Abigail slammed her palm on the table, leaned across, and hissed into my face.
"I said your whole family is vicious. Your mother deserved to be run over!"
Smack!
I struck her across the face with everything I had. The sound cracked through the room.
Stunned, Abigail's head whipped to the side. For a heartbeat she froze, then clawed toward my face.
"Julian, you bastard—how dare you hit me?!"
The commotion woke Jane. She came running on bare feet, eyes wide with panic.
"Mommy, don't hit Daddy!"
Abigail's hand stopped midair. She looked at the child, clenched her jaw, then shoved me to the floor.
"You'll regret this, Julian."
The front door slammed so hard the walls shook.
I held Jane in my arms, my teeth grinding, my chest trembling.
'Regret? No, Abigail. The one who will regret this is you.'
That night, the surveillance footage of my mother-in-law's accident shot up the trending searches.
Her brother stormed into my place with his phone in hand, his whole body quaking with fury.
"Those bastards! My sister died so horribly, and now they twist the story like this? Do they even have a shred of humanity left?"
I poured him water, then took the phone.