Chapter 321 Josephine Went Ballistic
Subsequently, Michael brought me to the Shaw residence. As soon as we stepped into the living room, everyone in the Shaw family was sitting there, awaiting our return. A sense of solemnity hung in the air.
Michael’s grandfather was sitting at the center with a grave expression on his face. Josephine, on the other hand, wore a livid expression when she spotted me. Conversely, Lincoln’s expression was indifferent, his emotions indecipherable.
“Michael, you’re finally back! Do you know how worried I was?”
Josephine hurried over to Michael and looked at him with anxiety written all over her face.
“I’m fine. Look, am I not perfectly well now?”
Although she always picked on me, her concern for him was genuine. The look in her eyes as she gazed at him brimmed with worry.
“I heard that you encountered the bunch of kidnappers. Were you injured? Quick, let me look you over!”
She was still fretful despite seeing that he had returned safe and sound, thus hastily checking him over.
Hiss!
Michael sucked in a breath when she inadvertently touched the wound on his arm, his expression crumpling slightly.
“Oh my goodness, what is it? What happened?”
Seeing that, Josephine was so stricken that she swiftly dropped her hands. The anxiety in her gaze mounted.
“Michael was grazed by the kidnapper while saving me. We just came back from bandaging our wounds at the hospital just now.”
When Michael said nothing, I told her about him having been injured by the kidnapper earlier.
“What? Grazed? Are you okay, Michael? Is it serious? And does the wound still hurt?”
The moment Josephine heard that Michael was injured, a frantic light entered her eyes. Her gaze turned teary as she scrutinized him.
“I’m fine. It’s just a paltry wound.”
Michael shook his head in exasperation at her frantic expression. Andy and Lincoln likewise regarded him with distress etched on their faces then though it wasn’t as blatant as Josephine.
It was a long time before Josephine finally regained her composure after Michael’s reassurance. In the next second, she turned to me. Before I even knew what was happening, a crisp slap split the air, and a heavy palm landed on my cheek.
I was still dazed, only sensing a stinging pain on my face. Her slap was entirely beyond my expectation.
Lifting my head, I gaped at her, not quite believing that she actually hit me, and without any warning to boot.
“Mom! What are you doing!”
Michael didn’t expect his mother to raise her hand against me either. When the shock on his face faded, fury followed right on its heels. He glowered at Josephine with utter chagrin on his face.
However, Josephine ignored him. Her attention was wholly focused on me.
“This is all because of you! You’re simply a jinx! Ever since Michael got acquainted with you, nothing ever went smoothly in his life! Also, allowing you to marry into the Shaw family will just bring about the ruination of our family!”
She glared at me furiously, steam almost coming out of her ears.
In the face of her condemnations, my face paled at once. I was downright aggrieved, yet I couldn’t even utter a single word in rebuttal. For a moment, I was stunned at her incandescent look.
“What are you saying, Mom?”
Josephine glanced at my pale face before she shifted her gaze to Michael with a peeved look in her eyes. Her voice also turned much colder than before.
“Did you not hear me? Ever since you got involved with her, things haven’t been going well for our family. And now, you even got injured on your wedding day! Tell me what this means, then!”
Michael’s rebuke did not work on her at all. Instead, she grew increasingly angry. The look in her eyes made it clear that she would kick me out right away if possible.
“That has nothing to do with her.”
Michael’s expression was frosty, and his gaze radiated displeasure.
“What exactly is wrong with you now, Michael? You’ve gone against me multiple times because of her. You’ve never done this in the past! Are you planning to abandon your own mother after having her in your life?”
Michael had defended me too much in front of Josephine recently when she wasn’t fond of me in the first place. And after such a huge incident happened, she naturally pushed all the blame on me.
At his mother’s unreasonable demeanor, Michael’s face turned terrifyingly grim. Anyhow, she was still his mother, so he chose to put up with it as much as he could though she had gone overboard in her speech.
“I’m sorry, Mom. I know many things that transpired lately have to do with me, and I also know that you must be extremely angry right now. I’m really sorry as well. I promise that such a thing will never happen again. I’ll never allow Michael to be injured because of me anymore.”
While I was rather upset at having been slapped for no reason, I still looked at her apologetically and made her that promise. As I felt guilty about Michael having been injured so badly because of me, I wasn’t all that vexed about her slap.
“Don’t call me that! I’ve never acknowledged you as my daughter-in-law! Besides, the wedding today was half-done, so you’re not part of the Shaw family yet! Or do you think a mere apology is enough? Michael sustained such a severe injury to save you, yet it’s only worth an apology from you?”
Josephine couldn’t be bothered about my apology, and the words out of her mouth remained as sharp as ever. Worse still, her refusal to acknowledge me as her daughter-in-law had sorrow deluging me.
“You’re going too far, Mom!”
Beside me, Michael kept his eyes glued to Josephine’s face. His chest heaved with rage. Nonetheless, he was still keeping a tight rein on his emotions since she was his mother at the end of the day.
“You’re still siding with her now, Michael? Look at how much you’ve changed! You don’t even seem to be my son anymore! What’s more, such an incident has happened time and again because of her!”
Josephine’s expression turned increasingly darker the more Michael spoke up on my behalf. Right then, she had even transferred her anger to him.
Michael used to be an exceedingly mature and stable person who had everything under his control. But ever since he made my acquaintance, there had been countless incidents. Therefore, it was understandable that Josephine was saying such a thing about me though it was still hurtful to hear.
“As I said, this has nothing to do with her. She’s my woman, and I’ve got the responsibility to protect her. Or was I supposed to sit around and twiddle my thumbs when my woman had been kidnapped?” Michael roared, likewise foaming at the mouth then.
His eyes had long since started blazing with fury as he stared at Josephine.
Although he had defended me many times before her in the past, he had never spoken so loudly.
