35 In laws

Jeremy put his phone in his pocket ,looked at Henrietta and said softly. "Dad,your father in law is inviting us for dinner.She did not think much of it ,she just nodded her head as a sign of approval ,she thought for a while and asked. "Do I need to take anything to them?"

"Definitely you need to prepare a present for them,I will help you to choose what I think they like." He said as they headed back to the mall.

At the end ,Henrietta managed to buy a wine glass for Mr Thomson and a simple necklace for Ritah.Henrietta was very unsettled,she was very nervous facing Ritah as her mother in law,Jeremy noticed she was distressed he comforted her and told her his parents were not picky people.

They arrived at Mr Thomson's villa,naturally Thomson had told Ritah about Henrietta and Jeremy's relationship and she was warned in advance not to make things difficult for her.Ritah was obnoxious ,when she learnt her son had taken fancy in a low life girl like Henrietta.She swore to make things extremely difficult for her so that she could leave her son and marry someone else from the same social class.

Ritah received Henrietta with a huge plastic smile,they walked into the house ,sat down and Henrietta gave them the presents,Mr Thomson from the bottom of his heart was very pleased with the present he received,Ritah on the other hand was dissatisfied, the took the present but immediately threw it in a nearby dustbin but it's only Henrietta who noticed her present being dumped,the men were too engrossed in politics they did witness the evil act.

Madam Ritah ,beckoned Henrietta and told her to join her in the kitchen.As tradition demanded, after marriage a daughter in law was to prepare a meal for her husband and in laws, she told her to cook any meal of her choice for three people.Henrietta was a hardworking since childhood but what they cooked at the slums was completely different from what was cooked in the villa,the few days she had worked as their waiter she knew what they all liked most but she did not know how to prepare the meals into perfection.

She knew Ritah despised her as a daughter in law and even if she worked very hard ,it was not going to change anything,she decided to boil plain rice and meet the tradition's demands.The two chefs who worked in shifts were told to use and share one kitchen while Henrietta was left alone to cook in a separate kitchen.Without wasting time she took rice enough for three people and boiled it after adding salt add Olive oil.