Humiliated at My Own Wedding, My Father Burned Them All Down

1: 1

At the wedding banquet, my mother-in-law suddenly set a bowl of foul-smelling pig slop down in front of me.

I stared at her, stunned.

She just smiled and said, It's tradition. When a new bride comes into the family, she eats pig slop. It means she'll be like a big fat sow, not picky about her food, easy to breed, nine to a litter, all fat little boys.

My face went hard with fury.

But my husband, Gabriel Henson, leaned in and coaxed me. "Just take one little bite, that's all. When in Rome. It's a happy day, don't spoil the mood for everyone."

I said coldly, "It's disgusting. I'm not eating it."

My mother-in-law's face dropped at once. "Who are you calling disgusting? Every woman in our village has done this. Every single one."

"Don't think that because you're a city girl you can put on airs here."

My father-in-law slapped the table too. "You marry into this family, the first thing you do is obey. You'll eat it whether you want to or not. You think you're going to turn this house upside down?"

Gabriel's relatives were all around me, some cursing me, some coaxing me, some just enjoying the show.

I looked around at all of them and said softly, "Not picky about food, easy to raise, is that it? Then nobody here gets to be picky either."

I picked up the slop and flung it across their tables, one after another.

"Renata Swanson, what are you doing?"

My mother-in-law's furious shout hit my ear, and her hand came up and cracked across my face.

On instinct I moved to hit her back, but Gabriel stopped me.

He said in a low, heavy voice, "Renata, she's my mother, she's your elder. You want to hit her?"

I cupped my cheek, tears rising, choking me. "So what if she's my elder? Since when does being an elder give her the right to hit people?"

"No one has laid a finger on me my whole life. I marry into your family and get slapped on the very first day?"

Gabriel sighed. "Would it have killed you to eat one bite of the slop? If you weren't so stubborn, none of this would be happening."

All at once Gabriel felt like a stranger to me.

I looked him in the eyes. "Aren't you on my side?"

Gabriel said, irritated now, "Renata, it's not that I'm not on your side. It's that you're putting me in an impossible spot."

"On one side there's my parents, on the other there's you. I always thought you were sensible, so why are you the one squeezing me in the middle today?"

The banquet guests had started jeering.

"Gabriel, can't you keep your wife in line?"

"City brides are nothing but trouble. One look and you can tell she's loose, not the kind who's in it for the long haul."

"Won't even eat one bite of slop. When your parents get old, you think she'll wait on them, clean up their mess when they can't? Not a chance."

"Gabriel, give her a beating. One beating and she'll behave."

"That's right. A woman from the city needs to be broken in, so she learns who runs this house."

Gabriel leaned close to my ear and murmured, "You hear all that? If you don't eat the slop today, you make me lose all my face."

"If you love me, then give me this. Don't leave me unable to hold my head up in front of my own people."

I shook my head, firm. "Gabriel, I love you. But I won't degrade myself."

Displeasure flickered across Gabriel's face.

He sighed. "Renata, respect goes both ways. You don't give other people face, how are they supposed to give you any? Listen to me. I'm not trying to hurt you."

He seized my shoulders and shoved me down hard into my seat.

Then he called out, loud, "Bring the slop over. Renata's willing to eat it now!"

2: 2

I fought with everything I had, but I couldn't get to my feet.

Gabriel's fingers dug into my shoulders so hard I started to cry from the pain.

Gabriel and I had been classmates in college. We'd fallen in love on campus, and married right after graduation.

He'd always been gentle and refined, endlessly attentive to me.

We'd already held one wedding back in the city, but Gabriel insisted on holding a second one at his hometown.

The way he put it, he'd landed such a wonderful wife that he had to bring me back to show all his friends and family, to give his parents some pride.

And he'd made a point of telling me it was fine for me to come back with just him alone. No need to bring my parents or relatives.

He said country folk were rough and unpolished, and he was afraid my parents would look down on them.

I loved Gabriel with all my heart, and I agreed without a second thought.

But I never could have guessed that once we got here, he'd turn into a completely different person.

The pig slop had already been carried over, sitting right in front of me.

The villagers whooped and jeered. "Eat it! Go on, eat it!"

Some of them held up their phones to film me. "First day married, of course she's gotta make a fool of herself."

"The more shame at the wedding, the more obedient after."

"City people just have too much pride. Humiliate her good today, and she won't put on airs anymore."

My in-laws pounded the table, pushing me on. "Eat! What are you sitting there staring for?"

I clamped my mouth shut.

Gabriel lost his patience, gripping both my cheeks and forcing my mouth open to pour the slop in.

I bit down hard on his finger.

He howled in pain and slammed his fist into my head.

The blow left me dizzy, and I dropped to the floor.

Bitter with rage, I reached out and flipped the table over.

The villagers around me scrambled back.

I seized the chance and ran for the front door.

But there were too many of them. They blocked me and shoved me back in no time.

Gabriel came toward me, his face dark, like he meant to keep hitting me.

I screamed, my voice breaking. "Let me go! I'm not marrying you!"

I thought Gabriel would regret it, be shocked, panic.

Instead his face didn't change at all. There was even a hint of smugness in it.

He sneered. "Renata, you're already at my house. This marriage is happening whether you want it or not."

His mother folded her arms. "My son's a college graduate. He's a real catch."

"You think you can divorce him? If you two split up, doesn't that make my son a divorced man? Can you afford to pay for that?"

She gave Gabriel a shove. "Son, consummate it with her right now. Once the deed's done, it's sealed."

Gabriel came straight over, wrenched my arm, and dragged me toward the bedroom.

Terrified and furious, I cried out, "Gabriel, what are you doing?"

He gave a savage grin. "Consummating the marriage."

He threw me onto the bed and pinned me down with his full weight.

He didn't close the door or draw the curtains, as if he didn't care whether the villagers watched.

And those villagers had no shame about it at all.

Not only did they not leave, they came swarming in.

"Hahaha, early start on the bridal chamber!"

"This is my favorite part. Gotta liven things up good today."

"City women really are so pale. Way better than that Betty down the road, and smooth to the touch too."

"Cry, go on. I love watching a bride cry, especially a pretty one like this"

Many of them took the chance to reach out with their filthy hands, and in a few seconds my clothes were torn out of place.

I sobbed until I couldn't catch my breath, fighting as hard as I could, but I couldn't break free at all.

And Gabriel, he had no intention of helping me at all.

3: 3

"Haha, I've got to film this."

Someone shoved to the front, phone raised, the lens pointed straight at me.

The others laughed and called out, "Now Gabriel's got the new bride tied down for good."

"That's right. Once the wedding night's been had in front of everyone, they all know she's been pawed over. No man would take her after this. She'd be filthy goods."

"Gabriel, stop standing there. Get on with it."

Tears running down my face, I looked at him. "Are you really willing to let them humiliate me like this?"

Something flickered across his face. Hesitation.

It didn't last. The hesitation hardened into something cruel.

He said, cold, "You won't eat the slop because you look down on me. On my whole family. That's it, isn't it?"

"Renata, you're the one who insulted me first, in front of all these relatives. Don't play the victim now."

Everything in me went dead and hopeless. "Fine. I'll eat it. Make them go away."

He watched me, suspicious. "You'll really eat it?"

I gave a bitter smile. "I'd rather eat slop than be humiliated in front of all these people."

He nodded. "See, wouldn't it have been easier to just do this from the start?"

"Renata, you just never listen. If you had, this would've been over long ago, and we'd still be one happy family."

He drove the others back and told his mother, "Get her some slop. She's willing to eat now."

Selma slapped me hard across the face. "One minute you'll eat, the next you won't. You messing with me?"

A few minutes later, someone carried in a bowl of slop.

Selma grabbed a fistful of my hair and hissed, "This is what you get for turning down the nice way. Now you take the hard way."

"You're finishing this slop today. No putting on a show. I want to see you mean it."

I took the bowl in my hands. Everyone stared, waiting to watch me eat.

Then I lifted the bowl high and smashed it down on Gabriel's head.

He screamed, blood pouring down his head, the big porcelain bowl shattering.

Alden and Selma shrieked curses and lunged to hit me.

I snatched up the biggest shard and swung it around like a knife, wild.

I cut Selma across the arm. Blood ran everywhere.

I caught Alden across the face and nearly opened his throat.

I put on a look that said I had nothing left to lose, and it scared them off.

The Hensons stumbled back, shoving each other out of the way as they fled the room.

I threw the bolt behind them.

Out in the hall they kicked at the door and screamed curses. I ignored them.

I pressed my back hard against the door and pulled out my phone.

My hands wouldn't stop shaking. I could barely hit the keys.

I dragged in a breath, forced myself calm, and called my father. "Dad, come save me, I'm at"

I didn't get the words out. The door came down.

The whole thing toppled and pinned me to the floor.

The pain took my breath away. I felt bodies stepping on me, so many that my ribs felt ready to snap.

"She's here, under the door," a villager shouted, giddy with it.

Then a hand seized my hair and dragged me out from beneath the door.

The phone had fallen beside me, the call still going.

Through the pain I called out, "Dad, I'm at Gabriel"

Crack!

A foot in a leather shoe came down hard on my phone, and it shattered.

I looked up. It was Gabriel.

He had a stool in his hands, and he brought it down on my head without mercy.

Everything went black, and I passed out.

4: 4

When I came to again, I was sitting in a chair.

Rope wound around my body, knotted tight.

I strained against it, but it was useless.

Gabriel had a bandage wrapped around his head, blood still seeping through.

The moment he saw I was awake, he started slapping me across the face, hard.

He was completely changed. This wasn't the gentle, attentive Gabriel anymore. This was a brutal man.

He poured every bit of his rage into me, made me his outlet.

While he hit me, I didn't feel like his wife. I felt like some animal he kept, cattle or a pig or a dog, something he could punish and abuse however he pleased.

The villagers laughed. "Now that's more like it."

"Gabriel's got real backbone. That's how a man acts."

Finally, Gabriel wore himself out.

He dropped into the chair across from me, breathing hard.

He told his cousins, "Strip her clothes off. Feed her the slop."

The men snickered and came toward me, worked up.

Gabriel held up his phone himself, filming.

I couldn't accept it. I asked him, "I already married you. Husband and wife are one."

"When they humiliate me, aren't they humiliating you too? How can you just stand there?"

He only looked at me, cold. "You humiliated me first. You made me lose all my face today."

"My mom was right. If I don't break you now, you'll act up later and shame me even worse."

Just then his mother came over and patted his shoulder. "Make sure you save that video."

"Don't worry, Mom," Gabriel said. "I'll send you a copy."

Selma smiled, satisfied. "With this video, we've got her right where we want her."

"Once she's finished the slop, she buys me and your dad a car each. Right away."

Gabriel nodded. "No problem."

His cousins spoke up. "We put in work today too. How about a car for us?"

Gabriel laughed. "Sure. The Swansons have money anyway. A few cars is nothing, easy enough."

They all laughed, delighted.

I stared at him, stunned. "What are you saying?"

Gabriel said, slow and low, "Renata, you hurt a lot of people just now. Think of this as your apology."

"You buy everyone a car, and they still treat you like family."

"If you won't, then we're enemies."

His mother picked it up from there. "And if you're our enemy, we won't be saving that video for you."

"We'll put it online. Let everyone see the rich little princess from the city, naked, eating pig slop."

"You wouldn't want to disgrace your mom and dad, would you?"

My head buzzed, and it hit me all at once. This was a trap.

From the moment I set foot in this village. No, from the moment Gabriel first came near me, first started dating me, I'd already walked into it.

They wanted to humiliate me, film it, use the video to squeeze me dry.

His father drew on his pipe, smiling. "Son, this Renata's an only child, isn't she?"

Gabriel nodded. "Yeah."

Alden smiled, pleased. "Good. We'll haul all her family's money over here, then, and live the good life like rich folks too."

The whole Henson family broke into smug laughter.

Gabriel cleared his throat. "All right, enough wasting time. Get her eating the slop."

The villagers were on me then, some yanking at my clothes, some prying my mouth open, one holding a bowl, ready to pour the slop down my throat.

That was when a huge roar rose up outside.

Then a crash.

A car smashed straight through the Hensons' gate and came roaring into the main house.

The Hensons scattered, screaming, scrambling for cover.

A tall man leapt down from the car, his face dark as iron.

The sight of him broke me. I sobbed, "Dad. You're here."