Fake Porcelain

 While Damien yapped along, laughing out loud like someone who was under the influence of drugs, Greg spotted under his arm a coated gift.

From its shape it looked like a porcelain jar and he wondered how much it would cost until he saw the lid of the item.

"Oh I see you've seen my gift," the man laughed again, taking the gift from under his arm to swing it in his in-laws face. "Can you smell it? It smells like money. Something you don't have."

Greg could not say anything to defend himself as he turned away trying to focus on other things.

"I spent a fortune on this. I could tell you how much it cost but, it's not going to be worth your time. I see you've got other things to do like scraping the toilet or something."

Petra's face turned red as she was visibly upset, however, she tried to keep her cool, not wanting to exchange words with her brother.

Greg on the other hand had nothing to say. All he could do was wait for the man before him to get bored or tired and head inside with the rest of the party.

He knew this was nothing new but a recurring incident. He would always appear at the house and get insulted or poked in an unsightly way by Damien.

The man loved to have a good laugh, and what better way to do so than insult the poor man brought in by his grandfather.

From time to time, he would not fail to put Greg in his place, reminding him that he was picked up from the streets and if he ever dared to disobey him or look at him in the wrong way, he would be sent back to the cold depths.

Greg had tried over the years to ignore the man but it only made things worse, for the man would see him and start throwing up all the slanderous ideas in his mind.

"I'm going to give you a few minutes to guess how much this cost me," the man went on. "I'll give you enough time. Go ahead. Guess,"

Greg had no time for games, but he knew what awaited him if he refused to go along with the idiot's words.

"Ten thousand dollars?" he blurted out, unsure of what else to say.

"Ha!" scoffed Damien. "Do you mean that I am a cheap man who can't afford to spend more than a few measly dollars on my grandmother? That is very disrespectful of you."

"I apologize," Greg sighed, deep down he was squaring up his fists and ready to hit Damien across the cheek.

"Relax Greg," he mumbled to himself. "Very soon you'll be out of here and away from all the troubles that come with the house."

"What was that?" Damien asked, overhearing him talk to himself.

"I was trying to guess the new estimate for the gift you got," lied Greg, looking at his wife to come to his aid but seeing her busy as she entertained the guests who entered the house.

"Awwwwnnn, look at how cute you are. Are you looking at my baby sister to save you from my grasp, because if that is your plan, then that would not happen."

"I'm not doing anything Damien. I just want to be left alone. I wasn't even in your way. Would you stop bothering me and leave me in the corner I am in?"

"Oooh," Damien laughed, raising a brow. "The tiger has some balls, huh? But how long would you go on like this before I cut them off and feed it to the dogs?"

"That's enough Damien," interjected Petra, now tired of his words. "You've said enough. Don't you have a girl to sleep with or a bottle of whiskey to fall into?"

For the first time since he married Petra, she spoke up for Greg, shielding him from her brother.

"Don't start with me, little sister, or I might say something you wouldn't like me to."

"Is that a threat?" she grinned evilly ready to accept his challenge.

Oh no, thought Greg for he knew that a battle was about to start up. It was a battle he did not want to be caught in the middle of, unfortunately, there was no way to escape this.

The fight had come to him and he was either going to stay and fight or run for cover. But the latter was not a luxury he could afford at the moment.

"So what says you, sister?" Damien went on. "Are you sure you want to go down this road with me? I've got nothing to hide but time to give."

"Don't start with me," she laughed. "Go trip over a bridge or something and leave us alone."

"Us?" he mockingly asked. "You guys are a thing now?"

"Yes, we are because we've been legally married for three years."

"That changes nothing. You both had some stupid ass arranged marriage by grandpa and you think it's legal?"

"I don't see you having anyone by your side. How about you stop harassing my husband and go get yourself something else to do with your life."

Greg felt his heart swelled as he listened to his wife defend him. He could see some of the guests trooping into the house and dragging their feet in order to stylishly listen into the ongoing argument.

They were more invested in the argument than the party they were trying to attend.

"Wait, they're married?" He could overhear some of them say, which got hin feeling mortified. Some of the well dressed men there looked at him with disbelief.

He knew what they were thinking. How could someone as extremely poor as him be Petra's husband? 

Yeah buddies, he thought to himself, I have no idea myself.

"Oh shut it, you piece of shit," his wife snapped, pushing down one of the arranged presents unto the floor.

Greg knew this was time for him to intervene or things could get out of hand and he did not want to be the reason for a sibling rivalry. That would only make the whole family hate him even more.

"The porcelain you got is fake and I can prove it!" he blurted out, getting Damien to stare at him in shock.