The Forgotten Son-in-law's Magical Rise

Chapter 3

Taylor immediately shut the door behind her. Liam didn’t have a soothsayer to tell him that what she saw had shaken her—her hands were shaking. She took a deep breath and tried to calm herself. Liam continued to shiver. Every inch of him felt icy cold. He immediately thought of going to the bathroom. He could take a hot shower and turn on the heater afterwards.

“What is wrong with you?” Taylor asked, unable to hold herself back. “How are you contorting like that? Are you possessed?”

Liam buried his head within himself, raising both arms to the sides of his face. He wanted to block out her voice and the numerous voices that churned inside him. The date May 28th kept swirling inside him, together with all the knowledge and books of old the world has ever seen. He was so torn and so disorientated that Taylor’s presence irritated him even further.

“Listen, I know I haven’t been the ideal wife,” Taylor started to say. “But that doesn’t mean I don’t have empathy. Right now you were twisting and curling and there was all this darkness around you.”

She scoffed and began to pace. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but I just saw something above you. Something big and dark like a bird. Am I seeing it? Did I just imagine that?”

She sighed and rubbed her face. “Have I been too stressed from work? Liam, get up from there and tell me that what I saw was a lie. If you die, it’s going to reflect on my family in a negative light. I need to know.”

Liam couldn’t hold his voice back any longer. “Get out,” he whispered. “Get out of here right now.”

She was stunned, and so was he. He hadn’t heard his own voice for three years and here he was, speaking as though nothing had been lost. There was no crack, no croakiness. It felt as though he had been talking for years and he was simply asking her to leave.

“Did you just—” Taylor couldn’t believe what she was seeing. “Did you just talk? Did you just talk to me right now? Oh god, am I seeing things?!”

He ignored her and forced himself to stand up. The pain he’d been feeling was beginning to lessen now, but her constant bickering was causing him a headache. He just wanted her to leave so he could have some alone time. The knowledge that spread out within him kept him on edge and untethered. He wanted to scream to the world, to yell all the things he hadn’t been able to.

“Liam! Look at me when I’m talking to you!”

He ignored her and turned on the heater and the hot water in the bathtub. There was a change of aura inside him. He no longer felt pathetic and wimpy; he was different now. Liam felt untouchable and wise. So wise and so old.

“Liam!”

“Get out,” he said again. “Just leave me alone.”

“God, you’re really talking. Have you been lying to me all these while? So you knew how to talk and you’ve been pretending? Jeez, you’re something else.”

Her phone rang. Taylor ignored it and followed him into the bathroom. Liam stepped into the bathtub, soaking himself in. Taylor’s phone rang over and over again, interrupting them.

“I can’t believe you’ve been lying to me. What else are you keeping from me, huh? What else do I need to know?!”

The door burst open. Taylor left the bathroom to see what was happening. Soon, Liam’s room was filled with Esther and Taylor’s male assistant, Johnathan.

“I’ve been trying to call you,” Johnathan said. “I left you tons of messages, ma’am. I’m sorry to barge in like this but we have an issue.”

“It’s the company,” Esther interrupted. “We’re in big trouble, Taylor. You have to come with us—”

“Mom, Liam can talk. Can you believe it? He’s been pretending to be mute all these while and I actually felt pity for him!”

“Taylor!” Esther yelled at her. “Forget about your goddamn nonentity of a husband. We have an issue and if we don’t handle it right now, we could lose your company.”

Taylor immediately calmed down. She pushed her hair back and struggled to understand the situation. “What’s going on?”

“The sister of the richest man in Florida is going to sue us for thirty million dollars for negligence, Taylor.” Esther grasped her daughter’s hand in desperation. “The company barely generates ten million a year. Do you know what this means, Taylor? We’re done for. We’re going to be ruined.”

“When did this happen?”

“They’re waiting for us right now at the company.”

Liam heard them all rush out. He lowered himself deeper into the bathtub, relieving in the quietness their absence brought him. When he opened his eyes ten minutes later, the clarity that befell him was greater than anything he’d ever felt.