Chapter 5

Of course, they stopped Emerald.

The way Amelia glared at me was as if she wanted to devour me alive.

Some of their relatives could not help but frown.

“A bank statement isn’t something an ordinary person can tamper with. Mrs. Jones, you’re overthinking it.”

Emerald broke free and lunged at me. Grabbing my arm tightly, she said in a pleading tone, “Jonathan, I was wrong. I can’t bear to suffer this humiliation anymore.

“I won’t lie again. Just help me with this once. Give me back 880,000 dollars, okay?

“Once this is over, I’ll return the money to you.”

I pulled my hand out of her grasp and took a step back.

How could I be so foolish as to return the money to her? 880,000 dollars was a big sum.

Moreover, there was no guarantee she would actually return it. If I transferred her the money, I would be admitting to receiving a wedding gift of that worth and being so wicked that I targeted my mother-in-law.

If I let that happen, I could never clear my name.

“I’m not transferring a single cent to you. Unless, you can produce proof that my wedding gift is worth 880,000 dollars,” I said coldly.

Then, Amelia spoke as if there were a few screws loose in her head. Her statements were totally ridiculous. “Jonathan, my mother would never lie to me. If she said she already gave you a wedding gift worth 880,000 dollars, that has to be it.

“She’s just a simple countrywoman. She doesn’t understand all these tricks and schemes. She never thought you could be this wicked. How could she have deliberately kept any proof?”

Most of their relatives thought Amelia had a point.

“Jonathan, please return the money to them. Mrs. Jones is only trying to protect you from calling the police. Otherwise, this will be considered as fraud, and you’ll end up in jail.”

“Have you spent it all, so you can’t return the money? If that’s the case, just write an IOU.”

“If you’re this short of money, sell something off. Why do you need to cheat an honest person?”

They surrounded me and refused to reason with me.

After all, they were Emerald’s relatives. Who else would they side with?

I stared at everyone as I enunciated each and every word, “The wedding gift I received is only worth 8,800 dollars. Hence, I’m not returning 880,000 dollars to them.

“Regardless of whether you want to check my bank statement or call the police, I’ll see it through to the end either way.”

Amelia abruptly kicked me to the floor.

The sharp pain drained the color from my face, and I instinctively curled up.

The next moment, my leg went completely numb.

I barely had time to process it when Amelia grabbed my hair and slapped me across the face.

“Jonathan, I must have been blinded for falling for a wicked man like you!

“You dated me from the start just for my family’s money, right?”

I pinched my leg, but I did not feel any pain. It was as though it did not even exist.

I could not even stand.

Amelia could have paralyzed me with that kick.

That realization wiped away the last bit of affection I had for her.

She knew the history of my back injury, and it could not afford to be hurt.

I struggled as I used my fingers to pull her phone out of her pocket.

I twisted her fingers hard. While she yelped in pain, I pushed her away and quickly opened my bank statement using her phone.

While looking at everyone with bloodshot eyes, I yelled, “Do you see it clearly?! I have less than 10,000 dollars in my account balance!”