Chapter 9 Warning
Genesis’s POV
"Hey, Genesis! Is Forth any good? You've slept with so many men, you must have special skills, right?"
"Yeah! I heard she's the woman who even seduces her own uncle. How desperate can you get?!"
I coldly stepped forward to tear down the photos from the bulletin board, completely ignoring those people.
Seeing I didn't respond, they became even more excessive.
They giggled and laughed. "Almost forgot you're a mute! Since your mouth can't talk, you probably use it for other things!"
I continued tearing at the photos, not giving those people even a glance.
"Hey! I'm talking to you!" A delinquent girl stepped out from the crowd and roughly pushed me to the ground. "Who do you think you are? How dare you ignore me? You're just a fake prude!"
Caught off guard, I fell hard to the ground, landing right at Maria's feet.
Maria looked at my disheveled state with disgust and stepped back, acting like she didn't know me at all.
Her friend looked at her strangely. "Isn't this your sister? Is it okay not to help..."
"She's just some mistress's kid. What kind of sister is that?" Maria didn't hide her disdain, even degrading my mother. "If you ask me, she perfectly inherited her mom's shamelessness. A bastard becoming a mistress, isn't that perfect?"
I lay on the ground, my hands clenched into tight fists.
Only now did I realize how naive I'd been.
I thought if I ignored these people, they'd get bored and leave naturally. But now it seemed, just like Forth said, the more I gave in, the more excessive they became.
As for reflecting and finding their conscience, that would never happen.
"What? You look pretty defiant?" Sofia appeared from nowhere, her sharp nails digging cruelly into my chin. "Too bad, you can't fight me."
Her nails scratched a cut on my right cheek. Only when blood flowed out did she slowly release her grip.
"This is just the beginning."
She left arrogantly, while I remained lying quietly on the ground without moving.
Given Sofia's family background, openly confronting her was obviously impossible. But she had plenty of enemies.
When I saw Forth that afternoon, he immediately looked at me with concern. "I heard about what happened... Are you okay?"
I was about to shake my head when I saw Forth suddenly crouch down and put a band-aid on my knee.
"Sorry, I was called to team practice this morning and couldn't be there to help you." Forth lowered his head in self-blame. Yesterday he said he'd protect her, and the next day she got hurt.
I waved my hand to show I was fine. If Forth had been there this morning, Sofia probably wouldn't have let me off so easily.
\[Let's go to the park across the street to study. My house isn't convenient.\]
Forth obviously knew about my background. A flash of pity crossed his eyes as he crouched with his back to me. "Your leg isn't convenient. How about I carry you?"
Eli’s POV
"Tonight is the Nelson family's visit. Don't be late."
On the phone, Christian nagged like an old man. I impatiently gave him a few perfunctory responses.
"Maria's school is close to you. Why don't you pick her up on your way back? She needs to attend the banquet too."
Hearing his words, my mind flashed to that pale figure from that night. I sneered. "How come I remember you have more than one daughter? Genesis is still being misunderstood as your bastard by sister-in-law."
Christian paused, saying helplessly, "I've explained to her many times, but she just won't believe it."
"She's not attending tonight's banquet?" I casually played with my gun, but my tone carried an undeniable authority. "The old man wants me to earn her forgiveness..."
"Your sister-in-law thinks Genesis appearing in public would embarrass the family. Genesis doesn't care anyway, so forget it." As if afraid I'd make some excessive demand, he hung up without waiting for my response.
Tch, men.
I threw my phone onto the passenger seat and drove toward their school.
When I arrived, Maria was already waiting by the roadside.
After saying goodbye to her friends, she got in the car with a smile. "Why did you come to pick me up today? Taking me dress shopping?"
"Where's Genesis?"
I ignored her question and asked instead.
"Who knows where she went. She's not attending the banquet anyway. Hurry up and take me dress shopping!" Maria excitedly took out her phone to start taking selfies.
I gave her a half-smile. "Are you ordering me around?"
Maria's smile froze. She acted coquettishly. "I just don't like you always mentioning Genesis. Last time you and Delilah fought because of her. Why are you still concerned about her? You never even looked at her before."
Was I really like that before?
I tried hard to recall past interactions with Genesis, finding I truly had no impression of her. I only knew she was a little girl bullied by sister-in-law.
There were so many pitiful little girls. What was worth paying attention to?
But since that night's eye contact under the tree, I suddenly realized the little girl was quite interesting. She seemed to have two faces in public and private.
A tiger trying hard to hide its claws while pretending to be a little white rabbit. How fascinating.
"But Genesis has really grown capable lately. She hooked the football team captain at our school, Forth." Maria suddenly pointed across the street. "Isn't that them?"
I looked in the direction she pointed and actually saw a boy crouching in front of Genesis, carefully putting a band-aid on her.
She was injured?
I frowned slightly, then saw the boy say something that made Genesis smile immediately. She smiled so happily.
A little punk's flattery made her smile so brilliantly? Was her smile that cheap?
She clearly looked like she wanted to eat me alive last time, but now she used different faces so smoothly?
"Those two are really together." Maria excitedly took photos with her phone by the window. "I must post this on the school website!"
I hit the brakes hard. Maria's head hit the seat. She looked at me displeasedly. "Uncle, you..."
"You're the eldest daughter of the Martinez family, not some tabloid paparazzi. Think clearly."
Maria shrank back, complaining quietly, "Did you fight with Delilah? Why are you suddenly so irritable?"
I snorted coldly and stepped hard on the gas, but my gaze fell on the two people I left behind.
I saw the boy actually crouch down in front of Genesis, seeming to want to carry her.
Genesis hesitated in place, then took two steps toward him.
She couldn't even tell a man with bad intentions apart. No wonder sister-in-law had bullied her for so many years. Stupid beyond belief.