I Hope You Will Never Regret

In the blink of an eye, it was Sunday. Mr Martins was sitting at the dining table laughing at what his beautiful daughter said to him. Aiden looked at his father and asked, “Daddy, when are we going back home? I missed Mommy.”

His father indicated that they were leaving that afternoon. The weather has been bad since Tuesday. Many roads were closed because of the floods. They were waiting for the rain to clear before they left.

Mr Martins thanked His Goodness Resort manager, Hazel Elvis, for everything, and then they left. The rain was still pouring, and it didn’t look like it would stop soon. They arrived safely home. They were so happy; they had been pampered and they were glowing. In particular, the helpers were over the moon to be served by others for a change.

They went to their rooms humming. Aunt Rose bade her nephew goodnight and walked to her room. She tried to open her door, but it didn’t budge. Then she called her nephew. August was about to call the locksmith when a middle-aged woman opened the door and asked, “Who are you?” Aunt Rose was so shocked to see a stranger in her room.

August looked at the woman and asked, “Who are you and what are you doing in my house?” Lydia looked at Mr Martins and replied, “I am the new housekeeper. Mrs Martins told me that the maid who was staying in this room had been fired.”

Aunt Rose walked inside and opened the closet. She looked at the stranger and asked, “Where did you put my clothes?” Lydia told her that Mrs Martins had told her to throw them away. Aunt Rose’s knees became weak; she fell down on the floor.

She cried sorrowfully and said, “August, what have I done to deserve this? Your wife has never treated me as family. My clothes are damaged by rain and my room is occupied by a stranger. I wished I had died with my son.”

When the helpers heard Aunt Rose crying, they rushed to her room. They were shocked to see a stranger in her room. Butler Bruce looked at the stranger coldly, but he didn’t utter a word. He told the helpers to go back to their rooms. They were reluctant to leave, their hearts were sore for Aunt Rose. They felt that Mrs Martins was so cruel to bully a kind-hearted soul like Aunt Rose.

August felt a sharp pain in his heart. His eyes turned red, and then he helped his aunt to the sofa. He comforted her and said, “I will do right for you, Aunt Rose. Please give me a few minutes and I will give you justice.” Aunt Rose’s heart was broken to pieces. Her nephew had spent lots of money on buying her clothes and she hadn’t even worn them yet. August left Aunt Rose with Butler Bruce.

Outside, the rain was coming down so hard accompanied by hail. August walked to his wife’s bedroom and said, “Elizabeth, who is that woman in Aunt Rose’s room? What happened to her clothes?”

Elizabeth replied, “You left me alone to fend for myself, then I hired a helper to take care of me. Since there were no rooms available, I decided to move Lydia to Aunt Rose’s room. Her clothes are in the dust bin outside. I don’t keep trash in my house.”

August was so angry; he slapped his wife hard across the face and asked, “Where is my aunt going to sleep, Elizabeth?” She looked at her husband with disdain in her eyes and replied, “Who cares? She can sleep in the street because she is a beggar. Since you are rich, why don’t you send her to the Old Aged Home?”

Her husband smiled but it didn’t reach his handsome face and said, “Why don’t you sleep in the street today, Elizabeth?” She opened her eyes wide when she heard her husband’s words. She couldn’t believe that her husband would throw her out of the house.

Then he dragged her out of her bedroom to the ground floor. Elizabeth was crying so hard, she tried to pry into his hands, but her husband had tightened his grip. She shouted her son’s name, but Aiden didn’t hear her because there was thunder and lightning at that time. Aiden was hiding under his duvet.

August opened the door and threw her outside and said, “Elizabeth, I will leave you here to reflect on what you have done. Since we got married you have given me nothing but heartache and grief. What you did to my aunt broke my heart into pieces. You know that I love her like my mother, but you always hurt her. For that I will never forgive you.” Then he walked back to the house and locked the door.

Elizabeth was wearing a nightdress without a gown. Within a few minutes, she was drenched in rain from head to toe. She started shivering and her teeth were chattering. She cried sorrowfully and begged her husband to forgive her. She tried to follow him, but she tripped and fell down. She was regretting the decision she made. However, it was too late to regret.

August went to Aunt Rose’s room and said to Lydia coldly, “I don’t want to see you in my house when I wake up in the morning.” Then he turned to Aunt Rose and said, “Auntie, let us go.” Aunt Rose wiped her tears and walked out of the room. Lydia was so scared, she couldn’t sleep. She was tossing and turning. Her happiness was short-lived.

August took his aunt to Elizabeth’s bedroom. He changed the bedding, then he made the bed with new sheets and comforter and said, “I am so sorry, Auntie. Please sleep here tonight. I apologize for my wife’s behaviour. Please forgive me.” Aunt Rose smiled faintly and replied, “It’s not your fault, August. Where is your wife?”

August looked at his aunt and said, “Don’t worry about her, Auntie. She doesn’t deserve your sympathy. I taught her a lesson she will never forget. It’s high time my wife knew her place. Where did she get the confidence to bully you? I am so tired of her. The only reason she is still in my house is because of the children.”

He walked to the closet and picked up a warm nightdress, gown, socks, a scarf, a beanie and a pair of earmuffs. Then he bade his aunt good night and walked to the living room. Five hours later, he walked to the storeroom.

He took two blankets, warm sheets and towels. He walked to where they kept their keys, he took the servants’ quarters’ keys and went outside with things he took from his wife’s closet. He found his wife sitting on the veranda with her head on her knees. She was numb from the cold. He dragged her to the servants’ quarters and opened the door.

He switched on the lights, and he switched on the geyser. He stayed with her for two hours, and then he walked to the bathroom and filled up the bathtub with warm water. He put her in the bathtub with her clothes.

Then he went to the bedroom and made the bed and switched on the heater. Twenty minutes later, he undressed her and he wrapped her with a towel. He carried her to the bedroom, and he started dressing her up.

He walked to the house and boiled the water. Then he made coffee and poured it on the thermos flask. He took a cup from the cupboard and walked towards the servants’ quarters.

His wife was sitting on the bed leaning on the headboard. August put the thermos flask and the cup on the side table, and then he went back to the house. It was in the morning when he fell asleep.Contentt bel0ngs to N0ve/lDrâ/ma.O(r)g!