"Cough! Cough! What's going on here? What is this commotion all about?" A deep voice of an elder man was heard. The person who spoke was Grandpa Lu.
Everyone fell silent after hearing that familiar voice. When they turned to look on the side, they saw the three elders of the Davis Family standing just a few steps away from them.
Grandpa Lu, Grandma Clara, and Grandpa Alejandro just happened to pass by. They were about to check everyone when they saw them gather in one place. They looked like they were having a serious discussion so the three elders decided to approach them.
Because they were engrossed with their confrontation, they failed to notice that the three elders were already walking towards them. They could hear from that distance the loud voice of Mrs. Miller.
At first, they thought Hanna's parents and the two pairs of couples were having a nice conversation, catching up with each other. But it turned out that there was an on-going argument happening within the group.
They confirmed it after witnessing Mrs. Miller's action and hearing her last statements. So Grandpa Lu immediately made their presence known to others by asking them what's going on, thus interrupting them.
Mr. and Mrs. Miller didn't expect that the elders would witness this. Now, it's too late not to involve the elders in this confrontation. They already discovered that something was going on.
"Tristan, did you offend the Miller Family?" Grandma Clara asked Tristan when no one among them answered Grandpa Lu's query.
Grandpa Alejandro also reacted and commented. "Mrs. Miller is right. She's not your mother-in-law but still, she's your Auntie. You should show some respect. Being disrespectful towards your elders and the people older than you can't be tolerated in the Davis Family."
Mrs. Miller gained confidence when the two elders defended her. She couldn't help but smile inwardly.
'See, this is what I'm talking about. My words vs the words of Tristan and Lillie, they would surely listen to me.'
"That's true! Please discipline this young man. Tristan is accusing my wife of hurting his wife without even proof. I believe my wife. She won't do it for no reason." Mr. Miller also stood up for his wife.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt"I didn't know what Lillie said to you. But all I can say is that I didn't do anything wrong. I'm reiterating, it's Lillie who hurt Hannah first and tried to ruin my daughter's relationship with her fiancee." After talking to Tristan, Mrs. Miller turned to Zhen-Zhen.
"Are you not ashamed of what you've done Lillie? Creating trouble again in the Davis Family?" Mrs. Miller targeted Zhen-Zhen who was just silent.
'Come on, show us your true color. You dare inform Tristan of what happened in the CR. Let's see who will be embarrassed in the end.' Mrs. Miller thought to herself.
Both Tristan and Andrew didn't like the way Mrs. Miller was treating Zhen-Zhen. Andrew was observing her and he also saw the red mark on her right cheek. She was indeed hit by someone.
Grandpa Lu was just listening to them, watching everyone's reaction, and assessing the situation. His expression was unreadable. You would not know what was running in his mind as of this moment.
Unlike Grandpa Alejandro and Grandma Clara, Grandpa Lu didn't take sides right away. He wanted to hear everyone first. He was also curious about how his granddaughter-in-law would handle this.
"Argh! How many times I should repeat myself too? Lillie is not the one to blame? She didn't tell me about what happened to her because she didn't want to cause conflict. I was the one who figured it out. And I decided to confront you, Auntie. I want you to apologize to my wife." Tristan was almost losing his patience.
"Wow, you are still covering up for her, Tristan? I don't believe you. I think your wife just lied to you, creating this conflict." Mrs. Miller insisted.
This time Grandpa Lu intervened and spoke up once again. His eyes were fixed on Zhen-Zhen.
"Lillie, I wanna hear your reason. Please speak up and explain everything to us," Grandpa Lu said using his neutral voice.
Everyone became silent, all eyes on Zhen-Zhen. They were anticipating her response.
'Wifey, please tell us the truth.' Tristan looked at her meaningfully, asking her to speak up the truth. Tristan was afraid that Zhen-Zhen would just let this off and remain silent because she didn't want to offend Mrs. Miller.
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"Grandpa, I'm so sorry for causing this trouble. We are having a family gathering today so as much as possible I don't want to cause conflict within the family." Zhen-Zhen paused for a moment and glanced in Tristan's direction.
"I decided to keep it to myself because I understood where Mrs. Miller was coming from. But Tristan stood up for me even though I didn't ask him to do that. So let me tell you what really happened in the comfort room."
Because of her photographic memory, Zhen-Zhen even narrated to them even the little actions she and Mrs. Miller did when they bumped into each other inside the comfort room. She mentioned that she apologized to Mrs. Miller but she suddenly slapped her on her right cheek.
She spoke up spontaneously without leaving any detail. She finished her story at the part Tristan found out that she was lying after using the mosquito as an alibi for the slap mark.
The three elders were just looking at her amusingly, including Tristan and Andrew. They didn't expect that Lillie would talk too much and narrate every single thing.
Mrs. Miller was shocked after hearing everything. Even the exact words she told Lillie in the living room were narrated to them. Because of that, she shot her a cold sharp glare.
Mrs. Miller wanted to deny it but Grandpa Lu gave her a warning look. From his expression, she could tell that Grandpa Lu believed Lillie's words. Grandpa Lu also noticed the slap mark on Zhen-Zhen's face.
He also knew Tristan. He wouldn't make a fuss for no reason. Tristan's words and Zhen-Zhen's words, Grandpa Lu believed them.
Zhen-Zhen also told them everything Mrs. Miller had said to them. There's no way that Lillie would make up a story as vivid as that.
[ "Wow. You really don't have manners. Are you not planning to apologize to me after what you've done to my daughter? You hurt her. She almost died because of you. You even seduced her fiancee. How come you can show your face to us. Don't you feel any shame at all?" ]
[ "Don't you dare, call me Auntie. You're not my niece. And you don't deserve to be my niece or even part of my family. So just stay away from Hannah and Andrew. Your mere presence is enough to give me a cringe. How can you seduce the brother of your husband?" ]
No one could deceive Grandpa Lu easily. It was believable to say that those words really came from Mrs. Miller. He already saw her react before when they interrogated Tristan.
"Mom, what have you done?" Hannah mumbled to her mother.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm"I'm just trying to protect you, my dear," Mrs. Miller reasoned out to Hannah.
Miller Family knew that they made the elders upset because of what happened. They could see it from their expressions. They didn't expect that Grandpa Lu would take Tristan's and Lillie's side.
For Mrs. Miller not to further embarrass herself, she confessed the truth, explaining that she did it out of impulse. She explained that she had no idea that Andrew and Hannah already accepted Tristan's and Lillie's apology.
But no matter what explanation she would tell them, Grandpa Lu's impression of her already changed. They even tried to make it look like Lillie was the one lying and Tristan was just causing another trouble for their family.
Grandpa Lu was also upset because his granddaughter-in-law was hit unjustly. It was his grandson's fault by his wife was the one who got hurt. Fortunately, Tristan was able to redeem himself after he stood up for his wife, otherwise, he would receive another scolding from his grandpa.
With his authoritative voice matched with his intimidating gaze, Grandpa Lu spoke up to Mrs. Miller.
"Hannah, Andrew, Tristan, and Lillie, the four of them are already adults. They know how to fix the conflict and decide for themselves. Please don't make things complicated for them. This issue was already over a long time ago. I don't want to hear someone bringing it up in the family once again. Is that clear?"
"If you have a problem with one another, you should talk it out first. Hitting someone after apologizing, I don't think that's an example of someone having good manners. Tsk Tsk Tsk." Grandpa Lu used Mrs. Miller's words to attack her.
Mrs. Miller could only lower her gaze in embarrassment while clenching her fists. She knew that Grandpa Lu was referring to her in his last statement.
"I think Tristan was right. Mrs. Miller, you should apologize to Lillie," Grandpa Lu said with his stern voice.
Mrs. Miller gazed up right away after hearing that. She couldn't believe it, Grandpa Lu was telling her to apologize to that woman. She cursed Zhen-Zhen inwardly. Her pride couldn't take it.
But because of Grandpa Lu's frightening and chilly aura, Mrs. Miller could help but set aside her pride at this moment. She couldn't afford to offend the Patriarch of the Davis Family.
"Lillie, I'm sorry. Forgive me for my action," She said, without even looking into Zhen-Zhen's eyes.
Zhen-Zhen didn't want this to drag for long so she accepted Mrs. Miller's apology right away.