Chapter 25 Dream or Truth
Genesis's POV
I should have thought of it earlier.
Jordan had accepted the diamond mine, so naturally he wouldn't cause trouble for Sofia's family anymore. Everything Eli did last night was behind Jordan's back!
He really was a lunatic!
Eli suddenly looked up and saw me standing at the door from afar. He raised an eyebrow. "Little mute."
He silently mouthed something. I couldn't help but roll my eyes.
He still had the leisure to insult me!
"Do you know you're wrong or not!" Jordan roared, scaring me into a shiver.
Eli nodded perfunctorily. "Right, right, right. I was wrong."
He wasn't too badly hurt yet.
I had just breathed a sigh of relief when I heard Eli continue. "I was wrong for not killing Sofia directly, letting her dare to go home and tattle."
"You rebellious son!" Jordan flew into a rage, raising the baseball bat to strike Eli again.
The sound of the baseball bat hitting his back made my teeth ache. After hesitating for a moment, I still rushed in.
Eli had already seen me standing at the door. If I showed no reaction at all, this lunatic would probably continue to trouble me.
I blocked in front of Eli, looking at Jordan pleadingly.
Jordan's gaze swept over me, his anger undiminished. "You're too bold, daring to get involved in these matters."
"Her? If she were bold, she wouldn't have been bought off by your hundred thousand dollars." Eli sneered.
Jordan angrily threw the baseball bat at him, glaring at me. "I didn't expect your relationship with Eli had become so good? So good that he'd even risk the Martinez family losing such face to avenge you."
Just then, a hand casually draped over my shoulder. Eli laughed mockingly. "What? The mighty leader of the Martinez family can't force me to submit, so he pushes all the blame onto a little girl?"
I uncomfortably shifted my shoulders a few times, but Eli had almost half his body weight pressed on me, giving me no chance to escape.
Jordan's expression immediately became extremely ugly. "What nonsense are you talking!"
"This little mute doesn't have the ability to command me. I acted against Sofia simply because I wanted to. I warned her long ago not to make a move, but she was stupid enough to treat my words as wind in her ears. She deserved it." Eli explained carelessly.
I was somewhat stunned.
I thought Eli would take the opportunity to admit it was for me to escape blame, but he actually took on all the responsibility himself?
"You!" Jordan wanted to throw the baseball bat again, only to realize he'd already thrown it beside Eli. "Even if you really wanted to punish Sofia, you should have done it symbolically. Now you almost caused a death! Do you think they'll easily let this go?"
"Isn't that what you taught me?" Eli simply changed from kneeling to sitting, crossing his legs on the ground. "Didn't you say we couldn't let outsiders know we treat Genesis badly? Sofia knew she was our family's adopted daughter but still bullied her publicly. Wasn't that trampling our dignity underfoot?"
Jordan was directly angered into laughter. "So you're saying I taught you to do this? You did it for the Martinez family's good?"
Eli nodded without hesitation. "Of course! Thanks to your guidance."
Watching the back and forth between father and son, I quickly retreated to the side, afraid they'd involve me.
While the two were arguing, Christian and Savannah arrived with Maria.
Christian saw Eli kneeling on the ground and quickly tried to persuade Jordan. "I heard Eli made a small mistake yesterday? It's normal for someone his age to be impulsive. Don't be too angry."
"Exactly." Maria crossed her arms, looking at me gloatingly. "Eli never made such mistakes before. I think someone deliberately instigated him to help her vent."
I kept shaking my head, denying that I had instigated Eli.
Besides, was Eli someone I could instigate? The person who could instigate him probably hadn't been born into this world yet.
"This is mutual assistance among family members." Eli rested one hand on his knee, looking at Maria. "You should learn from me, always remembering to maintain family honor.
Genesis being bullied at school isn't a one or two day thing. You didn't help her, fine, but how could you not even report it to the family? No family consciousness at all."
"I didn't!" Maria looked nervously at Jordan, afraid he'd actually believe Eli's words. "I, I..."
Savannah stepped forward, soothingly patting Maria's hand. "Maria is just a child. She must have been scared and didn't know what to do. Besides, Genesis herself didn't report it. How can you blame Maria?"
Maria stood behind Savannah, nodding repeatedly.
I suddenly felt a trace of envy. Although both Maria and Savannah were terrible, Savannah's maternal love for Maria was something I hadn't experienced in a long time.
"Right, Maria is just a child." Christian also chimed in.
Eli sneered. "Yeah, a child about to enter college. So I'm just letting her improve, not directly taking action to educate her."
The atmosphere became awkward for a moment.
The focus of the incident had long shifted from me to Maria. Even Jordan stopped picking on me.
Jordan impatiently interrupted them. "Stop arguing."
He looked at Maria. "Since you're all Martinez family members, you should help each other at school. Don't let what happened before happen again."
Both Savannah and Maria looked like they'd eaten shit, but still had to maintain basic smiles and nod in agreement.
At an angle Jordan couldn't see, Maria glared at me viciously.
I mockingly lowered my head. Sure enough, she'd still only cause trouble for me.
Clearly the person criticizing her was Eli, but she still attributed everything to me.
Jordan pointed at Eli again. "And you! Kneel here honestly and reflect for one night! Don't think about slacking off!"
"I didn't do anything wrong! Even Maria doesn't have to reflect. Why should I!" Eli was unconvinced, his casual attitude almost making Jordan spit blood in anger.
Jordan gave him a heavy slap. "Reflect on why you didn't discuss it with me first! Say another word and you'll kneel here for a month!"
After saying this, he didn't give Eli another chance to talk back and left angrily.
The adoptive family also left. From beginning to end, no one looked at me again, and no one said what I should do.
I stood there awkwardly, wanting to leave with them, but Eli probably wouldn't let me go so easily.
Sure enough, Eli suddenly reached out and grabbed my wrist.
His palm was as scorching as always. He sat cross-legged on the ground with a brilliant smile. "Little mute, Jordan said you should be punished with me. Come kneel with me."