Chapter 373: Pinned Under the Table
Amina: "..."
Zeke had heard enough. Her eldest and second brothers were treating Amina as nothing more than a tool to make money. There wasn’t a shred of familial affection between them. All they cared about was money.
Unable to bear watching them bully Amina any longer, he cut in.
"What exactly did your uncle tell you? What did he say Amina does for a living, and how much she makes a month?"
Second Brother: "We haven’t even gotten to you yet. Who the hell are you? Amina, you bring a man home before you’re even married? Have you no shame at all? Afraid people won’t know about all the ’good deeds’ you’ve been up to out there? You don’t want to get married in this lifetime, is that it? Dream on! We’re already finding you a husband! If you don’t send money home obediently, you can just wait to be married off!"
Amina flared up. "What ’good deeds’ have I done? How am I shameless? You know how remote this place is. If someone hadn’t been kind enough to drive me back, do you think I could have walked here on my own? How have I brought shame on you?"
Her eldest brother interjected again.
"Heh, so you’ve made something of yourself out there and now you’ve got a temper, huh? Daring to argue with us now? You’ve only been gone a few months and you’re already acting like a city slicker. It’s the talk of the town, you know? Because of you, Second Brother and I even got into a fight! But that couldn’t stop the rumors from spreading like wildfire. Don’t you get cocky. If it weren’t for us, you’d never be able to get married in this village!"
Amina was so furious with her brothers she felt she could die. In a rage, she started to stand up, wanting to grab her eldest brother and demand what shameful, disgraceful thing she had supposedly done to cause rumors to spread like wildfire.
A faint premonition bloomed in Zeke Walton’s mind. He stepped forward and held her down.
"I’ll give you money. I’ll give you both money. As long as you let Grandma leave with Amina, I’ll give you 100,000. Now tell me, what exactly did your uncle say to you?"
100,000?
The eldest brother stood in the bare, destitute home, looking dirt-poor, yet his tone was incredibly arrogant.
"She’s in ’that’ kind of business out there. She sees at least twenty or thirty clients a day, making a thousand at the very least. That’s tens of thousands a month. You think you can buy Grandma away for a mere 100,000? You think you can get rid of us for 100,000? Are you taking us for fools?"
Amina didn’t understand. She struggled, trying to stand up again, but Zeke understood perfectly. His face cold, he pushed her back down.
"Are you sure you’re Amina’s biological brother? A person like your uncle slanders your sister like this, and you just go along with it?"
"Flies don’t bite a seamless egg! Our own mother ran off with another man, so why can’t she? She’s counting on her youth and decent looks. What wouldn’t she do? How else would she have brought you back here? Stop putting on an act with us! Amina, if you insist on taking Grandma, give us a million! Even if Grandma never comes back, we won’t bother you again!"
Amina looked as though she had just heard the world’s most ridiculous joke. She opened her mouth several times before any words came out.
"A million? Don’t tell me Uncle said I’m shacking up with some tycoon? Do you even know how much a million is? You couldn’t get that much even if you sold our entire family! Are you insane?"
Her eldest brother put on a smug, clever look.
"Even if you don’t have it now, you’ll earn it sooner or later. Send us 50,000 a month, and you’ll have a million in no time, won’t you? When it comes down to it, you just don’t want to give it to us!"
Amina was utterly speechless.
’Fifty thousand a month for them. These two brothers must really think you can just go to the city and scoop up money with a sack.’
"I’m sorry, Zeke. This is so embarrassing. These two know nothing except what they see on TV. I can’t be bothered to talk to them anymore. Let’s go get some sleep. We’ll take Grandma and leave tomorrow. We’ll see what they can do to me."
As she spoke, Amina moved to prepare a bed for Zeke, but her eldest brother kicked her hard in the small of her back.
"We’re not done talking! Where do you think you’re going? Hand over the money you’ve earned these past few months, or I’ll make you regret it today!"
Rage instantly shot through Zeke Walton’s head.
He knew Amina wasn’t some delicate flower, but in all these months, he had never dared to lay a single finger on her.
’And her own brothers just hit and curse her at will?’
THUD! Zeke kicked the eldest brother in the waist.
"You lay another hand on her and see what happens! Apologize to me!"
The room immediately descended into chaos as Zeke started fighting with the two brothers.
Although Zeke was taller and younger than them, his strength was no match for two able-bodied young men who did manual labor year-round.
In less than five minutes, the two of them working together had him pinned to the ground, bruised and aching all over.
Amina and her grandmother screamed themselves hoarse, desperately trying to pull them apart, but all they got for their efforts were a few slaps. It was useless.
They tied Zeke up with a rope, shoved him under a table, and put him on display for the gathering crowd of villagers.
"See this? Our family has strict principles! This bastard thought he could marry my sister for 100,000? Impossible! One more word out of him and we’ll break his legs."
"My sister is famous for her beauty in all the nearby villages. Anyone who genuinely wants to marry her, bring 200,000! You can get married whenever you want!"
"So what if he’s from the city? We’re not impressed by city folk! He came to our door to bully my sister, so we’re keeping his car to teach him a lesson. That’s not asking too much, is it?"
The crowd snickered as they looked at Zeke, afraid the commotion wasn’t big enough.
"He’s rich and from the city, you should get at least 500,000 out of him. Keeping his car is the right move. Eldest, Second, good job beating him up! You gotta let everyone know you’re not to be trifled with. So, what are you gonna do with him now?"
"What are we gonna do? First, we’ll lock him up for eight days and starve him good. Daring to bully us in our own home, ptooey!"
The two brothers showed off for a while longer before finally telling the crowd to leave.
Once the crowd had dispersed, they tied up Amina as well.
"Don’t even think about running! Move an inch and I’ll break your legs too!"
"You two talk it over and figure out if you have the money or not. If you can get 500,000 for the family soon, I’ll let you leave with him. If not, hmph! You’re not going out again. Just wait to be married off!"
"If the first marriage doesn’t work, we’ll marry you off a second time! If the second doesn’t work, a third! We didn’t raise you all these years for nothing! What kind of sister isn’t anxious when she sees her own brothers can’t get a wife?"
After a long bout of cursing, with Amina tied to a chair and Zeke trapped under the table, the brothers took their grandmother and went to bed.
Amina looked at Zeke—covered in dust, his face ashen with pain from injuries she couldn’t see, unable to even speak—and began to cry, gasping for breath.
"Zeke, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have brought you home. I’m so sorry."
"Zeke... *sob*... are you okay? How about... how about I tell them I won’t leave? I’ll agree... agree to be married off... Don’t worry, I won’t let them keep your... sorry..."
For the first time since they had known each other, Zeke Walton got angry with her.
"Shut up. Stop talking. Let me think."