Reborn with My Genius Husband-Chapter 72: I’ll Deduct 50 Points from You Every Week
He protested, feeling wronged, "Teacher, I swear I didn’t. Mortimer Quincy is just deducting points for no reason."
The moment his homeroom teacher heard this, she grew even angrier. "Mortimer Quincy hasn’t deducted points from anyone else, just you. That means you must have done something wrong. Hank King, I usually let it slide when you’re fooling around, but now you’re learning to falsely accuse your classmates? Go home and copy all the classical poems." With that, she left.
Hank King, now saddled with another round of copying classical poems: "..."
He seethed with pent-up frustration. Mortimer Quincy had been on his case all week.
In the past, Mortimer Quincy would have just looked the other way, so everyone was pretty lax.
After school, he cornered Mortimer Quincy at the door of the advanced class. Mortimer was waiting for Holly Winslow to get back from the restroom, holding her pink schoolbag.
Hank King was half a head shorter than Mortimer. He tilted his head back and said, "Mortimer Quincy, what’s your deal? Deducting points for no reason. You think you’re hot shit just because you’re in charge of discipline?"
Seeing a fight about to break out, Zeke Zane and the others quickly stepped in. Pantheon was on decent terms with Hank King, so he said, "Hank, let’s just talk this out."
Mortimer Quincy raised his eyes slightly and looked directly at Hank King. "Yeah, I am," he said. "And if you harass my Holly again, I’ll deduct fifty points from you every single week."
Hank King: "..."
’Fuck. What a bastard,’ he cursed inwardly, so angry he couldn’t speak for a good ten seconds.
And just like that, Holly Winslow’s first budding romance at Jarton High was nipped in the bud. After that, no others even had a chance to bloom.
...
Holly Winslow and Mortimer Quincy shared a milk tea before she went home. Opening her door, Holly took the schoolbag from his hand. "Honey, you should head back."
Mortimer Quincy put on a pitiful expression, lowering his head and pouting. "You’re not even going to let your husband come in for a bit?"
Holly Winslow glanced around, then stood on her tiptoes to give him a quick kiss. "Dad will be home any minute," she coaxed.
The words were barely out of her mouth when a stern voice cut her off. "Holly."
It was Wyatt Winslow’s voice.
Holly Winslow and Mortimer Quincy both jumped. Bracing herself, Holly turned to see Wyatt Winslow standing a short distance away. "Dad," she whispered.
Mortimer Quincy said respectfully, "Uncle Winslow."
He then gave an unnatural cough. "Uncle Winslow, Holly, I’ve actually got some things to do at home, so I’ll be going now."
Seeing how desperate he was to escape, Holly Winslow lowered her head to hide a smile.
’Weren’t you just asking to come in for a bit? What happened to that?’
After entering the house, Holly Winslow saw another woman in the living room. She had voluminous, light-brown wavy hair and wore a black, menswear-inspired trench coat, giving her an air of mature elegance—it was her mother, Yvonne Lewis.
Yvonne Lewis looked at her with a faint smile. "Holly, you’re back."
Holly Winslow nodded, then averted her eyes. "Dad, I’m going to go do my homework."
Wyatt Winslow pursed his lips. "Your mom wants to take you to your grandmother’s place to celebrate her birthday."
Holly Winslow had always hated visiting the Lewis Family. Yvonne Lewis had three siblings, all of them crammed into a single courtyard house. Every time they visited, her relatives were like vampires, constantly demanding things and money from Wyatt Winslow.
Furthermore, the Lewis Family were true country folk, and their patriarchal views were deeply ingrained. They all looked down on her, and the other Lewis children always bullied her.
Whenever she went to the Lewis Family’s home, Wyatt Winslow would always stay close by her side. Back then, she’d found it annoying and wondered why he followed her everywhere.
Looking back on it all now, she realized that Wyatt Winslow had been silently protecting her all along.
Although she didn’t want to go, she bit her lower lip and agreed. "Okay."
Her grandmother was genuinely good to her. Every visit, she would secretly slip Holly some money. It was never much, just a few dollars.
Because she didn’t have much money herself.
Wyatt Winslow pursed his lips. "I’ll drive you."
"No need. Vincent is waiting downstairs."
Yvonne Lewis’s well-maintained face was smiling as she added, "Holly, go pack a change of clothes or two."
"I don’t need to. I’m coming back tomorrow," Holly said, not wanting to stay at the Lewis house for long. "Dad, can you come get me tomorrow afternoon? Please?"
Seeing her unhappiness, Wyatt Winslow wanted to tell her she didn’t have to go, but he merely opened his mouth and then closed it again. "Okay. Call me if you need anything."
The Lewis Family lived in a small village in Jarton County, about a half-hour drive away.
The Lewis Family had originally been very poor, but they had built a large courtyard house with Wyatt Winslow’s money. It had cost over four hundred thousand at the time.
Holly Winslow glanced at Yvonne Lewis and Vincent Vance beside her and lowered her gaze. ’Dad is clearly trying so hard for this family,’ she thought. ’Why can’t Mom see that?’
The group carried their things into the Lewis house. They saw Flora Langdon, Holly’s maternal grandmother, preparing vegetables. Holly called out sweetly, "Grandma."
Flora Langdon’s face lit up when she saw her. She quickly got to her feet. "Holly."
Hearing the commotion, Yvonne Lewis’s three siblings and their families all came running out—more than ten people in total.
After some small talk, Flora Langdon went to the kitchen to cook dinner.
Holly Winslow had no interest in making small talk with them, so she took her phone out to the courtyard, squatting down to text Mortimer Quincy. She had just sent a message when the phone was snatched from her hand.
It was the Lewis Family’s third grandson, Aidan Lewis. He was fifteen and carried himself like a little punk. "Let me play with this."
"Give it back to me," Holly Winslow said, her expression hardening.
Aidan Lewis, who was in the middle of his rebellious phase, just took the phone and ran. Holly Winslow chased after him, shouting, "Aidan Lewis! Give me back my phone!"
The ground in the countryside was uneven, and she tripped and fell. The skin on her palm was scraped raw, and tears instantly welled up in her eyes.
Yvonne Lewis saw her fall and hurried over to help her up. "Holly, are you alright?" she asked with concern. "Stop chasing him. Just let Aidan play with it. You can use my phone."
It had been like this her whole life; she was always the one who had to give in. In a level tone, Holly Winslow said, "Why should I? It’s my phone."
Yvonne Lewis was clearly taken aback by her response and froze for a second. "Holly..."
Holly Winslow got to her feet and took off again in Aidan Lewis’s direction, but he was nowhere to be found.
Meanwhile, Mortimer Quincy, having received Holly’s text, tried calling her back. When no one answered, he called a few more times until someone finally picked up. "Holly," he said. 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞
"She’s dead," a boy’s voice said before the line went dead.
Mortimer Quincy’s expression darkened. He recognized the voice—Aidan Lewis. The next second, he grabbed his car keys and bolted out the door.
Aidan Lewis didn’t return until dinner at seven-thirty, but when he did, the phone was smashed beyond repair and wouldn’t even turn on.
Holly Winslow was furious. She raised her hand and slapped him right across the face. She had wanted to do that her entire past life.
A sharp SMACK echoed through the room. The entire Lewis Family was stunned. Yvonne Lewis quickly pulled Holly aside. "Holly."
Aidan Lewis’s mother immediately rounded on her. "What do you think you’re doing, Holly Winslow!" she shrieked, moving as if to strike her.
Vincent Vance quickly stepped in to block her. Yvonne Lewis began to apologize profusely. "Second Sister-in-law, Holly didn’t mean it. Please don’t take it out on her."
"She didn’t mean it? She slapped my Aidan’s face so hard it’s swelling up!" Aidan’s mother pressed, her tone belligerent.
Yvonne Lewis just wanted to smooth things over, and she was also afraid Aidan’s mother would hit Holly. "Holly, just apologize to Aidan. Mom will buy you a new phone."
Although she had long grown indifferent to this sort of thing, Holly still felt a surge of indignation at her mother’s words. In the past, Wyatt Winslow would have been there to protect her.
"Why should I apologize? He’s the one who broke my phone."
She shot Yvonne Lewis a look, then ran out of the Lewis’s house.
