She sauntered over and circled me like a vulture, clicking her tongue the entire time.
"So this is why Marlin never dared bring his little girlfriend home. A piece of work like you, thinking fifty grand is enough to walk through my door?"
She spat on the ground beside me. The glob of phlegm nearly splattered the hem of my custom wedding gown, the one Director Calloway had personally commissioned for me.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Look at this getup!"
"And you think you deserve to wear a gold necklace?"
Nobody saw it coming. Marlin's aunt lunged and grabbed the gold chain around my neck.
"Hey! What do you think you're doing?"
I stepped back, dodging her hand.
Her fingers froze in midair. Her whole body went rigid, as if something had snapped inside her.
"I can't even afford a gold necklace for myself, and you expect our Marlin to buy you one this thick?"
"It's just a wedding. Dolling yourself up like this, who exactly are you trying to seduce?"
She rapped her knuckles on the front door and raised her voice. "Oh, sister-in-law! Mark my words, this girl's going to make your life miserable!"
"Look at that high forehead and narrow face. Classic tramp."
"And those red lips. Not a shred of decency."
I ripped the veil off my head and fixed her with a black look.
"What exactly are you saying?"
"Oh my, can't even handle a little honesty!" She curled her lip, dripping with sarcasm. "I said what I said. What are you going to do about it?"
There was no point wasting time on someone like her. I turned toward the front door and called out, loud enough for everyone inside to hear.
"Ma'am, if you don't open this door, I'm leaving for real."
"Who do you think you're threatening?"
She raised her hand, clearly expecting to see fear flash across my face.
I didn't flinch. I stared right back, perfectly calm.
"Go ahead. Try me."
At this point, I was already reassessing whether marrying Marlin was worth it.
He'd been good to me, sure.
But before him, I'd been doing just fine on my own.
If my father hadn't called to tell me what a stand-up guy Marlin was, his star pupil, I never would have taken an entire year off and asked Director Calloway for leave just to come back and give this relationship a chance, let alone a wedding.
But if this was his family, the headaches would never end. And I was genuinely afraid that one day I'd lose my temper and do something that would disgrace everything the Director had taught me.
His aunt was panting now, and she wound her arm back and swung at me with everything she had.
Everyone else stumbled back several steps, startled by the force of it. I simply raised my hand and caught her bloated wrist with ease.
"I told you. You can't touch me."
"You little tramp."
She snatched a chair from beside her and swung it at me.
"Auntie!"
The moment she heard Marlin's voice, something shifted in her like a switch had been flipped. Her energy surged.
She hoisted the chair higher with one hand and jabbed a stubby finger at me with the other, shrieking at the top of her lungs.
"Perfect timing! Come see what your tramp of a wife has been up to!"
"Your bride just saw that your mother and I are two old women who don't matter, so she tried to force me to kneel! Said she wouldn't set foot inside unless I got on my knees! Don't believe me? Ask them!"
She was clearly used to bulldozing everyone around her. That thick finger swung from person to person, and each one looked away, terrified of getting dragged in.
Finally, it landed on Roy. Her voice pitched even higher, triumphant, like a rooster crowing over a kill.
"Roy! You tell him!"
"Didn't this little brat just try to force me to my knees?"
Roy glanced at me. Then he squeezed his eyes shut and nodded.
I decided to give Marlin one last chance. I turned my gaze back to his thin face.
"What actually happened is your aunt demanded I wire her five hundred thousand dollars. She also wanted me to take off my necklace and hand it over. Otherwise, she said I could go back where I came from."
