When Family Became a Place I Couldn’t Return To novel Chapter 115

Felix sat quietly in his wheelchair, Jonah standing close at his side. They waited just outside the main hall, and when Nelly arrived, it was Jonah who opened the door for her. Their eyes met for a moment. Jonah’s gaze flickered, like he had so many things he wanted to say, but he only managed a soft, “Hey.”

Nelly nodded, giving Jonah a quick once-over. The bruises on his face had faded to barely-there smudges. He looked almost healed.

She wanted to go straight to Michael, but Jonah reached out and gently caught her arm.

“Put it all on me,” he murmured quietly, a reminder of what they’d agreed.

Jonah never thought Nelly would actually go and beat up Rudy herself. But now that he knew, he wasn’t scared. If anything, he was touched. Nelly could put up with so much after hearing Felix’s opinion, but for him, she didn’t care about the Watson family’s reputation at all.

“This is my problem, Jonah. It has nothing to do with you.” Nelly brushed his hand away, her tone cool, her eyes steady. But there was a hint of a smile in her pretty, delicate features.

Jonah felt his chest tighten. She was turning his own words back on him, just like that day.

Felix rolled forward to block Nelly’s path. He knew she wouldn’t listen, but he still tried. “If you get reckless again, I won’t be able to help you next time.”

Nelly just smiled. “We’re a team, aren’t we?”

She was clear about it now. No matter what happened, Felix would always end up on her side. Nancy showing up only made her more certain. She, Christopher, and Felix were all outsiders in the Watson family. If Felix tried to threaten her, she could threaten him right back.

Felix’s eyes grew darker, but Nelly had already walked past him.

The moment Rudy spotted her, he got worked up. “Nelly, you’ve got some nerve showing up here!”

Nelly shot back, her voice icy. “If you can stand here and make a scene, why can’t I?”

The guy next to Rudy stood up too. “Nelly, Rudy says you hired someone to beat him up. Is that true?”

Nelly recognized him from the family dinner. He’s Nicholas, Michael’s youngest son. He had sat next to Britney that night. He’d kept quiet, never making things hard for her.

“Grandpa, every family has rules. I know she just got home and you can’t bear to punish her…” Britney’s voice trembled for effect. “But what about Jonah? Who does he think he is? Why does he get to hit Rudy?”

“Even if Nelly and Rudy aren’t getting along, that’s not how things should be handled.”

“I know Nelly is a good kid, but if this keeps up, she’s going to end up on the wrong path.”

Britney was obviously shifting the blame onto Jonah. Rudy looked confused for a second. Wasn’t the plan to go after Nelly? But the others picked up on her meaning right away.

Even if Michael wanted to help the Chandler family, he wasn’t going to seriously punish Nelly over this. At most, she’d have to apologize and maybe get a bad reputation in the family. But Jonah could get in real trouble.

Jonah was Felix’s right hand. If Jonah was out of the picture, Felix would be even more isolated. It would be even better if Michael started thinking Felix was mixing business with personal feelings, and forced him to cut ties with Nelly.

Jonah understood exactly what Britney was trying to do. He stepped forward and spoke up, going along with it. “It’s true. It’s me who started things between Nelly and Rudy. I’ve had issues with Rudy for a long time. Grandpa, if someone needs to be punished, it should be me.”