Chapter 1341
Chapter 1341
In the end, they failed to convince Cooper to stay.
During this whole time, Maddie did not dare look up once. She figured these thoughts must have gone through Cooper’s mind: How can Joel’s father-in-law be this crude? Why did Joel marry a woman of such a background? Was this how the matriarch of the Fletcher Family was brought up? The Fletchers are such a disgrace! NôvelDrama.Org owns this text.
Sophia announced, “We’re leaving now!”
There was nothing much she could do in this situation either, but the damage had been done. She did not plan on apologizing or paying for his medical bills; not even for a rabies shot.
Just then, Joel walked through the door. He had already heard of what happened. Seeing the somber look on Cooper’s face, he gave a sincere apology. “I’m so sorry you had to see this.”
Cooper did not answer him and simply stormed off.
The situation left Joel feeling both frustrated and embarrassed.
Inside the conference room, Maddie felt even more ashamed to face Joel and the Fletcher Family. She kept her head down and let her tears continue to fall.
Before she had a chance to speak, a fiery slap landed on her cheek, making half of her face go numb.
A voice exploded like thunder by her ear. “Maddie Evans! The nerve you have to show up here!”
Seeing how she let the ‘Linus Family’ slip away with just a few words, and how she ruined Clive and Tawny’s marriage once again, Mr. Evans pointed at her and bellowed, “Get down on your knees! Now!”
But, she remained where she was and only continued to weep in silence. She was not crying because she had gotten reprimanded, but because she brought shame onto Joel.
When Mr. Evans saw that she did not budge, he raised his hand to slap her again. This time, however, another hand stretched out from beside Maddie and caught Mr. Evans’ arm with strength so exceptional that it sent a sharp pain through his bones.
“Ow! That hurts!”
At some point, a man dressed in military uniform had walked up right behind Mr. Evans. He had a chilling gaze that carried no emotions.
Mr. Evans’ eyes widened as soon as he recognized the man. “Joel! It’s you. Let go of my hand! I’m your father-in-law. How dare you treat me this way?”
As it turned out, it was Maddie’s husband who was in the military!
The Evans filled with rage and went to surround him. “So, you’re Joel Fletcher!”
Byron came up to Joel with his fist clenched tightly. Just as he was about to punch him, Joel pulled out a gun at the speed of light and pointed it at Byron’s head.
A gun!
At the same time, the sound of neat footsteps came from outside. A group of armed soldiers in green military uniform shuffled in immediately with countless guns pointed at the Evans and Bishops.
Joel pulled back his hand from Mr. Evans’ arm and retracted his gun. He directed his ruthless gaze at everyone. “The guest house has made arrangements for everyone to leave on a flight tomorrow morning. They will take you to Fischer Municipal Airport.”
The two families were rather frightened to see the military troops, but Mr. Evans put up a strong front when he realized that Joel was trying to send them away. “What’s so great about being a soldier? Kill me if you can! Go ahead and kill me!”
It’s not like we’ve never seen soldiers before! The Minister of the County Armed Forces is my relative!
Joel looked at Mr. Evans who was fuming with anger and spoke to him with a straight face. “I sent the county magistrate and mayor to await all of you at the airport.”
The mention of the mayor did not scare them, but hearing that Joel was able to call out the county magistrate made them scared out of their wits.
Even though they often ridiculed the county magistrate’s daughter among themselves for marrying a construction worker, the county magistrate was equivalent to a god in their small county. They were like mice stumbling upon a cat when they encountered the county magistrate.
Mr. Evans still did not believe him. “Are you saying you gave orders to the county magistrate? Who do you think you are?”
Joel had taken Maddie by the hand and turned to leave the conference room. With his back toward Mr. Evans, he said, “Because we’re family, I pulled some strings this time to stop charges from being brought against Clive for raping Sophia and the rest of you for extortion. From now on, don’t come to Bayside City anymore.”
Mr. Evans was upset. “Stop right there. I’m going to call the reporters right now and expose you. I’ll make sure you face disciplinary action. You won’t even get to be a paratrooper!”
While he said that, he even brought out his phone to show that he was going to make the call.
Joel, however, did not waste another second there and took Maddie out of the room by the hand.
Maddie did not know how she left the place. All she could hear were the insults the Evans and Bishops had thrown at her.
By the time she came back to her senses, she was already in the car with Joel beside her.
It was then that she let out a sorrowful wail and began sobbing in his embrace.
Holding her in his arms, Joel comforted, “It’s okay. It’s over now. He has ordered all of them to return. They won’t dare to step foot here again.”
That was Maddie’s family. Joel was also as torn as she was, but if they wanted to punish them, there was still a way—they were sent back to their county town and the locals would keep watch on them.
People who came from rural areas were not afraid of anything except for their local government.
In a small county, the county magistrate was like God. They could block the resettlement quota, get rid of some jobs, and create a false impression that this family had wronged a big figure, then family and friends would distance themselves from them. The people’s judgment in that sealed-off society would be the same as giving them the death penalty. It was enough to make them live in anxiety and suffer each day.
Currently, Maddie was still crying. Joel knew that she was not going to get over this any time soon. Although he had already told her repeatedly, she still felt inferior and sensitive.
Since being together, he had never thought of them as being unequal. They were equal human beings who loved each other equally. They stood on the same ground in their relationship and neither was above the other.
After thinking about it for a while, he decided to bring up the ‘relative’ that had always been hard to talk about.“There, there. Did you see my relative who was there earlier? He killed so many people before,
but he is still able to live brazenly now. Don’t take it too hard. Cooper doesn’t hold on to petty grudges. I know him. He won’t hold this against you. If it makes you feel better, we can bring some gifts to him and apologize when we get back.”
She wiped off her tears and managed to give him a nod.
The Bishops and Evans would probably be too afraid to come again this time around. Since Maddie had grown up in that place, she knew the survival rules and social conduct there.
Someone once wronged one of the chiefs in the county. Later, all the buildings, except for that family’s house, in the neighborhood got torn down. To that family, it was practically putting them in exile.
Because the place was only so big, news that they had wronged the chief quickly spread. Soon, they were no longer able to live in their hometown and were forced to relocate.
Hopefully, this will serve as a reminder for the Evans and the Bishops!
Christine was worried sick all day as she watched the Bishops and the Evans get escorted to the guest house to await their flight the next day.
Inside the guest house, people were infuriated and were urging Christine to call the newspaper office. They wanted to send in a report that Joel had beaten up his father-in-law so that he would be removed from the army for good!