When Family Became a Place I Couldn’t Return To novel Chapter 118

"Britney..." Nicholas left and Michael shot him a furious glare, Rudy panicked and looked to Britney for help. Britney got up, all exasperation and disappointment. "Rudy, how could you be so careless?" she said, sighing. "I know you wanted to stand up for Nancy, but you shouldn’t have gone after Nelly. We’re all family, aren’t we?"

Britney was quick, as always, trying to nudge the blame toward Nancy. Everyone in the room knew about the years-long tension between Nancy and Felix, and Rudy had spent those years trying to please Nancy in every way he could.

Nancy stayed silent, and Nelly didn’t respond either. The truth was, Nancy didn’t care much about Rudy, but she still felt a little guilty.

Michael stayed silent for a long while before slowly sitting back down at the head of the table. The room went quiet. He looked over at Felix, who sat in tense silence.

"Get down on your knees," Michael said, his voice cold.

Sensing things were about to get worse, Britney’s eyes grew red and she suddenly switched to her strict-mother act. She pushed Rudy down so he had no choice but to kneel in front of Michael.

"Apologize to your grandfather!"

"I... I am sorry," Rudy muttered, barely able to keep his anger in check. His whole body thrummed with humiliation.

"Dad, Rudy’s just spoiled. He isn’t a bad person, he just doesn’t think things through. Besides, Jonah and Nelly already beat some sense into him. His wounds haven’t even healed yet, he’s learned his lesson..." Britney wiped her eyes, giving Rudy a few dramatic smacks like she couldn’t believe how much trouble he’d caused. She was a far better actor than Rudy ever could be. Nelly almost wanted to clap.

Michael let out a slow breath, then turned to Felix. "Felix, what do you think?"

"Nelly’s right," Felix said, glancing quickly at Nelly and Nancy. "If we’re handling this as a family, we have to do it fairly. When Jonah made a mistake, he had to accept the family rules. So Rudy should too." Felix knew exactly what Nelly was after. She needed this, and no one could stop her. Whatever happened next, there was already a rift with the Chandler family. Might as well deal with Rudy now.

"Felix, Rudy’s already hurt. If you use the family punishment now, you’ll kill him. His mistake isn’t that serious, is it? Shouldn’t we at least consider why he did it?" Britney was quick to argue, turning to Nancy for backup.

Nancy looked like she wanted to say something, but Nelly stepped in first. "Aunt Britney, Rudy’s probably done a lot of things he shouldn’t have. Having a reason doesn’t make it right. If we always make excuses for him, what happens when he does something even worse and claims it was for the Watson family? Should we all have to pay for his mess?"

Nelly’s words shut Britney down instantly.

"Nelly, Grandfather’s still in charge here. Why are you acting so pleased with yourself?" Rudy burst out, trying to get up.

Michael slammed his cane down hard, making Rudy flinch. "Nelly, I see your uncles and aunts are all getting old and talk too much. What do you want Rudy to do?"

Michael’s face was unreadable, his eyes fixed on the floor. Nelly didn’t hesitate. She nodded at him, then walked over to Rudy.

Before Rudy could explode again, Britney cleared her throat, loud and sharp.

Michael nodded. "That settles it."

With everything decided, Nelly turned to leave. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Britney helping Rudy up, his glare burning holes in her back. She paused, like she’d just remembered something.

"One more thing. If we’re being fair, I owe Rudy an explanation too." Nelly looked at Jonah. "I crashed Rudy’s car, so I should pay him back. Do you have any cash on you?"

Jonah caught on immediately. His eyes softened as he looked at her. "I do."

He pulled his wallet out of his pocket, took out a thick stack of cash, and handed it to Rudy in front of everyone. It was just like the time Rudy had thrown money at Jonah.

"Sorry about your car. This should cover it. If it’s not enough, come to the Watson house, I’ll make it up to you."

Rudy’s eyes went red with anger. He refused to take the money, so Jonah just set it down on the chair beside him.