Chapter 4

The door slammed shut behind Christina and Jason, the sound echoing in the house. Eli looked down at the long scar running along his right arm, momentarily lost in thought.

His marriage to Christina had only happened as a result of an accident.

Three years ago, someone had been out to get Christina. She'd gotten into a car accident that left her life hanging by a thread. Eli happened to be passing by and witnessed the accident. He pulled her out of the car and called 911.

When he was rescuing her, his right arm had been cut by the car door, creating a long, deep gash. The scar it left behind would never fade completely.

After Christina was discharged from the hospital, she went to great lengths to find him and spent an entire year pursuing him.

Whenever he ran into trouble at work, she would immediately help him sort things out, find the information he needed, and patiently stay by his side to solve all the issues with him.

When Eli's mother, Irene Moore, fell and injured her leg, Christina rushed to take her to the hospital the moment she found out and personally stayed at Irene's bedside to care for her.

Even when Eli was sick with nothing more than an ordinary cold and fever, the usually composed Christina would get so flustered that she worried herself silly. She would insist on keeping an eye on him all night until his fever broke.

After they got married, even though the Foleys had never approved of him, she'd loved him and protected him. They also had an adorable son together, and their lives were blissful.

However, everything changed when Jason returned to the country. One word from him was all it took for Christina to abandon Eli and go running to Jason, and it happened on a regular basis. It was also a common occurrence for Jason to set up Eli and cause fights between him and Christina.

Sighing, Eli composed his emotions and went upstairs. He put Zachary to bed before lying down beside him and falling asleep himself.

Suddenly, the door flew open. Eli looked up in shock, only to meet Christina's raging eyes. She grabbed him by the arm and dragged him out of the house. "You're coming with me!"

Afraid that Zachary might get hurt if he stumbled and fell, Eli had no choice but to stagger along behind her. "What on earth is going on, Christina? Where are you taking me?"

Christina sneered. "What? You're telling me you don't know what happened?"

She shoved him into the car, and before long, it was racing down the road at breakneck speed.

Eli was terrified, his heart in his throat as he held Zachary tightly.

"Christina! Have you lost your mind? Our son is in the car! Stop the car! I want to get out! Let me out!"

Christina ignored him and drove all the way to Foley Manor.

Throughout his entire relationship with Christina, Eli had only been to Foley Manor once. Edna Creed, Christina's mother, scorned him and deliberately made life difficult for him.

At the time, Christina had gotten into a huge fight with Edna and told him he would never have to come back to this house again. Now, she angrily grabbed his hand and dragged him inside.

Only then did Eli realize that almost the entire Foley family was gathered there, and Jason's face was covered in red welts. Edna was beside him, patiently consoling him.

The moment Eli appeared, everyone glared daggers at him. Edna even charged straight at him and slapped him across the face.

"You disgusting bastard! Christina only brought Jason home for dinner. How could you deliberately set him up and make him have an allergic reaction?"

The slap sent Eli stumbling. His cheek was numb and throbbing with pain.

He instinctively looked at Christina. "I didn't! I've only been to this house once. I don't even know my way around the place, much less what your family dinners are like. How could I have set him up?"

However, she continued to eye him coldly. It was clear she didn't believe a word he said.

Eli's back went cold.

"Don't be so humble," Edna snapped with a sneer. "Is there anything you can't do?"

Jason, who was clutching his face, glared at Eli resentfully.

"How dare you deny it now, Eli? The maid already confessed to everything! You paid her 100 thousand dollars to switch the cake I was supposed to eat with one filled with mango! You know I'm allergic to mango. You were trying to kill me!"

"What evidence do you have to prove that I did it?" Eli countered.

Scoffing, Jason shoved his phone screen in front of him.

"The maid showed us the records proving that you paid her off! You used the bank account Christina gave you access to. Don't tell me you're going to claim Christina paid the maid to frame you?"

Eli had no means of defending himself. "It wasn't me! I only used the money from that account to buy things for Zach!"

Edna turned to Christina.

"Christina, I told you from the start that you shouldn't marry a penniless man like him, but you insisted. Now look at what he's done!

"If we hadn't happened to have a fast-acting allergy medication with us just now, we would've had to rush Jason to the hospital. And if something had really happened to him, how would we have answered to his family for it?

"Eli is your husband. You tell us what to do with him."

After two seconds of silence, Christina declared, "Since you made a mistake, you should be punished for it. Kneel outside the house with Zach. You can only get up when Jason's welts subside."