"You think I’m as stupid as you? Still trying to fool me? Are you just asking for a beating?"

Felix Thorne landed a few punches, and Sherman Golding howled in pain. "I’m really not lying! Oww... It’s true! Bowman said the Hawthorne family had just cleared a plot of land, and since they’re outsiders, they wouldn’t dare say anything if we took it. I don’t know what came over me, listening to that little bastard. Oww... Stop hitting me..."

"You bastard! Tell your Uncle Felix right now, did you say those things or not!"

Sherman Golding kicked his son a few times. Bowman Golding grunted, his head still fuzzy, and whimpered, "I did... I said it. Stop hitting me... Dad!"

"How did you know I cleared a plot of land up here? You haven’t been up the mountain at all lately." Adrian Hawthorne was also skeptical. Bowman Golding was only good for getting into fights; scheming was beyond him. How could a simple brute like him possibly worry about not having a place to plant the family’s beans? There had to be more to the story.

Besides, Bowman Golding hadn’t been up the mountain at all these past few days. To get there, he would have had to pass Adrian’s front door, and Adrian hadn’t seen him a single time. So, where did Bowman Golding learn that he had cleared this plot of land?

"I heard it from Wade. He came up here with Jacqueline to cut firewood a few days ago and they happened to see it."

Bowman Golding mumbled, his gaze shifty.

Adrian Hawthorne frowned. ’Wade Golding and Jacqueline Spann?’

"Which day? How come I didn’t see them?"

"Just the day before yesterday. Wade said he saw it. They didn’t walk past your house; they took a detour." Bowman Golding lifted his head, darted a glance at Adrian Hawthorne, and then quickly looked down again, appearing furtive.

"Only a thief would take the long way around!" Tang Xiaonan snapped.

Her gut told her this had something to do with Jacqueline Spann. She had zero goodwill left for the scheming woman. Besides, Bowman Golding was simple and brutish; he would never have thought of snatching an already-cleared plot of land on his own, but it would be a different story if someone had been whispering in his ear.

But why would Jacqueline Spann want to harm Adrian Hawthorne and Grandpa Tate for no reason?

She was learning English from Grandpa Tate and was on good terms with Adrian Hawthorne. Even if she wouldn’t lend a hand, she wouldn’t go so far as to stab them in the back, would she?

Tang Xiaonan began to waver again. Try as she might, she couldn’t think of a single reason for Jacqueline Spann to harm Adrian Hawthorne. Perhaps she had wronged her, after all.

The moment Bowman Golding heard himself called a thief, his eyes bulged in a glare, his face twisting viciously. But all it took was a grunt from Felix Thorne, and he immediately deflated, meekly pulling back.

Adrian Hawthorne harbored the same suspicion. He had already thought of everything Tang Xiaonan had. What’s more, he knew Bowman Golding better than she did—he was a brute, even more thick-headed than Jim Thorne. If someone hadn’t put him up to it, he absolutely would not have thought of stealing his land.

The instigator, then, was almost certainly Jacqueline Spann.

’But what was Jacqueline Spann’s motive? Was it really just because Grandpa Tate had refused to teach her English?’

Adrian Hawthorne sneered to himself. ’If that’s the only reason, then I’ve been blind, mistaking a venomous snake for a good person. Fatty Tang, for all her past mischief and troublemaking, only ever engaged in childish pranks; she never stooped to scheming behind people’s backs. Jim Thorne and his brothers are the same. If they’re angry, they’ll pick a fight, but they never pull underhanded tricks.’

’That’s why I was able to tolerate the Thorne siblings for so many years. A straightforward opponent is far more preferable to a two-faced villain who’s all smiles and daggers.’

"Owww... Murder! They’re beating me to death! Sherman Golding, you useless coward, your wife is being beaten to death over here!"

Mandy York shrieked and cursed as Phoebe Huxley toyed with her like a cat playing with a mouse. Her face was slapped until it was as swollen as a pig’s head, her eyes reduced to mere slits. Unable to win the fight and unable to escape, Mandy York simply plopped down on the ground and started throwing a shameless tantrum, wailing like a banshee.