"You want me to be a scapegoat?"
Lincoln Suarez's brows were tightly furrowed. He gave Old Madam Smith, who was sitting right in front of the family hall, a piercing gaze.
Old Madam Smith took a sip of her tea and said in an indifferent tone, "This matter concerns the reputation of the Smith family, hence, you should take the blame for Aiden! Don't worry, you will be freed in only a few year's time. You have a lot of time left since you are still young."
"Why should I do that? Aiden is even younger than me by two years!" said Lincoln Suarez.
"You b*stard!"
"How dare you compare yourself to Aiden?" sneered Uncle Jaxon, who was next to him.
"Exactly. Look at your own identity before you speak!"
"This is a chance for you to be of some help to the family. Isn't wealth the main purpose you became the son-in-law of the Smith family? You will get 200,000 dollars just by living there for a few years. What a good deal for you!"
Lincoln was rendered speechless.
In the hall, all the elderly and relatives were blabbering.
Lincoln pursed his lips.
"What a bunch of selfish and inhumane people!" he cursed to himself.
Three years ago, he had become the son-in-law of Micheal Smith, the third son of the Smith family. No one in the family had ever respected him. Even the servants disdained him and treated him like a dog.
He could tolerate all that.
However, at the moment, they even wanted him to become a scapegoat!
The night before, Aiden Smith, the youngest son of the fourth uncle in the Smith family, had drugged a young lady at the pub and did indecent things to her. After the incident, the young lady had reported to the police. However, since she was unconscious, she had no idea who the real culprit was .
The Smith family was worried that the police would eventually find out about the truth. Hence, they immediately held a family meeting and decided to let Lincoln take the blame for Aiden Smith.
200,000 dollars.
It seemed like a huge sum of money.
However, Lincoln Suarez did not marry into the Smith family for their wealth. Instead, it was all for his wife, Kailynn Smith!
Back in the winter when he was five, he had been wandering on the streets in the heavy snow. He almost froze to death in the garbage dump. It was that piece of bread given by Kailynn Smith that allowed him to survive. Since then, he swore to himself that once he had the ability, he would repay her greatly.
In these past three years, he had lived like a dog. All the house chores, including laundry, cooking and more, were under him. He had also been despised and looked down on all the while. There was even once where he got slapped by his mother-in-law just because his cooking was a little too salty.
Even Kailynn Smith looked down on him. Even though they were legally married, they still slept in separate rooms.
However, he was satisfied as long as he could be by her side.
Wealth?
To him, even a mountain of gold would still be far less important than her!
"I disagree with this."
Lincoln Suarez rejected their request in a calm tone.
What a joke.
If he was imprisoned, how could he protect her?
"Have you forgotten your place? Are you trying to blackmail us now?"
"You must be thinking you are at an advantageous position now, right? What an ungrateful man!"
Once again, Lincoln was helpless.
The crowd started yelling again.
Kailynn Smith couldn't stand it anymore. Her eyes were red and swollen. "E-Enough, all of you!" she yelled.
Although she herself looked down on Lincoln Suarez too, he was still her husband in name. It was obviously an insult to her that he was being condemned in such a way.
"Kailynn, how can you talk to the elderly in this manner? How rude!" snapped the first uncle with a frown.
"Have you forgotten which family you belong to after spending too much time with this man?" asked the second uncle.
Someone appeared right in that moment.
Aiden Smith came into the hall with a cigarette in his mouth. "Grandmother, if he disagrees, I have another idea. We can seek help from Mr. Meyer," he said.
"Mr. Meyer? Are you talking about Mr. Meyer of the Meyer Group?" Everyone was surprised, including the old lady.
"Of course!"
Aiden Smith raised his head and said proudly," Last night, I drank a few glasses with Mr. Meyer. He was such a friendly man. He had also expressed his admiration for me and he even wishes to do business with me in the future!"
The hall became quiet as everyone was shocked.
The Meyer Group was extremely popular in the Landsel City. It was one of the three major family groups in the city, and it was a family group that the Smith family could not even compare to. To them, the Meyer Group was the true wealthy family!
"Mr. Meyer has taken a fancy to Kailynn. As long as Kailynn gets divorced and gets married to Mr. Meyer, that'll be enough."
Aiden Smith continued to speak.
When everyone heard him, they all focused their attention on Kailynn Smith.
Her mother, Alma Meyer, was especially excited.
How glorious it would be to marry into the Meyer family!
It was such a great opportunity for them to increase their social status!
She had long wanted Lincoln Suarez to be out of the Smith family. However, the old lady had been worried about the Smith family's reputation. Hence, she couldn't do anything about it.
Meanwhile, the old lady's initially serious eyes were also now filled with uncontrollable excitement.
After a moment of being stunned, the old lady stood up and slammed the table. "It has now been settled! Kailynn will get a divorce and marry Mr. Meyer," she announced.
It was obvious why she would make such a choice.
She would not let go of such an opportunity.
With Mr. Meyer's connections, the Smith family would not be far from their dreams of joining the list of wealthy and powerful families!
As for Lincoln Suarez?
He was just a good-for-nothing. Who would care about him?
"Yes, yes! It has been settled!"
Lincoln was flabbergasted.
The others started to celebrate with joy and excitement. They even praised Aiden Smith for managing to gain a connection with Mr. Meyer.
"Kailynn, you should thank Aiden."
The old lady was sipping her tea with rosy cheeks, as if she had already become one of the powerful wealthy families.
"No, I don't agree to this!" Kailynn Smith shook her head and answered with a frown.
"You don't?" Everyone looked at her and asked.
"You should have all heard about Mr. Meyer's personality. He is such a womanizer, and he had been spreading diseases around to women," said Kailynn Smith.
"It-it's also possible that those women didn't behave properly!" said the first uncle.
"That's right! Why are you so certain that it was Mr. Meyer who brought them the disease? Who knows? Maybe the women just tried to blackmail him for money!"
Kailynn was utterly exasperated.
She felt a chill in her heart while listening to their persuasion. She gritted her teeth and said, "Grandmother, if it wasn't for Lincoln Suarez, I might have died three years ago. I cannot forget his kindness and turn my back against him!"
"How impudent!"
The old lady was furious. She slammed the table and scolded, "So, are you saying that I'm not repaying his kindness now?"
"Yes, that's exactly what she meant!"
Aiden Smith, who was by their side, started to add fuel to the fire. He said, "Kailynn, you've only been thinking about repaying his kindness, but have you once thought about Grandmother? If it wasn't for Grandmother, Third Uncle wouldn't exist. If it wasn't for Third Uncle, how would you be standing right here? Hence, your life was actually given to you by Grandmother!"
"That's right. Aiden is much more sensible," praised the others.
Kailynn just remained silent.
The old lady also looked at him approvingly and then said to the crowd, "That's it! The meeting is over!"
"Grandmother..."
Kailynn Smith was about to refute, but the old lady had already gotten up and gone back to her room. She didn't care about her opinion at all.
The others had also persuaded her to look at the bigger picture and put the family before herself.
Kailynn Smith burst into tears.
She was like an abandoned child, crying so hard that it made one's heart ache.
The tenderness and anger in Lincoln's heart were ignited. He reached out and wiped the tears on her face. He frowned and said word by word, "Dear, don't worry. I won't let anyone bully you!"
His tone was resolute.
He turned around and walked out.
Kailynn Smith was stunned.
At that moment, she felt that Lincoln's aura was completely different from his usual timid and cowardly self, as if he had changed into another person!
He walked out of the door.
Lincoln Suarez lit a cigarette and took a deep breath. He then took out his mobile phone, found a number that he had been resisting to contact, and dialed it.
"M-Mr. Suarez, is that really you? That's great! I've been waiting for your call since forever," said the elder person on the other side of the phone while sobbing.
Lincoln Suarez said with a cool tone, "I can inherit the billion dollar properties, but I have a condition."