Chapter 18
"Mom, Dad, you need to figure out who your real child is." Michael finally couldn't hold back and spoke with resentment.
But his protest was met with an eye roll from Amelia.
Amelia bluntly said, "If Nancy were my own daughter, you wouldn't even matter. If you weren't engaged to Nancy, you wouldn't even need to come home."
Her words made me laugh out loud instinctively.
Who would have thought that Michael, who was so decisive and commanding outside, would have such a low status in his own home?
Watching his parents constantly praising me, Michael, sitting beside me, got up unhappily and pulled me into his arms.
Being so intimate in front of Michael's parents made me feel a bit uncomfortable.
I nudged his waist with my elbow and reminded him in a deliberately low voice, "We're in front of your parents, behave yourself."
But Michael didn't care at all. "You're going to marry me anyway, you'll be my wife soon. I'm just exercising my rights early. They can't do anything about it."
Seeing Michael being so shameless made me even more embarrassed.
Amelia couldn't stand Michael's behavior and lightly patted his shoulder as a reminder. "Alright, the food is ready. Let's eat first."
Only then did Michael reluctantly let me go.
But what I didn't expect was that right after I finished dinner at the Johnson Mansion, the Martinezes suddenly showed up.
The Martinezes looked aggressive, and I immediately sensed trouble.
While the two sets of parents were talking, I moved closer to Michael and spoke in a voice only we could hear. "Are Ethan's parents here to cause trouble because I made him kneel?"
Michael patted my hand reassuringly and said softly, "No matter what it's about, don't worry. You didn't do anything wrong, and besides, I'm here."
Michael's words were like a calming pill for me.
The Johnsons invited them into the living room to sit down.
As soon as they sat down, Brian Martinez slammed the table and said angrily, "You've gone too far. You must give us an explanation today."
Ruby Martinez chimed in from the side. "That's right, Mr. Johnson. Your son beat my son so badly that he's in the hospital. This matter must be resolved today."
Hearing it wasn't about the kneeling, I couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
Noticing my emotions, Michael let out a soft laugh from his chest and whispered to me again, "It's okay, this has nothing to do with you."
But hearing that Ethan was beaten into the hospital, I was still a bit confused.
I had heard about this from others before, but I didn't know what the Johnson family had to do with it.
After David got the gist of it, he asked, "Mr. Martinez, what exactly happened? What does your son being in the hospital have to do with us?"
Seeing David's attitude, Brian thought he was refusing to admit it, and his anger grew. "What do you mean? My son is in the hospital, and you still won't admit it?"
Seeing his anger, Amelia spoke up to calm him down while asking about the details. "Mr. Martinez, please calm down. We really don't know what happened. Would you mind telling us?"
Brian snorted coldly and said unhappily, "Last Saturday, after my son competed with your son at the shooting range, he was beaten on his way back. He's still in the hospital now. Are you saying this has nothing to do with you?"
At these words, David and I both looked at Michael.
"Michael, what's going on? Explain yourself." David said.
Michael shook his head and played dumb. "I don't know. Ethan and I don't have much interaction. If he got beaten, that's just his bad luck."
The Martinezes immediately got anxious and said directly.
"You argued with my son at the shooting range and then attacked him, and you even made my son kneel."
I looked at Michael, waiting for his answer.
Michael calmly and decisively admitted what happened at the shooting range. "That's right, I did argue with him, but I won that day. I had no reason to attack him. Besides, I hit him at the shooting range because he deserved it."
Seeing Michael admit it, the Martinezes acted like they had caught him red-handed and kept pressing. "See, your son admitted he argued with my son, so he must have been the one who attacked him. You must take responsibility, or this isn't over."
At this point, David also criticized Michael quite unhappily. "Michael, you were too impulsive. This isn't the Johnson family way. Tell us exactly what happened that day."
Michael shrugged and said casually, "I did force Ethan to kneel, but that day he insulted Nancy first. As her fiancé, it's my duty to protect her."
Seeing everyone targeting Michael, I took over and added, "This started because of me. Let me explain too."
Without waiting for them to speak, I filled in the complete story. "That day Michael took me to archery, and we happened to run into Ethan. He was rude and wanted to compete with Michael. Michael ignored him, so he verbally provoked me. I got angry and made a bet with him that if he lost, he'd kneel and apologize. Later, he refused to accept it, so Michael had someone force him to. But this has nothing to do with Michael. Ethan kept harassing and insulting me."
After hearing my words, the expressions of the elders became quite interesting.
The Martinezes didn't know what to say for a moment.
Overall, the fault laid with Ethan.
After I finished explaining, Michael stated his position again. "I did make Ethan kneel, but a bet is a bet. He agreed to it at first. What's more, he insulted Nancy first. I don't regret this. As for the beating afterward, I didn't do it."
Unfortunately, the Martinezes didn't believe him at all.
"Why should we believe you? My son is really in the hospital right now. Besides you, who else would attack him?"
Hearing this, Michael snorted and continued, "Since you've decided it was me, there's no point in explaining further. Please show me your evidence."
Seeing Michael's confident manner, Amelia also dropped her gentle demeanor and stood up, pointing toward the door. "What do you mean by this? You're going to slander my son without evidence? Get out!"
Suddenly being asked to leave, the Martinezes looked very grim, but they weren't ready to give up. "My son was beaten by your son. Who knows what else he did? Don't think you can get away with not admitting it."
As the Martinezes kept pestering, Amelia got angrier and defended Michael and me even more. "Get out! I know what kind of people Michael and Nancy are. I won't let people like you slander them."
With that, Amelia even had someone throw the Martinezes out.