“We dont need anything from you!”
“Son, think carefully before its too late! That boy is nothing like you! Your Alice must have had him with her ex, and now shes making you raise him! I know it!”
“Mum, enough! Damien is my son Why do you always stir up trouble? Fine, Im going home.”
Margaret had raised her son alone. Between her and Oliver, the bond had been stronghe had never disrespected her, never talked back, and always excelled in school. As he grew, he became an engineer, just as shed hoped. Now it was time to tend to his love life. Margaret had handpicked a fiancée for hima lovely young woman, Emily, the daughter of her dear friend Beatrice.
At his mothers insistence, Oliver and Emily began dating, but their romance never truly kindled. After a few strained months, they parted ways. Then Oliver met Alice. Their love burned fast and brighthe saw in her a spirit that matched his own. They married within three months, much to Margarets dismay. Six months later, Alice was pregnant. A boy was born, named Damien.
Life should have been perfect, but for the mother-in-law who despised her daughter-in-law. Every visit brought fresh criticism, even four years after the wedding.
“Look what shes done to you! Youre always so unkempt!”
“Mum, Im not unkempt! The shirt just wrinkled in the wash!”
“Sit, eat something! Your wife surely hasnt cookedyoull go hungry!”
“Mum, Ill have dinner at home. Alice cooks well.”
“I know hersupermarket steaks, or worse, tinned ravioli. Meanwhile, Emilys taken pastry classes. A proper talent, that one”
Oliver weathered his mothers barbs as best he could, brushing off her comments and never repeating them to Alice. But Margarets cold war against her daughter-in-law waged onuntil, one day, her strategy bore fruit.
“Hello, son Why does your Alice never visit? You always come alone!”
“Mum, how could she, when you criticise her every time?”
“Id only criticise if she gave me reason! And while youre here drinking tea, shes probably with her ex. I know who she was with before youthat good-for-nothing Christopher! And the boy looks just like him. She had him before, and now youre footing the bill!”
That night, Oliver exploded at his mother. Hed had enough of the endless sniping. He stormed home in a foul mood.
“Daddy, daddy, hi!” little Damien cheered, racing to him.
“Hey, son. What did you get up to today?”
“Mum and I went to the park. We saw Mr. Christopher. He bought me chocolate! And juice!”
A chilling thought seized Oliverwhat if his mother was right? That evening, he confronted Alice.
“Why were you with your ex?”
“Oliver, it was just chancewe were walking, and he happened by. We talked a bit, then he walked us home.”
“But why should my wife and son need escorting by him? Maybe Damien isnt even mine!”
“Oliver, how can you say that? Are you serious?”
That night, they fought bitterlythe first real fight of their marriage. From then on, arguments became routine. Eventually, Alice had enough. She packed her things, took Damien, and returned to her parents in her hometown.
Divorce followed, and Oliver paid child support, convinced the boy wasnt hisbut he never pursued a legal test. Margaret, triumphant, launched a campaign to reunite Oliver with Emily, her “perfect daughter-in-law.”
She succeeded. Oliver married Emily. But from day one, their marriage was a storm. Emily constantly berated him, demanding luxury.
“Look at Irenes husbandhes already bought her a second fur coat! The Harrisons just got a luxury car! And here I am, stuck in an old winter coat and a cheap car! Are you even a man?”
Fifteen miserable years passed. Oliver worked himself to the bone on two construction sites while Emily splurged on spa retreats. She refused children, insisting she wanted to “live for herself first.” Margaret tried to interfere, but Emily swiftly put her in her place.
Then, one day, the hospital called. Margaret had suffered a stroke. She needed round-the-clock care. Emilys response was instant:
“Im not spending my days nursing that old woman. Put her in a home.”
“Emily, maybe I should quit work”
“Are you mad? How would we live? Theres still four years left on my car loan!”
Margaret was sent to a care home. Oliver buried himself in work, and Emily stayed behind. A month later, Margaret passed. Oliver returned for the funeral, too grief-stricken to tell Emily. When he unlocked the door, shock after shock awaited himhis wife in the arms of their neighbour
Oliver didnt argue. He packed his things and moved into his mothers flat.
After the funeral, he holed up there, drowning in bitter regret. Why had he listened? A life wastedno family, no children, no friends. Not even a carEmily took everything.
Then, he thought of Alice. Of Damien. Hed never known if the boy was his.
Damien would be nineteen now A man. What was he like? Oliver whispered the question to the empty air, hearing no answer.
The next morning, he boarded a train to Alices hometown. The house was easy to find. He rang the familiar doorbellno answer. “They must be at work,” he thought, waiting outside. Twenty minutes later, he turnedand froze. A young man approached, his mirror image, twenty years younger.
“Damien Damien my son.”
“You? What are you doing here?” Damiens voice was ice.
“Son, I owe you an apology The resemblance is uncanny Wheres your mother?”
“Mums gone. Ten years now. A car crash.”
“And you? Who do you live with? Let me helpIll do anything! Ive got money. Just ask!”
“I live with my grandmother. We dont want anything from you.”
“But son I wanted”
Oliver couldnt finish. Damien vanished inside, slamming the door.
“Son! Open up! How can this be? Im your father! Your father!”
Oliver stood there, weeping, his tears lost in the rain. He returned again and again, begging for a chance, but Damien refused every attempt. The door stayed closed. The past stayed buried. And Oliver was left with nothing but regret.
