The CEO's Wife Is a Medical Master-Chapter 38: Can I Fight Back?

Hearing this only made Grandma Dixon even more furious. She snapped at Rona Langdon, "Come on! We’re going to see Director Goodman!"

The crowd pushed and shoved Rona Langdon all the way to find Theresa Goodman. Theresa heard the whole story, saw the shoe print on Grandma Dixon’s face, and then her eyes fell upon the disheveled, "blood-soaked," and pitiful-looking Vera.

Her face immediately turned stern. She gave Rona Langdon a harsh lecture, ordering her to apologize to Grandma Dixon and pay two hundred yuan for medical expenses. 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

Rona Langdon was furious. ’First, I have to apologize, and now I have to pay up?’ To her, it was not only a complete loss of face but felt like she was being forced to pay with her own flesh and blood.

Before apologizing to Grandma Dixon, she first turned on Vera and cursed her out. "This is all your fault, you little troublemaker!"

Still fuming after the verbal lashing, she raised her hand to strike Vera. Vera caught her wrist. "Mom, I’m eighteen years old now," she said. "I’m a citizen with full civil rights. You can’t just hit me whenever you feel like it!"

As Vera raised her arm, her pale skin came into view, revealing several distinct pinch marks. Paired with the ketchup stains on her clothes, she looked utterly wretched.

Theresa Goodman’s anger flared. "Rona Langdon, you dare to hit your daughter like this right in front of all of us! I can’t even imagine what you do to her at home! While we typically don’t interfere in family matters, your actions constitute abuse. If Vera decides to press charges, you will be held criminally responsible!"

Grandma Dixon was furious too. "Vera, press charges! You’re better off without a mother like her! If you have nowhere to go, you can come live with me. This old lady gets terribly bored all alone at home; I’d be thrilled to have some company!"

The moment Rona Langdon heard that Vera could press charges, her bravado faltered, but she still put on a tough front. "I’m the one who gave birth to her," she retorted. "She has bad habits. What’s wrong with me teaching her a lesson?"

She then turned to Vera. "You ungrateful brat! Don’t you know what’s good for you? It wasn’t easy raising you! If you dare to press charges against me, you’d better watch out for lightning striking you down!"

Vera looked right at Rona Langdon. "I didn’t grow up by your side. I’ve been back in the city for less than six months. Frankly, I can’t seem to recall much of the ’kindness’ you showed me while raising me!"

Rona Langdon was left speechless. Grandma Dixon chimed in, "That’s right! I’ve seen it with my own eyes from next door, more than once! Whenever Preston is away, Rona makes Vera eat their leftovers. She’s either hitting her or yelling at her every single day and never gives the poor girl anything decent to eat. Not long ago, she tried to sell her own daughter off for a ten-thousand-yuan bride price! I’ve never in my life seen such a mother!"

Rona Langdon was seething. She shot a venomous glare at Grandma Dixon, who immediately returned it. "Was I lying? Is any of that not the truth?"

Theresa Goodman asked Vera, "Do you want to press charges against your mother? If so, I can take you to the police station to file a report right now."

Rona Langdon panicked. "I was just being a bit strict with my own child," she said hurriedly. "There’s no need to get the police involved! It’s not that serious!"

She shot Vera a hard glare, signaling her to say something in her defense. Ultimately, she no longer dared to hit or curse at Vera as she had just done.

Theresa Goodman asked Vera the question once more. Vera, in turn, asked Theresa, "If she tries to hit me again next time, am I allowed to fight back?"

Theresa Goodman hadn’t expected that question. After a brief hesitation, she nodded. "Yes, you can. In the eyes of the law, that would be self-defense."

As long as that self-defense wasn’t excessive, she wouldn’t be held legally responsible. This meant that the next time Rona Langdon tried to hit Vera, she could hit her back—hard!

P.S. My computer broke, so I had a new one built, but then it got a virus. I was halfway through writing this Chapter when the document closed on its own and I lost the entire draft! I could just cry my eyes out in the bathroom! Send hugs!