Chapter 701: I Didn’t Get a Divorce Because of You
Chapter 701: Chapter 701: I Didn’t Get a Divorce Because of You
"Marcus Garrison!" Mrs. Garrison snapped. "Is this your idea of having a reasonable discussion? You’re interrogating me!"
Marcus Garrison sighed again, doing his best to speak calmly. "Mom, I didn’t come here to fight. I genuinely want to talk this over with you. Can you please tell me why? Why did you act like you liked Renee so much before, and now you hate her?"
"What do you mean, I hate her?" Mrs. Garrison retorted. "I’m home every day feeding that goat for her, doing her chores, and even cooking..."
She had been about to say that she cooked meals for Renee, but the memory of her son throwing the plate into the trash just moments ago made her swallow her words.
Mrs. Garrison’s eyes immediately reddened, her tone laced with grievance. "Go on, ask around. How many mothers-in-law would do as much as I do?"
Marcus Garrison was speechless.
He realized for the first time just how exhausting it was to communicate with his own mother.
Marcus Garrison ran a hand through his hair in frustration and sighed. "Mom, can you please just be honest with me? I really love Renee, and I don’t want to leave her."
Hearing this, Mrs. Garrison’s expression darkened. "I’m not forcing you two to separate, am I?"
"Mom, I’m your son, aren’t I?" Marcus Garrison pressed on. "Why are you treating my wife this way?"
Mrs. Garrison’s face was ashen. "So you’re choosing your wife over your mother, is that it?" she asked, her voice dripping with displeasure.
Seeing her continued refusal to answer, Marcus Garrison decided there was no point in continuing the conversation.
He raised a hand to cover his eyes, his voice flat and emotionless. "Fine, Mom. Forget it. Since you like it here so much, you can have the house. I’ll start looking for a new place tomorrow and move out with Renee."
With that, he turned and walked toward his room.
"What’s that supposed to mean?" Mrs. Garrison hurried after him, grabbing his arm. "You’re going to abandon me now that you have a wife, is that it?"
Marcus Garrison remained silent, letting her shake him.
Mrs. Garrison started sobbing hysterically, wailing, "Marcus Garrison, how can you be so cruel! How can you be just like your father?"
Marcus Garrison frowned. "Why are you bringing Dad into this for no reason?"
"Both you and your father were sent to make my life miserable! He’s dead, so he can’t torment me anymore, and now you’ve inherited his role, is that it?" Mrs. Garrison sobbed, tears and snot streaming down her face as she rambled incoherently.
"Mom, what in the world are you talking about?" Marcus said in exasperation.
Mrs. Garrison clutched his sleeve, her face flushed with agitation. "You want to know why I treated your wife so well before and why I’m different now, don’t you? Fine! I’ll tell you today!"
At this, Marcus Garrison’s eyes fixed on her intently.
"Let me tell you, none of this is my fault!" Mrs. Garrison said through gritted teeth. "If you want to blame someone, blame her mother! Blame her for bewitching your father back then, for stealing his very soul!"
Years ago, she had fallen in love with Henry Garrison. She worked up the courage to confess her feelings, but he rejected her, telling her that he was already in love with someone else.
Unwilling to accept this, she schemed to sleep with Henry Garrison. She eventually got her wish and became pregnant, then used the child to force him to marry her.
And Henry Garrison, being a responsible man, did marry her. But he never loved her.
All those years, he never stopped thinking about the other woman.
"I never imagined fate could be so cruel," Mrs. Garrison lamented, her face streaked with tears. "To think your wife is *her* daughter..."
Marcus Garrison was stunned. "Mom, you..."
Even as a child, he had sensed that his parents weren’t like other parents. They weren’t close at all. For as long as he could remember, they had always slept in separate rooms.
He had asked her why, but his mother always brushed him off, saying it was "adult business" and that children shouldn’t meddle.
It wasn’t until college, during a heart-to-heart talk with his father over drinks, that he finally learned the truth about his parents’ relationship.
Henry Garrison told his son they had married because he had made a mistake in his youth, and the marriage was his way of paying for it.
Because of one moment of folly, he had changed the destinies of three people.
If not for that mistake, he would have married the woman he loved and had a happy, warm family.
It was on that day that Marcus Garrison learned his parents’ marriage wasn’t based on love, and that his father had always held a place in his heart for someone else.
It was because of that conversation that Marcus Garrison approached relationships with such gravity and seriousness.
But he had never imagined that the woman his father had loved so deeply for all those years was his own mother-in-law.
Marcus Garrison was still reeling from the shock of this revelation when he heard his mother’s next vicious words.
"It’s a good thing your father died when he did! Otherwise, you might not have gotten married at all. We’d be celebrating the wedding of your father and that homewrecker!" Mrs. Garrison sneered, her face a mask of derision.
"Mom, how could you say that?" Marcus Garrison said, his expression filled with disapproval. "In all those years, Dad never did a single thing to betray you."
Even though he hadn’t loved his wife, he had always fulfilled his duties as a husband. His conduct had been impeccable; he had never once crossed the line.
"He didn’t betray me?" Mrs. Garrison shouted, her eyes red with fury. "He married me, but he would never sleep in the same room! He lived under the same roof with me, but he was thinking about another woman the entire time! If that’s not betrayal, what is?"
"Mom!" Marcus felt she was being utterly unreasonable. "You know better than anyone why you and Dad got married."
Mrs. Garrison tightened her grip on her son’s shirt and shook him violently, on the verge of hysterics. "He told you, didn’t he? He told you about it? How could he tell you?"
Marcus Garrison stated calmly, "Dad asked you for a divorce more than once. You were the one who refused."
"I refused? And why do you think I refused? It was all for you!" A look of blame surfaced in Mrs. Garrison’s eyes. "I wanted you to grow up in a healthy home! That’s why no matter how cold your father was, no matter how cruel his words were, I endured it all! The only reason I didn’t get a divorce was because of you!"
Hearing this, Marcus Garrison suddenly started to laugh, though the glint in his eyes was wet with tears. "Mom, the truth is, I’ve always been so tired. You’re always forcing your own ideas on me."
"What did you just say?" Mrs. Garrison’s eyes widened as she stared at her son. "Are you saying you wished your father and I had divorced?"
Marcus Garrison didn’t answer her. Instead, he murmured, "Dad passing away... it wasn’t entirely a bad thing. For him, it might have been a release."
That sentence sent Mrs. Garrison over the edge. She began to scream like a madwoman. "Marcus Garrison, what did you just say?! You ungrateful monster! I raised you for nothing, didn’t I? How could you treat me like this?"
Marcus Garrison let out a derisive laugh. "You know, Mom," he said slowly, "when Dad died, you transferred all your need to control him onto me. I forced myself to accept it, because I’m your son. I owe you for raising me."
He closed his eyes briefly before continuing, "But Renee isn’t your child. If it weren’t for me, you’d be a complete stranger to her."