I began, but before I could finish, Joey’s mother, Lucinda Elliott, rushed forward, yanked my hair, and pulled me violently to the ground.
“You shameless wench! You dare talk about respect? Do I look respectable enough for you? You know you’re not as young as my daughter, yet you still had the nerve to crawl into my son-in-law’s bed! Today, I’m going to teach you a lesson you won’t forget!”
She ripped out a handful of my newly styled hair with one hand and clawed at my face with the other.
I regretted not having any security or staff at the old house.
Who could have imagined that this simple, unassuming woman I had seen on video calls would turn out to be so vicious?
“That’s right, Mom! Scratch up her face! Let’s see how she plans to seduce my brother-in-law now!” one of the younger women jeered.
“She’s not even young anymore, doing something so shameful. If she were beaten to death, people would only cheer!” the other chimed in, both dressed in high-end designer clothes, yet speaking such vile words.
Taking advantage of her mother’s grip on me, Joey stepped forward and slapped me hard twice.
My ears rang, and my mouth filled with the taste of blood. I spat it out and growled, “Aren’t you afraid I’ll call the police? Don’t you think the law exists? Or are you not afraid Hudson will find out and make you pay for this?”
Joey watched me struggle under her mother’s grip, arms crossed, looking amused. “You think you can compare yourself to me? You’re nothing, and I’m his soon-to-be wife! Hudson loves me dearly. Even if I crippled you, he wouldn’t say a word against me – he’d even clean up the mess for me.”
Lucinda yanked my head back, mocking, “Hudson treasures my daughter. How dare someone like you challenge her?
“In a few days, their wedding will be all over the news, and everyone in the city will know my daughter is Mrs. Barrett. But you, since you love climbing into beds so much, let’s show everyone just how low you can go!”
With that, she kicked me hard in the stomach.
Lucinda might have once worked in the fields, for her strength was comparable to that of a man. The force of the kick sent a mouthful of blood rushing up into my mouth.
I bent over in pain and hissed, “What you’re doing is criminal assault! If you don’t stop, you’ll regret this!”