Chapter-101
When Tina and her entourage left the scene, the Nicholsons still felt like they were in a daze.
They were still reeling at the fact that the high and mighty young lady of the Hummer family had not only pardoned their wrongdoings but was also the first to humble herself and apologize to them in person after getting her ass whooped.
It was truly unfathomable!
"What's wrong with the Hummers today? Who knew that they could even be this humble?"
"I know, right? If I hadn't pinched myself, I would have thought I was dreaming!"
"Could it be that Ms. Hummer genuinely realized her mistakes, and that's why she came over to apologize in person?"
"Nonsense! You overestimate how righteous the Hummer family can be!"
The Nicholsons erupted into a flurry of discussion, and it seemed like it wasn't about to die down soon.
"This can't be Dustin's doing, right?" Julle asked herself with a suspicious look; she felt uneasy on the inside.
Ever since last night's beating session, Dustin had displayed a kind of calm that was uncommon in most people. As if he was confident that everything was going fine as planned.
So, either he was completely aware of the situation, or he was too good at hiding his emotions.
Then again, when she thought back to the fact that he'd been married to his cousin for three years and hadn't accomplished much over the years, she found it incredibly hard to believe that he was the guy who brought the Hummers to their knees.
Amid all the confusion, Matt Laney, who was dressed to the nines, suddenly strolled into the room.
"Huh, so everyone's already here. Just in time, too. I have good news for you all the ban by the Hummers has officially been lifted!" Matt announced the news with a big grin.
"I understand everything now! So, everything that happened just now was because of you, right Matt?" Florence probed, as she assumed she'd succeeded in connecting all the dots. Her gaze instantly perked up too.
"That's right! How did I forget that we still have Matt here with us!" James exclaimed after coming back to his senses.
"No wonder the Hummers apologized to us! So, after all, it was because Matt was secretly helping us behind the scenes!"
"Exactly! Who else could be this capable apart from Mr. Laney?"
At that moment, all of the Nicholsons had starstruck looks on their faces.
So the reason why the Hummer family decided to offer an apology was that Matt had pressed them to do so.
behind the scenes.
That's right! That must be the case!
"What's wrong? What just happened?" Matt asked around, confused.
To think that they just bombarded him with things he didn't understand. Even if he had sharp wits, he was still unable to piece together everything that had happened yet.
"You don't have to hide anything from us anymore, Matt. We all saw what you did. If not for you, how would Ms. Hummer even have apologized to us?" Florence said with a relieved look on her face.
"She apologized?" Matt repeated in disbelief, and his heart rate started to increase.
He knew exactly the kind of person Tina was. To think that an obnoxious woman like her had shown up at one's door to apologize in person?
"Exactly, Matt! This time, not only did you tide the Nicholsons through our storms, but you even managed to surprise our family. You are a great benefactor to our family!" James praised enthusiastically.
*Thank you, Mr. Laney! You saved our whole family!" The Nicholsons shouted as they stretched out their hands to thank him profusely.
"Um—" Matt trailed off in confusion.
Immediately after reeling from his stupor, the ever–quick–witted Matt flashed a big smile. "No need to be so polite, everyone. It was just something easy to take care of, I didn't even do much."
Although he had no idea what the context behind this was, he felt like he should just accept the Nicholsons' gratitude towards him.
After all, who would think of turning down another's kindness?
"You're too modest, Matt! If it weren't for you, I'm afraid the Nicholsons might have ended up in shambles!" James continued boasting.
"Please, please, this is nothing." Matt grinned and shook his head. His modest and courteous appearance was worthy of nothing but praise, after all.
"You got lucky this time, Rhys! I didn't expect you to get away with this! What are you still standing there for? Hurry up and bow down to Matt and give him your thanks now!" Florence yelled as she shifted her sharp gaze toward Dustin.
"You want me to bow down to thank him? On what grounds?" Dustin sneered out of the corners of his eyes.
"Hmph, you'd better not be ungrateful! You were the one who beat someone up and caused such havoc in the first place, so if it weren't for Matt, who saved your ass, do you think that you could even be standing here right now?" Florence retorted with a glare.
"That's right! If it weren't for Matt, you would have died a hundred times over for beating someone up by now!" James echoed in agreement.
"You guys give Matt too much credit. He's not even remotely as capable as you think he is," Dustin replied with a cold expression.
He was even impressed at the mental gymnastics they performed to get to this point. To think that they dared to prop him up and hail him as if he were a savior without knowing the full story yet.
And worst of all, Matt was just standing by and taking it all in.
"Hmph! Are you telling us that you're more capable than Matt? Why don't you look into the mirror and reflect on the kind of person you really are?"
"Yeah! People like you only know how to cause trouble and nothing else!"
"To think that there are people in this world who could be so heartless! Not only did he not thank his savior, he even talked shit about him! How disgusting!"
The Nicholsons berated Dustin. They despised people like him who were hellbent on repaying good with evil from the bottom of their hearts.
"Is it so hard for you just to thank someone, Dustin? If it weren't for Matt, you might have been killed by now!" Dahlia suddenly piped up.
To her, Dustin was still being ignorant until the bitter end. Compared to Matt saving his life, what was a mere thank you?
"I would have if he had actually helped me. But he didn't. In fact, not only did he not help me, he was the one who started this whole fiasco in the first place!" Dustin replied flatly.
"What do you mean?" Dahlia frowned.
"Iran did a background check and found out that Matt and Tina are lovers. Tina deliberately targeted you out of jealousy, thinking that you and he had some hanky panky going on behind the scenes. So, that was what led to the assault! In a nutshell, he's the true culprit all along!" Dustin declared firmly.
"Bullshit! Rhys! Not to insult you or anything, but Matt is an upright guy. He's not as bad as you say he is!" Florence cursed and jumped to her feet without waiting for Matt to respond.
"That's right! I think you're just jealous! You probably planted all kinds of evidence to frame him, knowing how much better he is than you!" James scolded.
"Oh, Dustin. Who knew you'd be so despicable!" The Nicholsons scoffed.
"Why do you always insist on causing havoc, Dustin? Can't you be more mature and sensible for once?" Dahlia spat with a scowl
However, it was fairly obvious to her that he had done all of that as a result of his jealous rage.
"Don't believe me? Just ask Julie. She was the one who saw it all last night!" Dustin defended himself and pointed at something.
Everyone's gazes immediately shifted to see what he was pointing at.
"What, me? When all eyes fell on her, Julie couldn't help but be stunned and speechless for a while.
She was just here for the show, so why did she get implicated in this whole mess when she was just another person in the crowd?
"Tell us everything you saw, and don't try to hide anything, Julie. I want to see how this punk can still argue his way out of this!" Florence ordered as she crossed her arms.
"Yeah, Julia. Just tell us everything that's on your mind. We must expose this punk for all his lies!" The Nicholsons spoke out in agreement.
"Um" But before Julie could say anything, she stopped herself. Her response made the people in the crowd feel like she'd be a loose cannon.
This was especially true for Matt, as he stood there with his heart pounding out of his chest while his forehead broke out in a cold sweat.
He'd already been scared shitless when Dustin spoke out the truth just now, so if Julie also knew something and exposed him for being the one who lied instead, he'd lose lace!
"I believe you know what happened yesterday the best. Julie. So, it's time to tell everyone the truth," Dustin added flatly.
"Stop this nonsense at once. Dustin! Save some face for yourself already." Dahlia chided with a frown.
"There's no need to be afraid, Julie. Your aunt here will back you up no matter what you say, so just tell us what you saw!" Florence said, acting all protective all of a sudden.
"About last night Julie started and trailed off. After hesitating for a few seconds, she mustered up the courage to continue with a firm gaze. "Yesterday night, I saw nothing and know nothing about the events that went down. All I knew was that Dustin was the one who beat up Ms. Hummer!"
The moment she finished, Dustin froze on the spot. He didn't expect Julle to completely flip the story on its head in front of so many people like that.
"Did you hear that, Rhys? So, this is the whole truth! I can't wait to see how you're going to argue your way out of this!" Florence shouted even louder than before.
"Not only do you not know how to be grateful, but to think that you even resorted to repaying good with evil, Dustin! You really are shameless! The Nicholsons were special and shook their heads. They stare at him with looks of contempt and disdain.
Now that the evidence was conclusive, no amount of arguing could ever get him out of this mess.
"Ugh." Dahlia sighed as a look of disappointment appeared on her face. She had given him so many chances to back down, and yet the man still insisted on being as stubborn as ever.
It was almost as if he wanted all of this to happen to him.
"I don't think I've ever offended you, so why do you insist on slandering my name" Dustin? It's a good thing that Julie has an upright character and helped me clear my name today. If not, I doubt if I could even recover from this!" Matt spat, feigning anger.
He'd been on tenterhooks the entire time, but he can't help but be secretly relieved now.
"You know exactly what you did. So stop pretending in front of me already."
Dustin snapped before turning his gaze to Julie. "And as for you. I don't understand why you're lying right now. I'm sure you know the kind of person Matt is very well. But if you insist on standing there and watching your cousin jump into a firepit, then I've got nothing else to say to you."
"Stop spouting nonsense! What did I lie about? It was clearly you who hit Ms. Hummer!" Julie insisted obstinately.
"Rhys! Now that your plan to slander has failed, are you resorting to threatening people? Do you honestly think that we're afraid of you?" Florence shouted in fury.
"Stop this insanity, Dustin! Stop making a fool of yourself already!" Dahlia cried. She only hoped that could see himself and the reality of the situation now.
Dustin "Since you guys don't believe me, let's just pretend that I said nothing today. I'll be taking my leave now," Dustin shook his head as he decided not to argue with them any further. He then turned around to leave.
He never asked for any reward or even gratitude, but he felt disappointed by their response today.
"Hold it right there! You've slandered my name on multiple occasions, and yet you still think of running away without giving me an apology first? Aren't you being a little pretentious right now?" Matt ordered.
He had never liked Dustin, but to keep up his gentlemanly facade, he always tried to brush his ill feelings toward him aside. So, now that the opportunity to take out his anger had come, he naturally didn't want to let it go so easily.
"You want me to apologize to you? What makes you think that you're worthy of it?" Dustin sneered.
"You're not allowed to leave if you don't apologize to me today!" Matt growled as he used his body to block the doorway, his gaze menacing.
He had practiced martial arts for a few years, so he thought it would be a breeze to put an average man like him in his place.
"Is that so? Then, I'd like to see if you can actually block my path" Dustin snorted coldly before pushing past Matt and walking out of the door.
"Thinking of leaving? I'd like to see you try!" Matt shouted in rage as he grabbed Dustin's shoulder with one hand and shoved him hard. He thought that he could teach him a lesson by doing that.
"You dare lay a finger on me?" Dustin said coldly as he turned around. He then proceeded to give Mall a heavy slap on his face, the sheer force of which sent Mali flying into the air.
Two teeth could even be seen flying out of his mouth.
"Y–you actually dare to hit someone at this moment, Rhys?" Florence gasped in horror. She didn't think Dustin would be so bold as to assault someone In public.
"An animal! He's an animal!"
"Matt saved your life with good intentions, and yet you still did this to him! You're worse than a dog!"
Everyone started cursing at Dustin angrily. Everything would've been fine if he hadn't laid a finger on Matt, but now that he had, everyone no longer held back their verbal assaults.
"Are you out of your mind? Dustin? Why are you beating people up now?" Dahlia scowled. She quickly went to help Matt up from the floor.
To think that he'd turned his embarrassment into anger and had even resorted to beating people up in public. This was unheard of!
"Can't you see that he was the one who threw hands first?" Dustin retorted with a grimace.
"He merely grazed you, so why did you have to return the favor so harshly?" Dahlia probed with an icy glare.
"So, are you telling me that it's fine if he does it? But when I do it back, I'm committing the greatest sin in all of humanity?" Dustin snickered.
"You're clearly just trying to force a point here! I hereby order you to apologize to Matt right now!" Dahlia glared.
"What if I don't want to?" Dustin frownes slightly.
"Then, I'll make you!" Dahlia shouted. With that, she slapped him in the face in a fit of rage.