Love at First Novel by Gu Lingfei

Chapter 145
Everybody in the neighborhood knew how close the sisters were.
Liberty kept the matter from her sister to save her the worry.
“Thank you, Mrs. Zaks.” Serenity thanked Mrs. Zaks before continuing her quick walk toward her sister‘s residential building
while dragging Zachary along.
“My brother–in–law was angry that my sister hadn‘t cooked lunch for him when I dropped her off the other day. Hank looked like
he wanted to hit my sister, but he wiped that look off his face when he saw me,” Serenity babbled to Zachary.
“Why didn‘t my sister let me know?”
Serenity felt bad for her sister. Women gained a second chance in life when they got married. Her sister‘s second chance in life
did not seem smooth sailing.
Hank‘s attitude toward Liberty changed for the worse less than three years into the marriage.
Zachary replied firmly, “Your sister doesn‘t want you to worry. Mrs. Zaks said that your sister chased your brother – in law down a
few streets with a knife. It means your sister had the upper hand. Don‘t worry. It will be fine.”
It was hard for Serenity to take her mind off it.
Nevertheless, she did not dwell on the matter further with Zachary. She pulled Zachary up the stairs and pulled out the key her
sister had given her to open the door.
Liberty was cooking in the kitchen. Detecting the sound of the door opening, she thought Hank was home. She picked up her
pan and came out of the kitchen. She would not hold back if Hank had the nerve to lay his hands on her again.
Hank had not contacted her since returning to his parents ‘home. Nevertheless, her in–laws had bombarded her phone with hate
messages and badmouthing her in the Browns‘ family group chat. Her in–laws brought together other relatives to accuse Liberty
of her failure as a wife that warranted a beating from her husband.
In short, they were saying that she deserved it. Hank was not at fault. She was at fault instead.

Some older relatives believed they were of authority to persuade her to apologize to Hank, saying something about not going to
bed angry. It was not about some blood feud, so there was no need to yak about it in the family group chat.
Of course, the Browns‘ relatives were on Hank‘s side. They advised her to be understanding of Hank and spend less money.
Apparently, Hank had it hard at work, so it was normal that he had a bit of a temper when he
returned home. Liberty was supposed to be tolerant of his mood swings.
Livid, Liberty quit the Browns‘ family group chat.
She would never visit these relatives‘ homes with Hank ever again.
“Ant Swer.”
Sonny was sitting on the living room floor, playing with his building blocks when he saw his aunt entering the house. He rose
from the floor with delight and ran toward Serenity.
With her sister here, Liberty intuitively hid in the kitchen. Since the bruises on her face had not gone down, Liberty had avoided
going out to get groceries in the past two days. It was a good thing she had enough ingredients in the fridge to last a few meals.
Serenity picked up her nephew and kissed him on the cheek before persuading him to go along with Zachary while she went to
the kitchen.
“Liberty.”
“Aren‘t you watching the shop tonight, Seren?” Liberty asked Serenity with her back facing her sister.
“Jas is at the shop tonight. Liberty, what‘s going on between you and my brother in–law?”
Serenity came directly to the question as she approached
her sister. Catching a glimpse of the black–and–blue on Liberty‘s face, Serenity immediately turned her sister around.
“I‘m going to make Hank pay!” Serenity saw red and turned on her heel to leave.
How dare he beat her sister up! Did Hank think her sister had no family to back her up? So long as Serenity was around, she
would not let anybody walk all over her sister!