For years, the town had moved past the era of forced, arranged marriages. Modern courtships followed normal protocols—families would at least learn the other party's name, age, and background, often asking around to ensure they were of good character before moving forward.
Yet here was Brenda Thorne, screaming about her daughter-in-law without either of them even knowing the poor girl's name. It was undeniably unhinged.
Julian's face flushed an ugly, dark red as the villagers' whispers reached him. He clearly felt humiliated. "It seems you're infected with that typical city-girl arrogance. Once we're married, I'll make sure to cure you of these bad habits."
Again with the marriage delusions!
Realizing it was physically impossible to have a rational conversation with these lunatics, Hulda turned to her team. "Leave the equipment for now. Let's head down and meet Desmond."
"Agreed." Dr. Lynch nodded. Though Desmond was rushing over, there was no telling how long he'd take. With the Thornes escalating the situation and the crowd getting restless, the team couldn't guarantee her safety.
Seeing Hulda turn to leave, Julian and his mother panicked.
"You can't leave! My mother came out here personally to formalize this! Walking away is incredibly disrespectful!" Julian lunged forward, reaching for Hulda's arm, but Caleb violently shoved him back.
Julian stumbled backward, crashing hard into Brenda.
She shrieked in pain, then absolutely lost her mind, pointing a shaking finger at Hulda. "I knew we shouldn't bring an outsider into the family! Look at her, rolling around with a bunch of men all day! She's nothing but trash! If you hadn't told me she was a rich city girl, I never would have—"
"Mom, shut up! Just stop them from leaving!" Julian's eyes burned with a dark, obsessive intensity, glaring at Hulda as if she were a piece of meat already on his plate.



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