I couldn’t help but suspect that they had probably gotten involved with each other for way longer.
Upon that thought, I angrily spat, “How shameless! The soldier who brought the death benefits said it himself–there’s still hope, as long as Joseph’s body hasn’t been found!
“You guys may not care whether he comes back, but to go behind his back and register your marriage, then even try to move away with the death benefits–I get it now. You don’t want Joseph to come looking for you, do you?”
I wasn’t lying. The soldier did say something like this. But everyone knew that it was said just to ease our minds.
Who would have thought that Joseph was truly still alive now?
At least my words helped change the way the village’s older women saw the Colemans.
“I can’t believe you’re like this. How disgusting!”
“If I were Joseph, I’d come back to haunt this family even after death!”
“I always knew that Samantha favored her youngest son, but I never imagined she’d go this far!”
“Harsh as it sounds, Joseph is dead, but Tiff is still alive. Have any of you stopped to consider her?”
One of the elder women couldn’t help herself and spat on Joshua That was the final straw that angered him completely. Not
caring that the woman was older than he, he shoved her hard.
He snapped, “Do you want to die? What does our family business have to do with you? I’m warning you Get out of our house
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Chapter 7
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now, or I’ll make you regret it!”
Joshua’s expression was downright terrifying, prompting some of the older women to back off.
I gritted my teeth and stepped before them, shielding them from him. I snapped, “If you have a problem, just take it out on me!
”
“Oh, you bitch. I’ll definitely teach you a lesson today! How dare you trick me!” Unsurprisingly, Joshua started pointing his
finger at me.
I managed to dodge his first swing but wasn’t so lucky the second time.
As Joshua’s fist came flying toward my face, I shut my eyes, bracing myself for the pain. Yet, the blow never came.
Instead, all I heard were gasps from the people around us.
I slowly opened my eyes–only to see a stranger in front of me, gripping Joshua’s wrist.
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