Chapter 4

The wind at the villa gate hit my face, and the sting got sharper.

I pulled out my phone and checked. Half my face was red.

Five clear finger marks. It was frightening just to look at.

Honestly, I felt wronged.

In all my years, my parents had never once raised a hand to me.

And now, of all people, I'd been beaten for no reason by my cousin's wife.

Over what, seducing her husband?

I didn't wait for Cliff to come pick me up. I sent him a message and took a car home myself.

I'd barely gotten in when Charles called.

He kept apologizing on the other end, saying it was all Eileen's fault, begging me not to be angry.

He said he'd bring Eileen to my house that evening to apologize in person.

I cut him off flatly. "Charles, no need to apologize. I can't stand that mouth of hers. And don't come either. Even if you do, my mom won't see you. You know how she is when it comes to me." Then I hung up and switched my phone to silent.

When I got home, my mom was already sitting on the sofa, waiting for me.

The moment she saw my swollen face, tears sprang up and her heart broke for me.

She hurried to press an ice pack to my cheek, cursing as she held it there. "That Eileen, she's really lost it! I knew back then she wasn't right in the head. I told Charles not to marry her. But your Uncle Frank insisted she was honest and steady, the kind who'd settle down and build a life. Look at her now. What honest, steady woman accuses cousins of an affair and starts swinging the second something doesn't go her way? She's insane!"

I held the ice to my face and let out a soft sigh. "Actually, it's partly my fault. I shouldn't have asked Charles for that lipstick right in front of her. But I really didn't think a little thing like that would get in her head..."

"You've got it wrong," my mom said, sitting down and taking a sip of water.

"Eileen isn't overthinking. She's insecure, sick in the head. Ever since Charles lost money in the stock market, she's been suspicious of everything, terrified he'll divorce her, terrified some woman out there will lure him away. Last time she went at your Aunt Rita, said the cleaning lady in the neighborhood was making eyes at Charles. Did you forget? That's just who she is. If it wasn't the lipstick today, she'd find some other reason to come after you tomorrow. So with a lunatic like her, you're better off keeping your distance. This one's on me. I never should have gone soft and helped your Uncle Frank!"

I thought about it.

My mom was right.

Eileen really hadn't been normal ever since the money was lost.

There was that one time before, over a work email from a female coworker of Charles's.

She fought with him for three days and three nights, cursing the woman until she quit.

Pulling something like this now was actually not that surprising.

Still, so what if she really was sick?

I wasn't her mother. Why should I coddle her?

She said something was going on between me and Charles?

Fine. From now on I'd stay far away from them.

I wanted to see whether, once Charles's company went bankrupt, she'd still be watching him like he was some precious treasure.

The ice pack sat on my face for over half an hour before the burning eased even a little.

The finger marks were still clear on my skin, shocking to look at.

My mom wanted to call the police, but I stopped her.

If it really went to the station, in the end the ones humiliated and worse off would be Uncle Frank and his family.

We were still family, after all. I didn't want to push it to the point where they couldn't hold their heads up in their circle again.

The angrier my mom got, the more she wanted done, and she had the company's legal department send a letter right away.

They froze the contract and moved to reclaim the five-hundred-thousand-dollar deposit.

I thought that would be the end of it.

At most, Charles's company would go bankrupt, Uncle Frank and Aunt Rita would sell the villa to pay off the debt, and our two families would cut ties.

But I hadn't expected it. Eileen really was sick, and badly.

She actually showed up at my mom's company to make a scene.