The Marvelous Elijah’s Return

Chapter 14

I will sign the papers

As they walked into the front door of the hospital, Peach kept her hands clapped to her side and lier eyes locked on the floor.

When Elijah noticed how uneasy she was,

he felt a small amount of guilt creeping into his heart but quickly suppressed it, keeping his focus ahead of him, walking beside her.

“Miss Peach,” A nurse said with a smile, meeting her from the opposite direction.

“Mrs. Williams, good afternoon… How is my mother’s condition?” Peach said with a slight nod, ignoring Elijah standing close to her. “Her condition has gotten better since this morning, and she even got a visitor.”

“Visitor?!”

A sense of worry flashed across Peach’s features and her heart skipped a beat. She knew her mother had only her, and the fact that someone visited was not a good sign. Especially when that someone was most likely her father’s…

“Your uncle Tommy is here with his wife to see her.” Mrs. William then informed Peach with a polite smile, causing her eyes to widen in surprise.

“No!!” Peach shouted, causing Elijah to jump a little bit in surprise as he looked at her.

Rushing past the nurse, Peach ran down the hallway, and Elijah had no choice but to follow her.

As he approached Peach, she raced toward her mother’s room, threw the door open, and entered, her heart beating uncontrollably within her chest.

Peach froze in place, her eyes widening even more as she saw her mother with a pen in her hand and her uncle Tommy with a paper in his grip. “Mama, please tell me you didn’t do what I think you did?!” Peach cried, racing toward her mother’s bedside and placing her hands atop hers. “Peach! Please, calm down,” her mother said calmly, gently patting her hand.

Silently, Elijah slipped into the room, feeling a sense of rage when Tommy’s gaze rested on his eyes, and the old man scowled, a look of anger and disgust written upon his face.

The lady beside him, dressed in a fancy dress, pearl necklace around her neck, and diamond earrings in her ears, scowled at Peach, her eyes glowing with hate and contempt for her.

“Can you not greet your aunt and uncle? Or have you forgotten manners? Huh!! You little, rotten brat.” Aunt Patricia hissed at Peach through gritted teeth, sounding like she was barely holding back her hatred and fury for her.

A bitter laugh escaped from Peach’s lips, tears pooling up in her eyes and rolling down her cheeks as she mumbled hatefully, “Aunt?! Uncle?! How shameless of a fool can you two get to think that I consider you two as a family? You’re despicable.” Pinching her daughter’s hand, Miss Grace frowned and cried, “Peach, be quiet!”

“Mama, this… these…!! Uncle Tommy is the reason you are in this place, on this damn hospital bed, instead of being home with me, and you expect me to be civil to those two!?” Peach said softly, yet, her tone carried so much anger and resentment in its wake.

“That’s enough, niece. Even though this is how nasty your ways are, I have told you before and I’ll tell you again, ‘we are family and we must stick together.” Mrs. Williams spoke, her nose flaring and her eyes burning with hatred towards her niece-in-law. As Peach was about to let her have a piece of her

mind, she eyed her mother and thought about how her words were going to affect her, so she drew a breath to calm her nerves and held herself back.

“Why are you guys here?” Peach finally asked, looking from her aunt Patricia to her uncle Tommy. Clearing his throat, Tommy’s eyes beamed with pride and ego as he said, “We know that you and your mother will not be able to pay for the hospital bill, so…”

“Haha,” Peach faintly laughed, unable to suppress her annoyance anymore. A frown crossed Patricia’s brows, and she lashed out, “My husband is trying to be generous to you and your mother, and you have the guts to be sarcastic? Have you lost your mind?!”

“Have I lost my mind? Ha? How about you look in the mirror and ask that question? Huh!!” Peach cried, her voice rising higher as the words fell out of her mouth.

Lifting her hand, Patricia swung it towards Peach’s cheek, but her wrist got trapped in Elijah’s grip as he raised his brows when she dragged her gaze on him.

“Hitting people is what made your husband hurt Miss Grace this bad. I advise you two to keep your hands to yourself and save your discipline for your kids!”

“You worthless bastard! How dare you talk to my wife like that. Have you lost your damn mind, huh!!” Tommy shouted, taking a step forward and aiming his fist at Elijah’s face.

Before he could make contact, Elijah grabbed hold of Tommy’s wrist, ceasing his hand, looking at both his wife and him with an intense stare.

Speechless, Peach’s gaze met Elijah’s eyes, not knowing that he would stand by her side and defend her when he had been so cold towards her and acted so distant. The last thing she expected him to do was to step forward and protect her or her mother.

Clearing his throat softly, Elijah withdrew his hand to his side, looked away from Peach, and said, “Miss Grace just had surgery. Maybe you all should respect the patient and lower your voice or get out!” Without him calling her name, Peach knew he was scolding her too, and she felt her heart sink further than it already had. Both Tommy and his wife looked ashamed for only a second, then their faces morphed back into anger.

Taking a deep breath, Tommy glared at Elijah one last time, grabbed his wife’s arm, and pulled her to his side before looking at Miss Grace and asking, “Are you going to sign the agreement or not?!”

His wife and he looked damn right pissed off, and if Elijah weren’t there, both of them would

have bullied Peach and her mother until their anger was satisfied. With a sigh, she took a seat next to her mother, took the pen out of her hand, and asked,” Mama, what contract are they talking about?” With tears falling freely from her eyes, Miss Grace squeezed her daughter’s hand tightly and smiled weakly, saying, “Your uncle and aunt promise to clear my hospital bill if we sell the motel to them, and also rid us of the debt your father owes him. Plus, they will buy us a townhouse to stay at.” “Mama!!” Peach exclaimed, not even shocked that such a vile act could be done by her own relatives. “No!!”

“What do you mean by, ‘No!’ Do you know how generous my husband is to you guys!?” Patricia said loudly with a smirk on her face. “He could have taken you and your sad excuse of a mother to court, suing you two for all the money your father owes him… But-” “Let him?” Elijah said, feeling disgusted at how much bullying these two were doing to a sick woman and her daughter. “I bet he can’t because of how corrupt he has been to Miss Grace. Am I right?”

“Ha… What… Do you even know anything… My husband… Well, who do you think you are! Huh?! To put your mouth into our family matters!? Don’t you know that this is wrong!?” Patricia screamed at Elijah, making him chuckle humorlessly. The casual look on Elijah’s face made Tommy’s blood boil with rage, and he stepped toward Elijah angrily, yelling, “What are you laughing at now, you asshole?! Now, I know why Melina dumped your pitiful ass!”

Glancing at Tommy coldly, Elijah remained silent and did not withdraw his gaze off either of them as Patricia let out, “No wonder his face looked so familiar. He’s Melina’s useless stayed – at-home husband.”

“Ex-husband. I am not married to that slut of yours any longer.” Elijah spoke calmly, causing the room to fall dead silent for only a split second. Immediately; Patricia’s eyes widened and her face hardened as she cried, “Honey!! Honey!! Did you hear what he said about Dean’s daughter!!”

Stepping closer to Elijah’s face, Tommy scowled, and coldly said in a dead tone, “I don’t know who the hell you think you are, boy, but you are barking at the wrong family, and you might get yourself hurt, badly…! For your stupidity and arrogance,” “Can you see me pissing myself?” Elijah said mockingly. “But seriously, I don’t care if you or whoever else thinks I’m some fucking idiot. So what? Do you think I’m scared of a couple of people like you who haven’t gotten their shit together and think they are all- powerful, Huh?!” The room grew silent as every mouth slightly opened at his words and tone… Peach was completely stunned by his behavior. “Grace, did you join forces with this bastard?” Tommy spat harshly at his sister-in-law, his cheeks turning red with anger, who was too speechless to say a word. “Honey, let’s go! It’s clear that they don’t want our help. We shouldn’t trouble ourselves with them anymore.” Patricia angrily told her husband, glaring at Elijah with so much animosity, that it looked as if she would eat him alive. Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

Snapping out of her shock, Miss Grace’s face etched with worry as she cried, “Wait, please don’t. I will sign the papers!”