Chapter 213 Bottom Line
Chapter 213 Bottom Line
Julian took a deep breath to calm himself down and looked at Madam Shaw. "That's enough, Mom."
"What's enough? I..."
"I said, that's enough!" Julian forcefully intercepted his mother. When he looked at Madam Shaw, his face was haggard, lined, cold as sculptured marble, "I'm no doubt the father to the baby. About the fact that you secretly took Susie's blood to do the test, I can let it slide. However, I hope that you won't mention the matter again in the future."
A pang of pain filled his heart when he recalled Susan's pale face.
Madam Shaw was stunned for a moment. A storm of disbelief, hurt, and anger clouded her face as she said, "The result clearly stated that you're not the father of the kid. Do you think I'm lying to you? I am your mother!"
"Yes, just because you're my mother, when you slap Susan in the face, I can't help her get back at you,"
said Julian as a wisp of sadness flitted across his eyes.
"What do you mean?" Madam Shaw frowned.
Julian did not reply. He looked straight at her, and suddenly, he raised his arm and gave himself a slap o n the face.
It was a hard slap, and a red fingermark soon appeared on his cheek, but he did not stop. He raised his arm again and slapped himself once more. 1
Madam Shaw was shocked. She quickly grabbed his arm and tried to stop him from slapping himself," What are you doing, Julian? Stop hitting yourself!"
However, Julian’s face was calm and his voice was calm as he said, "I'm Susie’s husband and it’s my responsibility, my promise to keep her safe. I should’ve gotten back tenfold at those who harmed her, but you're different. You are my mother, so since you slapped Susie once, I'll slap myself ten times. Consider this my punishment for not holding my promise properly."
With those words, Julian flung Madam Shaw’s hand away and continued to slap himself again and again.
Madam Shaw wanted to stop him, but she did not know how to do it. She could only watch helplessly as Julian slapped himself.
One, two... five, ten...
Just like he said, he slapped himself ten times before stopping.
Looking at his swollen face, Madam Shaw was beyond heartbreaking. Tremblingly, she held his hand into hers. Then, she sobbed, "What the hell are you doing, son?”
Ever since Mr. Shaw passed away, Julian had become her only hope. He was the only person in the world that she cared about. Therefore, when she saw Julian slap himself, it hurt her even more than if somebody slapped her in the face.
"Mom, nobody can bully Susie. Not you, not me. Someone must come to stand forward and pay for the slap that she received," Julian said calmly.
"You...” Madam Shaw looked at Julian and stamped her feet, "This is madness, son. That baby..."
"I said don’t mention the thing about the baby anymore," Julian interjected, looking straight into Madam Shaw's eyes, "That baby is our kid, he is our treasure. I won’t allow anyone to doubt him, not even you, Mom. This thing has to end now!"
Julian had made himself very clear. Madam Shaw was livid with rage, but she could not say anything when she saw the red weal on Julian’s face.
"Alright, I'll ask the driver to send you home," Julian said, "Also Mom, I'm gonna have to ask you to stop coming here for a while. Susie needs time and space t o rest."
Madam Shaw was stunned. Then, she said exasperatingly, "I can’t even come to my own son’s house?"
"This is my house, but don't forget Mom, this is also Susie's house," Julian said, "Since you don’t like Susie much, what is the point of coming here then?"
Julian rarely spoke to her with such a condescending tone. Madam Shaw froze, and she could not come around to her senses for a long time.
Looking at Madam Shaw's reaction, Julian let out a long sigh, "Mom, can you stop pushing me already?"
"I didn’t..." Just when Madam Shaw was about to say something to defend herself, she raised her head and she fell silent when she saw the fatigue in his eyes.
If there was something in this world that she did not want to do, that would be putting Julian in a tight spot. After all, Julian was the most important person t o her in this world.
'But that b*tch...'
All her thoughts were dissolved into one sentence. She could not understand why Julian trusted Susan s o much. All the evidence pointed to the fact that he was not the baby's father, yet he still chose to believe that b*tch.
However, Madam Shaw knew it was not the right time to say anything now. It would only push Julian even closer to Susan's side.
She swore that she would find a way to open Julian’s eyes to Susan's true face.
Madam Shaw came in high spirits but returned disappointed.
Julian watched until her car went out of his sight before returning to the house.
Susan was still sitting on the couch with her mouth pouted. When she saw Julian, she was shocked and she hastily asked, "Julian, what happened to your face?"
"Don’t worry, I'm fine," Julian avoided her eyes.
"What the hell happened out there?" Susan's face turned serious.
Julian ran his fingers through her hair and replied softly, "Susie, I promised you that I wouldn't let you get bullied again. This time, it's my fault for not holding u p my promise. I'm sorry. But you don't have to worry anymore. I've told Mom and also the guard that without your consent, she will not come to disturb you anymore."
Susan was stunned. Her anger waned when she heard what he had said.
She bit her lower lip and said, "You are the one that hit your face. Am I right?"
Aside from himself, Susan could not think of anyone who had the audacity to slap Julian in the face.
Julian raised his brows, "Even if it's my mother, I have to stand up for you. This is my responsibility as your husband. Besides, I know my mom very well. If we want to force her to retreat, hitting myself is the most effective way."
"You..." Susan had never expected that Julian would use this way to punish Madam Shaw. She was trapped between laughter and tears.
After a long while, she stretched her arm and slowly caressed Julian’s check, "Does it hurt?” All content is property © NôvelDrama.Org.
"Don't worry about me, Susie. My skin is tough,” Julian raised his brows.
Looking at Julian, Susan bit her lower lips. Before this, she hated Madam Shaw to her core. After all, her baby was her bottom line, and Madam Shaw had crossed the line.
However, after seeing Julian, a sense of powerlessness surged from the depth of her heart. It would always be the most difficult for him since he was trapped between her and Madam Shaw.
If she were to hog her grudge towards Madam Shaw, it would only make his position even harder.
With that thought in mind, Susan thinned her lips. As long as Madam Shaw did not cross the line, she could let the things that happened today slide for Julian's sake.
Julian rubbed Susan's hair and let out a sigh.
Even though he had somehow relieved the conflict between Susan and his mother this time, the matter itself had not been solved yet. The crux of the matter was the paternity test result. He did not know where his mother got it from, so he guessed he had to look into it.
Just when Julian was immersed in his thoughts, his phone rang.
"Mr. Shaw, we’ve successfully located the truck driver!
Do you want to come over and meet him?"