viona, his mother-in-law. The man, who was out front drying clothes, stopped and rushed over to Viona.

"Yes, Mother. What's wrong?" Beryl asked in a hurried breath.

Viona's face grew redder, hearing the innocent question from her son-in-law. "What's wrong, what's wrong. Can you work, no! You were told to mop properly, but the floor looks like it's been splashed with water like this. You know, I slipped because you didn't do your job right!"

Indeed, fifteen minutes ago, Viona had told Beryl to clean the floor. Beryl was silent, seeing that his mother-in-law was sitting on the floor. The man looked at the marble floor, but Beryl saw that it was dry. His feet didn't even feel wet. It raised a question in Beryl's mind, why would his mother-in-law slip?

"But I've mopped properly, Mother," Beryl said.

Viona immediately got up, ignoring the pain. Approaching her son-in-law, Viona's hand moved towards the back of Beryl's body right at the back collar. Then, Viona pulled the collar so hard that she pushed Beryl's body, which was bigger than her body. Beryl was pushed to the floor where Viona fell.

Beryl fell because he did not maintain his balance. The man also resigned himself to being treated like that by his mother-in-law. He didn't want to fight back.

"You felt that! The floor is still wet and slippery, isn't it?"

Viona had even more heart, pressing Beryl's nape down so hard that the man could smell the floor. In fact, Beryl could taste the smell of soap that had accidentally entered his mouth. As it turned out, the floor was still slippery and watery in that area.

"Now you know, don't you, that the floor is really wet. You useless son-in-law!"

Viona grabbed her son-in-law's hair. Viona was in pain from slipping, so Beryl had to feel even more pain.

"I'm sorry, Mother." Beryl pleaded softly.

"What? Sorry? You think you can be that easy. What if I break my back, will you be able to afford the treatment?" Viona asked in a high tone.

"Stop, what you're doing!"

Beryl and Viona turned to the source of the voice. They were surprised to find a woman with an angry face stepping closer. Viona immediately removed her hand from Beryl's hair. Beryl straightened up.

"Can't you be nice to my husband?"

It was Caterine, Beryl's wife. It broke her heart to see her husband treated cruelly by her mother.

"What's the point of you defending this useless husband?"

Viona scowled as her daughter defended her husband.

"Watch what you say, Mom! After all, Beryl is my husband. The man I love," Caterine said.

Viona chuckled. "Oh my, love. You can eat love, what, love makes you rich? Hey, you know how much Beryl supports you for a month. Only two hundred thousand rupiah! What could be enough." Viona was demeaning the husband of her child.

Beryl's self-esteem was no longer there in his mother-in-law's eyes.

"The important thing is that Beryl is a responsible man. Even if he can only provide a little," Caterine said.

"If Beryl is a responsible man, he should be able to make you happy. Find a job that pays more. You realize that you're still short of money, right? And Beryl doesn't know how to make his mother-in-law happy either." Viona quipped while glaring at Beryl.

Beryl raised his head and replied to his mother-in-law. "I'll make Mom happy as much as possible."

"Oh, yeah? Now I'm asking for five million to buy a necklace!" said Viona, thrusting out her right hand.

That was a lot of money. It had taken years to accumulate that much money. "Sorry, Mom, if it's that much, I can't buy it yet," said Beryl.

"You heard it yourself, didn't you? Beryl can't buy what I want!" Viona exclaimed sharply.

"You're asking too much, lose the materialism!" retorted Caterine.
"What did you say?" Viona glared sharply while girdling her loin.
Caterine didn't want things to get any murkier. She walked over to her husband who was near the door. As Caterine walked, she passed the chair her father was sitting on. During the commotion, Caterine's father was present. However, the man was silent, instead engrossed in sipping a cup of coffee. In fact, when Viona fell earlier, Caterine's father was only silent, not rushing to help. This made Caterine furious. A head of the family who should be the arbiter of commotion in the family, but Caterine's father was indifferent to the current situation.

Realizing that he would be stared at by his daughter, Caterine's father turned his head. Caterine immediately looked away.

"Come on, you have to go to work, don't you? Let me take you to the front. You'll be late." Caterine said softly as she led her husband to the workplace.

"Hey, Caterine. Beryl can't go to work until all his work is done!" Viona shouted.

Caterine replied to her mother's words. "Mom. Beryl is not a maid that you can just send around. I'll let take care of it," Caterine explained.

Viona pursed her lips tightly. She looked at her daughter and son-in-law as they walked past her.

"Sorry, Caterine. I made your mother fall because cleaning the floor was still slippery," Beryl said softly.

Caterine turned to her husband. "What are you apologizing for? My mother is a cruel mother who makes you work like a maid in this house. I apologize on behalf of my mother," Caterine retorted.

Beryl developed a faint smile, ruffling his wife's hair.

Viona stomped her feet, walking past them first. Arriving at the courtyard where she used to dry her clothes, Viona saw that the bucket still had a few pieces of clothes in it.

Viona looked around, and many people were passing by. Early in the morning, many women were shopping. Just in time, a traveling vegetable vendor stopped in front of the house. Viona's yard was small, so it was close to the street. Viona thought of something; it was just as well that Beryl hadn't gone to work yet.

Viona walked bent over while coughing. She took the clothes from the bucket and dried them. Viona's movements were very slow and the sound of her coughing attracted the attention of the neighbors.

"Viona, what's wrong, you're sick," asked one of the neighbors.
The woman saw Viona's frail body, pale face, and coughing.

"If you are sick, seek medical treatment. Rest," said another neighbor.

"I have no money for treatment. It's already difficult to eat." Viona tried to convince her neighbors that she was really sick.

"Oh my, what a pity. Asking the son-in-law for money."

Beryl, who heard himself mentioned, immediately turned his head. Beryl was silent, waiting to see what response mother in-laws would give.