"I shouldn’t have hit my sister..." No longer able to withstand his fear for Henry, Jason bawled.
Mrs. Frey felt worse for Jason, simultaneously resenting Henry and Yvonne even more. She nudged her husband beside her, hinting him to say something.
Sighing inwardly, Mr. Frey spoke up. "Henry, Jason hit Yvonne, but you hit him back too. Let's call it a tie."
"Impossible. This isn't done just yet," Henry refused directly.
Yvonne looked at him, then at Mr. Frey. Her lips moved to say something but no words escaped ultimately. Forget it. It was better that she stayed invisible. This was Henry's first time picking a fight for her, and she was not going to stop him. Besides, she liked how he looked when he fought for her.
"This isn't done? What else do you want?" Mrs. Frey lashed out when she heard Henry. "You've beaten Jason up to this state and I haven't even asked you for compensation, you..." 2
"Shut up!" Mr. Frey rebuked his wife, anxious, when he saw Henry scowling.
Mrs. Frey who was indignant could only clamp her mouth shut unwillingly when she saw her husband eyeing her repeatedly. She was not stupid. She knew that she would not get anything if they really pushed
Henry too much.
Mr. Frey let out a breath of relief before he plastered o n a smile. "Sorry, Henry. This is the temper of the mother.”
"I've long known Mrs. Frey's temper. You don't have to brush me off with unnecessary words, Mr. Frey. I just want to know why you hit her!" Henry pointed at Yvonne while the latter hung her head bitterly.
She always had the answer to this question, but it was exactly because of it that she felt worse. She had just come in through the door and was condemned by all o f them before she could say anything. Once they were done, Jason gave her a slap. From the beginning to the end, she had no chance to say a word. She thought that it might not just be a slap that she would've gotten if Henry did not come in time.
"Uh..." Mr. Frey glanced at Yvonne darkly before he quickly casted his eyes down to conceal it and said with a sigh, "It's not that we want to hit her. She’s the one who did us wrong in the first place."
"What has she done wrong?" Henry asked purposely with a squint.
Thinking that he did not know anything, Mr. Frey thought quickly and lamented, "Horrible girl! We asked her to contribute some money so that her brother could get married but she refused to even give a penny. Jason's girlfriend went to the hospital and aborted their baby because of it. Henry, do you think she's even right?"
Mr. Frey pointed at Yvonne like she was a grave disappointment as he spoke. The latter closed her eyes in self-deprecation, not saying anything.
There was an icy gleam in Henry's eyes when he caught it. He took a step to the side and kept her behind him without a sound. "I think she's right!”
"What?" Mr. Frey was startled while Mrs. Frey widened her eyes in disbelief. Even Jason had forgotten to howl, feeling the resentment within him peaking.
"What?" Henry smirked when he saw the three Freys staring at him in disbelief. "Am I wrong?"
"No, Henry," Mr. Frey said, "Henry, I was saying that this girl..."
"You don't have to repeat it. I heard it loud and clear, but she's done nothing wrong in my opinion.
Absolutely correct, if I have to say. She's just a sister. What does Jason Frey wanting to get married have got to do with her? Shouldn't you parents be the one paying?" Henry crossed his arms.
Yvonne seethed. She was going to argue when Henry put his hand up. "Then did you hear what I said just now? I disallowed her from giving it to you.”
Mrs. Frey stiffened at that. Mr. Frey coughed to dissolve the awkwardness. "Henry, although we...”
"Enough.” Henry cut him off impatiently. "I don’t want to hear you go on about it. All in all, you guys still want money and still want to put the blame on Yvonne, don't you?"
This time, it was Mr. Frey who stiffened.
He had not expected this son-in-law of his to be so unyielding with a sharp tongue too. He spoke the truth but it came in the form of a hard slap.
"This is my last warning. You lost your grandchild because you are incompetent. It's because of your greed. It's unrelated to Yvonne. Don’t let me catch you guys blaming her for it again or I'll see the Freys receive the lash back, understand?” Henry said coldly.
Mrs. Frey was a typical bully who feared the strong and harassed the weak. She would not dare disagree a s she nodded like a pecking chicken. Mr. Frey, on the other hand, kept his hands behind him and gripped them into fists in indignation but he smiled nonetheless on the outside. "I understand."
"Good," Henry scoffed and took a checkbook from his suit jacket's pocket. Putting a sum on it, he tore the check and tossed it to Mr. Frey. "This amount is enough to last you guys for some time."
Knowing that they could get money, Mr. and Mrs. Frey’s eyes glowed as they quickly picked up the check. They sucked in a cold breath when they eyed the sum written on it before they brimmed with content.
Looking at the greed her parents put on show, Yvonne was averse to it. She tugged Henry's sleeves. "Why are you giving them money?"
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: Love After Marriage: Mr. Lancaster's Hidden Wife