\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 6 The Weight of Family\u00a0<\/p>\n
:\u00a0<\/p>\n
288 Vouchers\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 6 The Weight of Family\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cMr. Stafford said, as long as you agree to marry his son, he can immediately take care of our money problems. Moreover, he will arrange an easy deputy manager role for Barnaby in his company, making 50 grand a year.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I looked at him in disbelief.\u00a0<\/p>\n
11\u00a0<\/p>\n
For twenty years, I had called this man \u201cDad,\u201d yet now, he had turned his back on me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
For 33,000 dollars, and to secure his good-for-nothing son\u2019s future, he boxed me up like an object and traded me away.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cDad\u2026 I\u2019m your daughter\u2026\u201d I burst into tears, staring at him in despair.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cPrecisely because you\u2019re my daughter, you must shoulder the responsibility for this family!\u201d he snarled, his voice unyielding, freezing me to the core.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cBarnaby is the golden child of this family. He mustn\u2019t be harmed or have his name dragged through the mud! Eventually, you\u2019ll get married, so does it matter to whom? Marry Pierce\u2019s son, and we kill two birds with one stone: solve our crisis and secure your brother\u2019s future. That is how you make the most of your worth and contribute to your family!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Mom turned her face away, too pained to look at me. Then she covered her mouth and wept in\u00a0<\/p>\n
silence.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Barnaby hung his head, acquiescing in Dad\u2019s decision.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A ghost of a smile of victory touched Eileen\u2019s lips.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I felt myself falling into a bottomless pit, surrounded by grotesque and ravenous monsters.\u00a0<\/p>\n
All my struggles, my efforts, my sleepless nights, and every certificate I fought for-none of it mattered as much as \u201cmy marriage.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
At that moment, I felt my world falling apart.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I could no longer recognize the three I had called \u201cfamily,\u201d each one more terrifying than the other.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Dad wasted no time and set up the meeting the next day.\u00a0<\/p>\n
0.00%\u00a0<\/p>\n
10:39\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 6 The Weight of Family\u00a0<\/p>\n
In a fancy restaurant, Pierce\u2019s son, a man with a beer belly, sized me up and down with a lascivious and judgmental stare, as if I were nothing more than a piece of meat.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He even pried open my mouth to inspect my teeth.\u00a0<\/p>\n
288 Vouchers\u00a0<\/p>\n
In the end, he gave a nod of satisfaction and said to Dad, \u201cMr. Ravenscroft, I\u2019m very pleased with your daughter. She\u2019s pure, obedient, and fit to be a mother.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
When they were hashing out details for the wedding, Dad\u2019s phone rang.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It was from the police department.\u00a0<\/p>\n
After he hung up, the smug, sycophantic smile vanished from his face, replaced by a deathly pallor.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He looked at us, his voice dry and raspy. \u201cIt\u2019s Barnaby\u2026 He got into trouble again.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
It turned out that the man Barnaby had beaten yesterday had powerful connections and refused any private settlement.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He gathered his gang and ambushed Barnaby on his way to \u201cnegotiate.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
They broke Barnaby\u2019s leg.\u00a0<\/p>\n
We rushed to the ER. The hospital corridor reeked of disinfectant and blood.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Barnaby lay on the bed, his right leg wrapped in a cast with blood soaking through, his face as white as a sheet, his body convulsing in waves of pain.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Eileen crouched by the bed, crying her heart out. Tears ruined her makeup.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The doctor pulled Dad aside, his expression grave. \u201cHis right tibia is broken into pieces. It\u2019s a complex case, and the surgery will be challenging. Even if it goes well, I\u2019m afraid\u2026 he may be permanently disabled.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Mom fainted and slumped to the ground with a thud.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Dad stayed silent, his body tense.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I stood on the sideline, as if I were a mere spectator.\u00a0<\/p>\n
No one noticed me. No one paid me any attention. I was almost invisible.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Slowly, my dad turned his head, his gaze slicing through the clamorous crowd, impaling me like a nail.\u00a0<\/p>\n
43.71%\u00a0<\/p>\n
10:39\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 6 The Weight of Family\u00a0<\/p>\n
288 Vouchers\u00a0<\/p>\n
He marched toward me in big strides. There was no hint of anger or sadness on his face, only a bone-chilling calm.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He stopped in front of me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He scrutinized me like a number in his ledger, the ultimate weight to balance his scale and erase the deficits.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSyl,\u201d he uttered, his voice making my hair stand on end. \u201cBarnaby needs a leg.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He paused. His every word cut like a blade, driving deeper into my heart.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHow do you think the scales should be balanced?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
88.11%\u00a0<\/p>\n
10.39\u00a0<\/p>\n
Joseph King is an editor and storyteller who ensures every chapter is clear, polished, and engaging for readers.<\/p>\n
Marriage On Hold by Mark Twain 6 \u00a0 Chapter 6 The Weight of Family\u00a0 :\u00a0 288 Vouchers\u00a0 Chapter 6 The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[54],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23191","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-story-of-my-life-novel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23191","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23191"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23191\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23191"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23191"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23191"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}