Chapter 515: Coming to Blows
Nancy Thorne watched, her heart pounding in terror. ’They’re really going to kill her!’ She didn’t feel any sympathy for Phoenix Golding, of course, but she was worried Verna Golding would end up in jail. It just wasn’t worth going to prison for a promiscuous woman.
"Amanda, go get the village chief!"
Nancy Thorne whispered. Amanda Chapman was a fast runner, and only the village chief could stop this. Everyone else just wanted to watch the show. The one shouting the loudest was her mother, Phoebe Huxley, followed by Raina.
On all of Millstone Peak, the ones who most wanted Phoenix Golding dead were this mother and daughter-in-law duo.
"Beat that slut to death! Beat her hard!"
Phoebe Huxley shouted, shaking her fist. She was dying to go up and help. She could kill that stinking slut with just a couple of punches, but this was a private matter for the Golding family. As a member of the Thorne family, it wasn’t her place to interfere.
A few people were still rational enough to worry that things would get out of hand, but most were blinded by rage. Even if a few were clear-headed, it was useless. The atmosphere grew frenzied, and Verna Golding’s eyes turned red as she rained punch after punch down on Phoenix Golding.
"Stop hitting her! Here, take the money back!"
Anxious and afraid, Linden’s mother pulled a one-yuan bill from her pocket and threw it at Verna Golding, hoping she would stop.
"Pah! So you’re in on it together! The old slut and the young slut ganged up to scam Verna out of her money. How shameless!" Phoebe Huxley cursed.
The other onlookers stared at the mother and daughter with contempt, especially the members of the Golding family. They were utterly humiliated and hated Phoenix Golding to the bone. That slut had ruined the family’s reputation and was even affecting the marriage prospects of their other daughters.
Verna Golding took the one-yuan bill, but her fists didn’t stop. She was in a frenzy now. The more she hit, the more hatred she felt. She couldn’t stop, wanting only to kill this slut.
Nancy Thorne was frantic. ’Where is the village chief? Someone’s going to die if he doesn’t get here soon! And where the hell did Linden Golding and his son go? They haven’t even shown their faces. I refuse to believe that father and son knew nothing about this. Millstone Peak is a tiny place; every little thing becomes common knowledge. It’s impossible they didn’t know.’
’They just don’t want to get involved. How ruthless!’
"Mom... Stop hitting her... *sob*... Please don’t hit my mom..."
Ulysses Spann ran over, sobbing as he grabbed Verna Golding’s arm. He had just gotten back to see his mother lying on the ground like a corpse, and he rushed to stop it in a panic.
Verna Golding’s arm froze. She glanced at Ulysses Spann in disgust. ’This little bastard... he looks exactly like Storm Xavier. He resembles that beast even more than Yunchuan does.’ She had known it from the first moment she laid eyes on Ulysses.
"Get away!"
Verna Golding pushed Ulysses Spann away, but the boy crawled back, wailing loudly. He was a pitiful sight. Nancy Thorne frowned. ’Ulysses Spann isn’t a bad kid at heart,’ she thought. ’He was just raised all wrong by Phoenix Golding. Then when he got older, Jacqueline Spann coddled him into incompetence. He’s a complete wreck.’
At seven years old, Ulysses Spann hadn’t done anything truly malicious yet. At most, he was a meddlesome brat with sticky fingers, and a coward at heart. He wasn’t capable of any real evil.
’But where did Jacqueline Spann go?’
Nancy Thorne found her soon enough. Jacqueline Spann was hiding in a nearby house with the door left ajar. Nancy could see her peeking through the crack. So much for showing off her "filial piety" this time. On any other day, she would have rushed out long ago.
Nancy Thorne grew suspicious. ’This isn’t like Jacqueline at all. Shouldn’t she be out here putting on a good show?’
’At the very least, she should be making it clear that she knew nothing about the twenty yuan. But Jacqueline isn’t doing that. This is just not normal.’
When something seems this off, trouble is usually brewing. ’What wicked scheme is Jacqueline cooking up now?’
In the end, Verna Golding’s heart softened. She didn’t lay a heavy hand on Ulysses Spann. Though she loathed the child, she wasn’t one to hit people without reason. Beating Phoenix Golding was simply her way of venting a decade’s worth of pent-up anger.