Margaret suddenly dropped to the floor with a thud and burst into tears.

"Just what have we done for Sophie to marry an ungrateful wrench like you? I can't live like this!" she cried, lunging toward the corner of the table as she tried to slam her head against it.

Everyone rushed to stop her.

Sophie's eyes were bloodshot. "Preston, are you determined to tear this family apart?"

Margaret kept threatening to kill herself, so the others hurriedly dragged her out of the room.

Only Julius and I were left in the room.

"Preston, I really didn't expect that such a small grievance of mine would make your whole family stand up for me," he said, faking concern. "If you're angry, be angry at me. Stop making a scene. Mom and Dad can't handle this kind of stress."

Then, he leaned close and whispered into my ear. "Don't worry. I'll take good care of them for you. After all, I understand what they like better than you, their actual son-in-law.

"They even said when the house gets relocated, and the compensation money comes in, they'll leave me a share."

I froze.

I hadn't expected things to go that far.

So that was how much they valued him. All the years of effort I have given them felt like a joke.

Fine. I didn't care anymore.

Julius had one more trick up his sleeve. He suddenly punched himself hard in the face, and blood instantly appeared at the corner of his mouth.

"Preston, please don't hit me! I don't want the apples anymore! I'll apologize, okay?" he cried out dramatically.

Amelia was the first to rush into the room. Without asking a single question, she kicked me to the ground.

"Why did you hit Julius, you scumbag?"

Olivia and her husband, Tommy Turner, followed right behind her.

Olivia slapped me. "You've gone too far. How could you hit someone?"

Tommy hovered over the trembling Julius and cooed, "Don't worry, Julius. Your brother-in-law's right here."

Margaret was no longer trying to kill herself. She rushed over and grabbed me.

"I won't let the fact that you hit Julius go!"

"You animal!" screamed Sophie and James as they forced me to the ground. "You've gone completely out of line. Get on your knees and apologize to Julius!"

My knees slammed hard against the floor. The crack of bone hitting tile echoed in the room.

I stared at the family I had been with for 10 years. They were beating me up without hesitation for the sake of an outsider.

My heart went completely cold.

I wiped the blood from my mouth and glared at them. "I'm calling the police. None of you will get away with this," I threatened.

Sophie grew even angrier. She kicked me hard from behind.

"You'll call the police, huh? I'll beat that stubborn mouth out of you!"

Caught completely off guard, my chin smashed against the floor. Blood poured out of my mouth.

The noise was loud enough to alert the neighbors. They rushed over to interfere. "You can't beat someone up like this! If this keeps up, someone's going to die!"

"Mind your own business. I'm disciplining my husband. What's it to you?" Sophie sneered before turning back to me. "Kneel and apologize to Julius, then I'll let you go. If you don't, don't blame me for what happens next."

I slowly pushed myself upright and spat out a mouthful of blood. "Never!"

Her face twisted with fury. She raised her hand to strike me again.

I closed my eyes, waiting for the slap to land.

But the next second, all I heard was Sophie's sharp cry of pain.