"It’s fine, no bones were broken. I’ll get some medicine for her when we get back."

Byron Thorne pressed on the spot a few times and understood the situation. A child’s bones are pliable; it wasn’t anything serious. But inwardly, he was furious. ’Bullying my granddaughter is the same as showing me, Byron Thorne, no respect. The Golding family has gone too far, and they still have the nerve to demand compensation. Ptooey!’

’I’ll give them dog turds for compensation!’

"We’ll accept responsibility. Let Phoenix and Linden come to my place for treatment, and I won’t charge a single cent." Byron Thorne paused, then added, "My little girl is so badly hurt. How do you plan to compensate us?"

Tang Xiaonan whimpered cooperatively a few times and squeezed out a few more tears. She lay there listlessly, looking as pitiful as a frost-bitten seedling.

"What’s a little scratch like that? It’ll heal on its own without any medicine," Mrs. Golding said indignantly.

"Your Phoenix and Linden could also heal without medicine. They’re just flesh wounds, nothing that will affect their ability to eat, drink, or relieve themselves." Byron Thorne spoke slowly and methodically, appearing quite good-tempered, but his words were like needles hidden in cotton, leaving Mrs. Golding speechless.

Trying to pry a feather from the most miserly "iron rooster" in the village was harder than climbing to heaven. Mrs. Golding had seriously miscalculated.

"Alright, both families are at fault. Go home and reflect on your actions!" Preston Thorne stepped in to smooth things over.

Mrs. Golding still wanted to argue, but Mr. Golding shot her a look and said with a smile, "Yes, yes, both sides are at fault. The Captain is right."

Byron Thorne chimed in, "That’s right, we’ll go home and reflect right now. Felix, Goldie, Aurelia, come over and apologize to your aunt."

"Auntie, we were a bit too rough. Please don’t take it to heart!"

Felix Thorne dragged a reluctant Phoebe Huxley over, and Goldie Thorne came as well. They apologized with great sincerity. Mrs. Golding’s face was grim, and she was so frustrated she could have died from choking on her anger. Any fool could see that Preston Thorne was blatantly siding with his own family. How was she supposed to swallow an insult like that?

But whether she could swallow it or not, she had to. Who could she blame? The Golding family didn’t have a village chief among them, putting them a step below the Thorne family for no good reason.

Tang Xiaonan found it amusing. ’That’s my grandpa, alright—getting the upper hand and then playing innocent.’ But this also meant they had thoroughly offended the Golding family. ’That family is incredibly petty. I’ll have to be more careful in the future.’

The great battle thus came to an end. Byron Thorne led his family home. Although Phoenix Golding was resentful, there was nothing she could do. But her hatred for Tang Xiaonan was bone-deep. ’As long as that damn brat dares to come to school, I have a hundred ways to make her life miserable!’

The moment they got home, Raina slapped Felix Thorne across the back of his head. "You get meat and don’t think to give it to your own father and mother? You gave dozens of pounds of meat to an outsider? Has your brain been eaten by maggots?" 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

Although Phoenix Golding had once been Raina’s favored candidate for a daughter-in-law, she was now an outsider. For Felix Thorne to give dozens of pounds of meat to an outsider was a major transgression in her eyes. Not beating him to death was already a show of mercy.

Byron Thorne’s expression changed slightly. ’Dozens of pounds of meat? Damn it, the eldest has been completely blinded by lust!’

SMACK.

Byron Thorne couldn’t resist landing a slap of his own. Raina followed up with another. Felix Thorne didn’t dare make a sound, meekly accepting the mixed-doubles beatdown from his parents.

"Phoenix Golding’s lover is Storm Xavier! Everyone in Xavier Village knows it. If you had married her back then, your head would be just like Vernon Spann’s—you’d be a big, green-hatted cuckold!"

Phoebe Huxley couldn’t help but let out a sarcastic remark. Before Felix Thorne could get angry, she carried a large basin of hot water to the washroom. She had been carrying manure all day and reeked.

This was the second time Tang Xiaonan had heard the name Storm Xavier. ’His surname is Xavier, so he must be from Xavier Village. I wonder if Clayton Xavier knows him.’

"If you ever give her meat again, I’ll break your legs!" Raina cursed viciously. Felix Thorne didn’t dare say a word. Naturally, he wouldn’t dare give Phoenix Golding any more meat.

Besides, a knot of suspicion had formed in his heart. Those hickeys were too fresh; they definitely weren’t from Vernon Spann. The thought that the idealized woman of his dreams actually had another man on the side left a sour taste in Felix Thorne’s mouth.