The Legend of Asher's Griffin.

The sun had started to set and a cool breeze was blowing. Asher Griffin smiled to himself as he walked down the street towards the Harper's family mansion, where a party was being thrown that night to celebrate the 60th birthday anniversary of Roland Harper, the patriarch of the family and his father in law. He slipped his hand into his pocket and touched the small box he kept there, which made him smile even wider. "Roxanne is going to love this gift," he thought to himself. Today, he had bought Roxanne a necklace with a set of earrings so she could wear for the party. His wife's family looked down on him and treated him like trash because he was poor. When he got married to Roxanne three years ago, the Harpers thought he was a new big shot in the city. Unknown to them, he was just running errands for his boss. He had tried to explain the truth to them, but they never thought to listen to him. As he reached the gates of the mansion, he saw that they were closed. The pressed in the buzzer to alert the security men of his presence. "Who is that?" One of the security guards asked through the speaker. "It's me, Asher." He answered. He knew they could see him through the cameras mounted by the sides of the gate, but they just wanted to make fun of him. "Oh look, it's the trash young master!" The guard said as he laughed through the speaker. "Useless good for nothing," another one said, joining the first guard to laugh. After mocking him some more and leaving him to stand outside like a beggar, they finally opened the gates and let him in. "One day the young mistress will leave you and get married to someone who is actually deserving of her." The guard who opened the gate said to him and spat at his feet. Asher just gave all of them a blank look and continued to walk towards the mansion, where the party had already started. The large double doors of the house opened into a wide space, where guests mingled and laughed with one another. Asher looked around for his wife, but his sister in law, Meredith found him first. "Who invited this loser here?" She asked, giving Asher a dirty look and moving to stand in front of him and block his path. Asher ignored her and stepped around her, so as to continue looking for his wife. However, Meredith didn't like being ignored so she began to scream, drawing the attention of everybody in the hall to them. "Everyone! Look at this worthless piece of trash! He's here to crash our party after living off my family's money for years! I don't know why my sister is still married to you!" Meredith shouted while pointing at Asher. All the guests in the hall stopped their conversations and turned to look at them. They looked at Asher's old jeans trousers and rough t-shirt and began to make rude comments, some of them also started laughing. "I wonder why the beautiful Miss Roxanne married such a loser." Someone in the crowd said and everyone began to laugh. Odette, Meredith's mother and Asher's mother in law noticed the commotion and came downstairs. As she saw that Asher was the cause of the trouble, her face took on a look of annoyance. " What have you done now? Who even invited you here?" She shouted at him. "I'm only looking for my wife," Asher answered with a blank look in his face. "Well she doesn't want to see you. Her attention is on other people now, people that have more value than you." She said, while a gleam of malice flashed through her eyes. Her statement made Asher pause. He frowned slightly and thought to himself, "is my wife getting ashamed of me?" It was like Odette could hear his thoughts as she began to say with a wicked smile on her face, "You know, Asher, it's not a bad thing that you're here today. We can just get some necessary things done and over with." "What necessary things?" Asher asked, trying to maintain a calm look on his face. "Seth Larsen of the Larsen family has taken an interest in marrying Roxanne, you see. And he is so much a better candidate for a husband than you. He's the heir to the Larsen family fortune, and he makes one million dollars as his salary. He even brought gifts for the party." Odette announced, making Asher stop dead in his tracks. He turned to look at her, asking," What did you just say?" " You heard me," Odette replied,"Now, all you have to do is sign the divorce papers that have been provided and everything can go as it should be." "I will do no such thing, and I trust my wife. Roxanne would never betray me like this." Asher intoned. "Then let's see, shall we?" Odette began to move towards the hallway at the left side of the room, which led to a more private reception area. In this place, Asher saw the rest of the family; Roland who was the celebrant, Jake, his brother in law and Roxanne, his wife. They were accompanied by a young man wearing and expensive suit and leather shoes. Asher suspected that he must be Seth Larsen. "Thank you very much for the gifts, they are so thoughtful. I like them very much." Roland was saying to Seth Larsen. "It's not a big deal to get something nice for my future father in law," Seth replied as he laughed and took a sip of his drink. It was Jake that turned and noticed the entrance of Asher, Odette and Meredith. As his gaze landed on Asher, his face melted into a frown. " Oh look, it's the worthless scumbag." He said, referring to Asher. "You even have the guts to show up at father's birthday party, and I'm sure you didn't bring a gift, as you're too poor to afford anything." Asher didn't even reply him, he was too busy looking at his wife who sat in one corner of the room. Jake continued to speak,"Seth Larsen here bought dad a beautiful Patek Phillippe wrist watch which costs fifty thousand dollars, and a pack of aged oolong tea which promotes longevity. Those are very expensive gifts, you know." As Meredith heard the value of the gifts, she rushed forwards to see them. Roland held out his hand so that all of them could see the huge gold and diamond wristwatch that currently sat on his left wrist. "Mr. Larsen here has proven that he will be a good son in law, unlike you that has only been a disgrace to this family." Roland Harper said to Asher. "Now, you are going to sign the divorce papers so that wedding preparations for Roxanne and Seth's wedding will begin as soon as possible." Asher couldn't believe it, but he kept his expression calm. "I want to hear from my wife first. Roxanne, do you really want to divorce me?" He asked hid wife who still sat quietly in the corner. She raised her head to look at him, and as Asher looked into her eyes, he saw a look of determination set into her face. She stood up and moved to stand before him, then said. "You know that I love you very much, and I will never do such a thing." Asher was relieved to hear his wife's words. He took her hand and turned to look at her family members' faces in anger. He then began to say to them, "So you are willing to sacrifice your daughter's happiness? All because of money and a few gifts?" The Harpers looked at each other and burst into laughter. Roland wiped his eyes and said, "Who are you to question us? I am the head of this home and I will do whatever is best for my family. And currently, that is ensuring we have strong ties to the Larsen family, and you are being a stumbling block for us." "But Roxanne doesn't want to get a divorce." Asher argued. " She will do it, if she wants to retain her job as the COO of Harper Corp. and remain a member of this family." Roland said, making all the blood drain from Asher's face. " So you are saying you will fire your daughter from your company and disown her if she doesn't comply with your wishes?" Asher asked in a dangerously low tone. "Yes, that is exactly what I am saying. I am giving the both of you three days to sign the papers that will be provided, or I will take drastic actions." Roland threatned. Asher felt a wave of anger rise up inside him. Now he understood why his wife was so moody when he walked into the room. As he was deep in thought, Seth Larsen who had been quiet since the whole drama started finally spoke, saying, "I suggest you sign the papers as soon as possible, Asher Griffin. In fact, once you sign, I'll give you the sum of one hundred thousand dollars and a job in the Larsen corporation. I don't think you've ever had such an amount of money before, so I hope this will encourage you to make the right decision." Seth finished with a cruel smirk on his face. They all began to laugh at Asher again as Seth finished speaking. Only his wife squeezed his hand softly and gave him a small smile. Asher took a long, good look at everyone in the room and nodded his head slowly, like he was memorising the moment. He turned to look at his wife and he said to her, "I'll find a way out of this." They laughed even harder as they heard his words. As Asher was leaving the room, Meredith said loudly, "You better take Seth's offer and try to make something out of your life instead of making stupid promises you can't keep!" Their laughs accompanied Asher as he left the room. He went out, passing through the party and enduring more mocking laughs from the guests until he left the mansion. It was already night, and the population on the streets was very low. Asher strolled down with his hands in his pockets and lost in thoughts. He had always been a good son in law to the Harpers. Sure, he was not rich, but he was hardworking and respectful. But they always looked for ways to humiliate and embarrass him both in public and privately. He didn't have a problem with them picking on him, as he was used to it, but they had brought his wife into it. That was unacceptable, and he had had enough of them anyway. He was going to make them pay. He removed his right hand from his pocket, holding a small, black, encrypted phone. He turned on the phone and dialed the first contact on the speed dial. The person picked up the call on the second ring. "Finally, Young Master, you have decided to call." A voice said from the other side. "The time has come, Old Tian. I'm ready." Asher replied. The person he called Old Tian laughed and said, "All right, young Master. I'll send a car to come pick you up now, I've tracked your location." "Good. Let it be here in five minutes." Asher said and hung up. Truly, in five minutes, a sleek blacked out Rolls Royce pulled up in front of Asher. He opened the back door and got in. As he sat down in the car, the driver smiled at him and said, "Welcome, boss." Asher only nodded in reply. It was time for the world to know who Asher Griffin was.