“Whoever bullies Scarlett again, I… I’ll fight them to the death!”
Elizabeth, small in stature, didn’t seem threatening at all when she spoke. Yet everyone knew she wasn’t joking this time!
Even a rabbit bites when cornered.
Elizabeth was like a mother rabbit driven to the edge of a cliff. If she took even a step back, the one to fall first would be her daughter, Whitaker Scarlett. How could she retreat?
Whitaker Chris clutched his waist, which had been painfully hit. “Are you crazy, woman?”
Elizabeth stood in front of Scarlett, truly looking a bit deranged. Chris raised his fist but still couldn’t bring himself to strike. He could easily knock Elizabeth down with one punch, but what would happen after that? For the first time, Chris felt a fear.
His daughter, Scarlett, looked at him with icy, emotionless eyes.
His wife, Elizabeth, stared at him with both hatred and dread.
“Mom, let’s go,” Scarlett said.
Scarlett put down the scissors and stepped forward to put an arm around Elizabeth’s shoulders. Despite all her timidity and cowardice, at that moment, Elizabeth was unbelievably brave. Her protection of Scarlett gave Scarlett a sense of familial warmth that she had longed for but never received in her previous life. Just for this, no matter how ignorant or fearful Elizabeth was, Scarlett couldn’t abandon her.
William spat fiercely:
“Damn it! There’s not a single good person in the Whitaker family. A man doesn’t want his wife or daughter, and my niece still has to beg for a bite of food from your family? Let me make this clear today: Scarlett has nothing to do with the Whitaker family from now on.”
Scarlett was 18 years old, an adult.
Even in rural areas, where news traveled slowly and traditional values prevailed, society still encouraged women to be independent. The slogan “Women hold up half the sky” came from the nation’s leaders. If Scarlett wanted to move out and live on her own, at most, people would gossip. She wasn’t breaking any laws. It wasn’t like the old days when such decisions required clan approval. As for her reputation, Scarlett already didn’t have one to begin with!
Scarlett forcefully pulled Elizabeth along.
It wasn’t that Elizabeth didn’t want to leave, but her eyes were filled with hatred. The earlier scene had truly pushed this long-suffering woman to her breaking point.
Scarlett walked up to her uncle and said:
“I’ll repay Cousin for your kindness to me in the future.”
Getting into college wasn’t a big deal.
In 1983, college students were highly valued. Scarlett hadn’t been illiterate in her past life. She had forgotten most of the content from school textbooks but could always pick it up again. Once she had her life in order, she planned to take the college entrance exam for fun.
Albert involuntarily released William.
Scarlett’s demeanor was intimidating. She no longer threw tantrums as she used to, but her presence was commanding and unyielding. This was only natural. In her past life, Scarlett had clawed her way up to become a senior executive for the American division of a multinational company. She had seen more and was savvier than the Whitaker family in their petty disputes.
The scissors in her hand could easily harm herself or someone else if necessary.
Typically, Scarlett preferred solving problems with intellect rather than violence. After all, she had worked hard to achieve her success—why waste something valuable to clash with something worthless?
But right now, she wasn’t something valuable in the eyes of others. If she didn’t toughen up, she’d be trampled by everyone!
Scarlett, with her delicate and charming features, suddenly appeared as cold as ice. Even Chris couldn’t understand why he was afraid of her. He could only watch as Scarlett, Elizabeth, and William pushed a bicycle and disappeared at the entrance of Larkspur Village.
The gossipy women, initially frightened into silence, began to chatter again:
“Chris, why didn’t you beat her up just now?”
“She doesn’t respect her elders. There’s no law anymore!”
“Your brother-in-law must have struck it rich and now dares to stand up for your wife. Not even a son was born to your family, and yet you’ve been so kind to them, Chris!”
“Is your mother really sick from the stress?”
“Scarlett is so unreasonable, always threatening to die over the slightest thing…”
These voices buzzed in Chris’s ears, leaving him unable to think clearly. Then, his eldest brother, Albert, sighed as he approached:
“From Scarlett’s tone, it seems she’s holding a grudge against Rosalie as well. That girl doesn’t know what’s good for her. Rosalie hasn’t even been angry with her, yet she dares to… Sigh, let’s not talk about these frustrating matters. Let’s go see how Mother is doing.”
Ashamed and frustrated, Chris felt he couldn’t lift his head.
The three brothers shut the main gate, much to the disappointment of the nosy women outside.
Chris went to attend to his mother in her room. Meanwhile, Veronica pulled her husband aside to discuss the now vacant room left by Scarlett.
Whether Elizabeth would return or not was beside the point. Scarlett’s temper was such that she wouldn’t come back after such an ugly incident.
Veronica wanted to claim the empty room first. The Whitaker family’s large household was crowded into one courtyard, and space was limited.
Albert first spent some time with his “bedridden” mother. Only Chris still believed she was genuinely sick. A knew it was an act but had no intention of exposing her. After all, as long as Chris felt guilty, he would continue listening to his mother and working to earn money for the family.
Unlike Chris, the other two brothers had their own schemes.
In the other room, Albert’s wife, Maria, was sitting with their mother-in-law, occasionally making understated remarks that fueled Chris’s anger. He was furious, wishing he could drag the rebellious Scarlett back and beat her half to death.