Chapter 4

I was completely stunned, and after a moment of thinking, I realized he must be talking about what happened with Evelyn.

At that moment, his mother, Marie Harding, came out of the kitchen and shot me a cold look.

I quickly explained, "Evelyn's family had a lot of people. The car was too small, but they insisted on taking mine and made me take the bus. So, I had no choice but to come back on my own."

Marie wasn't buying it. She angrily scolded, "Evelyn, you've really gotten bold! How dare you treat Evelyn like that?"

She then turned to my husband, Keith, and lectured him. "Keith, you'd better handle your wife. If I did something like this years ago, your dad would've slapped me."

Even Marie couldn't be this unreasonable. This wasn't even my fault! I protested, "It was Evelyn who started bullying me.

"They even left bruises on me!" I added.

Just then, the door creaked open, and Evelyn and her family walked in.

Without a word, Evelyn slapped me across the face and yelled in front of everyone, "Cynthia, you had the nerve to call the police on us and demand compensation. Let's see if I don't teach you a lesson today!"

I slapped Evelyn right back, firing back. "You were in the wrong first! I was just trying to get my car back."

Evelyn looked at my husband with teary eyes. "Keith, look at her! You just let her bully me, and you're not going to do anything?

"She's only been in the family for a short time and already called the cops on me. She even made me pay her 20 thousand dollars!"

She held up her hand, which had been caught in the car door, and complained, "Look, my hand's like this now. And she still says I'm bullying her!

"See? My hand is black and blue."

Keith looked at her hand with pity in his eyes.

I defended myself. "She did it to herself! I was closing the door, and she insisted on sticking her hand in, then tried to pull me out of the car!"

But Keith, instead of standing by me, raised his hand and slapped me hard across the face.

The pain was immediate and sharp, and I covered my reddening cheek, staring at Keith in disbelief. "You hit me?" I asked, my voice trembling.

Keith didn't look guilty at all. He simply ordered, "Apologize to her, and give her the 20 thousand dollars back."

All the frustration inside me boiled over, and I couldn't hold back my tears. I cried out, "They were in the wrong from the start! It was my car, and they forced me out, making me take the bus home. Why should I just let that go?

"I only called the cops to protect my rights! Why do I have to apologize? Keith, I'm your wife. Don't turn your back on me like this."

Evelyn looked all innocent. "It's because we're family. How could we go home separately? She's an outsider, so it's totally normal for her to take the bus.

"As for family, Keith and I are family. We've been together for decades, and you've only just married him. Of course, he's closer to me."

My anger flared, and with a cry in my voice, I shouted, "Evelyn, you're shameless! Get this straight. It's my car, not yours!"

Keith, instead of defending me, snapped back, "The car is yours, but we're married now. That car belongs to our family. What's the problem if I want my sister to use it?

"Cynthia, I didn't expect you to be so cold-hearted. You don't care about family at all, and you called the cops on Evelyn. Fine, here's the deal. apologize to her, transfer the car to Evelyn's name, and we'll consider it done."

Evelyn didn't say a word but looked at me with a smug grin.

I stood my ground. "No, I won't. Why should I?"

Keith, usually so gentle, now pointed at me with a warning in his eyes. "If you don't apologize, you won't be having Christmas dinner tonight."

Looking at the veins bulging on his forehead and the fire in his eyes, I suddenly felt a chill in my heart.

But I wasn't going to just take this. I walked over, flipped the table, and declared, "Then no one eats."