Chapter 454: Chest Pains from Fury

With that, Zeke Walton scooped Amina up into his arms. Still in his pajamas, he was about to run outside.

His mother grabbed his arm.

“Have you no shame? Going to the hospital dressed like this? Are you afraid people *won’t* know what you’ve been up to?”

Only then did Zeke Walton remember how disheveled he looked.

He was anxious to get Amina to the hospital, but he couldn’t stand the thought of going out looking like this. He had no choice but to carry her upstairs, complaining to his mother as he went.

“Isn’t this all your fault? Look what you did to her! If something happens to her…”

“What could possibly happen?”

His mother nagged, following behind him.

“The hardest work I’ve ever done in my life is dressing you and feeding you. Do you have any idea how weak I am? With what little strength I have, what could a single slap possibly do to her?”

“Isn’t she from the countryside? Isn’t she supposed to be capable? A fall in the fields while working would probably be worse than my slap. How could this have gotten you so frantic?”

“Mom, can you please stop talking? I really don’t want to hear it right now. Your words are too cruel! Are you possessed by some kind of demon?”

Zeke bounded up the stairs in a few strides, gently placed the dazed Amina on the bed, and started looking for clothes to wear.

His mother buzzed around him like a fly, talking nonstop.

“You think my words are harsh, but what about her family’s ugly actions? I’m sure she didn’t have the decency to tell you what they’ve been up to behind your back, did she?”

“Did you know she has two brothers? Two uncultured, brutish louts! If our security hadn’t stopped them, they would’ve barged into our house several times! While you and your father were out, they screamed at me, threatened me… where were you then?”

Zeke’s hand, reaching for his clothes, froze. He didn’t know about any of this.

‘Amina’s bastard brothers actually had the audacity to come to our house and threaten my mother?’

“I didn’t know. Why didn’t you call me to come back and handle it?”

“Have you come back and handle it? And how would you have handled it? Given them some money to make them go away? Or would you have bought them houses and cars, found them jobs, helped them get wives, and settled them down so you can treat them like proper relatives in the future?”

Zeke, “…”

His mother continued, her words flowing like a torrent.

“Even if you paid them off to get rid of them, do you think that would be the end of it? That they’d be satisfied, know their place, and never come back? Impossible!”

“They’ve already said it: since you’ve ‘ruined’ their sister, you’re their brother-in-law. The Walton Family is so rich, so what’s the big deal about giving them a little? I’m afraid you’ll have to make monthly offerings, paying their living expenses and supporting them as if they were your ancestors!”

‘Impossible.’

It wasn’t that Zeke hadn’t thought about Amina’s two brothers.

He wouldn’t go so far as to do nothing at all, just standing by and watching them remain bachelors for the rest of their lives.

Hadn’t they said it themselves? As long as they had a house in town, they could find wives. Zeke would help them leave the countryside and get married.

But he wouldn’t do any more than that. Ultimately, people had to rely on themselves.

He was just about to rebut his mother, but she spoke again before he could.

“I know what you’re going to say. You’d never support them like that, right? You’re still too naive, too childish, Zeke. You have no idea the extent to which you’ll be morally blackmailed once you two are married and you’re related to a family like that.”

“By then, if you don’t help them, you’ll be branded a villain. Maybe you could bring yourself to ignore her two brothers, but what if they have children? What if they have nothing to eat or drink, dragging their families along, and they send the children to beg you, their uncle? Will you help them or not?”

“If you help, will you take care of everything? Their schooling, their education, including choosing their schools and majors later on, and then finding them jobs and spouses in the future? Will you manage it all from beginning to end?”

“If you don’t help, can you bear to watch a small child barely surviving in their hands, perhaps even ending up on the streets? Even if you could bear it, could she? And if she insists on helping, what will you do? Divorce her? The very person you fought tooth and nail to marry—wouldn’t it be ridiculous to divorce her over something like this in the end?”

“I’m not stopping you from dealing with this kind of family because I look down on them. I’m using my years of life experience to help you avoid making a huge mistake. My child, relationships between people are complicated, and when family is involved, it becomes an inextricable mess. I know you have a good conscience, and it’s precisely because you have a conscience that you’ll be the one dragged down by them.”

“I know my words might have been harsh. Perhaps Amina isn’t some seductress, and you two were genuinely in love for a while. But in this world, plenty of people fall in love, realize they aren’t a good fit, and then break up. At worst, we can just compensate her.”

“I have a villa in Norport worth over a hundred million. That’s more than enough to ensure she lives a life of luxury. As long as you break up with her, I’ll give her the villa. How about it?”

“Don’t answer me just yet. Think about it carefully. How long has she even been with you, and she’s already ‘earned’ a hundred million? Someone else couldn’t make that much in ten lifetimes. You two should discuss it.”

“This is the biggest concession I can make and the best solution I can think of. I hope you’ll both be sensible. Otherwise, if you really push me, she won’t get a single cent. And as long as I draw breath, I will never let her marry into the Walton Family.”

‘In the end, it all came down to one thing: Mom looked down on Amina’s background. She thought that if I married her, the Walton Family would lose face in their social circle. That’s why she’d rather pay a hundred million as a breakup fee than ever let her into the family.’

Zeke almost laughed in anger at his mother’s proposal.

‘A hundred million was indeed a lot of money. It was enough to buy the lives of her two brothers ten times over. Dealing with those two scumbags would be as easy as flipping his hand over. How had his mother managed to describe it as a lifelong entanglement?’

‘She equated love with money, but had she ever considered that no matter how much money a person had, what was the point of marrying someone you didn’t love and being shackled to them every single day?’

Without a moment’s hesitation, Zeke immediately rejected his mother’s offer.

“Amina doesn’t need to marry into the Walton Family. As long as I love her, it’s enough that I can give her a home. Mom, you don’t have to wait for us to discuss it. I’ll give you my answer right now. I will live my own life, and whether it turns out good or bad is none of your business. You don’t need to offer a hundred million on my behalf, and you don’t need to worry so much. Just live your own life, okay?”

After all of her earnest, repeated advice, this was the conclusion she got?

She felt a buzzing in her head, and the veins on her forehead throbbed violently.

“What do you mean? What do you mean she doesn’t need to marry into the Walton Family? What do you mean it has nothing to do with me? Are you going to disown us? For this woman, you’re going to disown your own parents?”

“If you insist on forcing me to break up with her, then you’re forcing me to choose between her and you. I…”

Zeke stared into his mother’s eyes with a cold expression. Before the unfilial words could leave his lips, his mother’s eyes rolled back, and she collapsed backward.