My Aunt's Family Slandered Me at the Banquet; I Dared Them Continue

At the dinner celebrating my acceptance into a top-tier graduate program, my aunt Diana stared at the acceptance letter in my hand and suddenly gave a cold laugh.

That school really will let anyone in these days!

The whole room went quiet.

Aunt Marge, sitting at the same table, asked quickly, What's that supposed to mean?

Diana threw me a glance and went on.

"It's not the kind of family shame you air in public, but they had the nerve to throw a whole dinner for this!"

"How many boyfriends has Nellie Henson gone through by now? The last one was even a Black guy!"

"Got dumped the second she'd been used up, and it's not even been a week since her abortion!"

When she finished, every pair of eyes in the room swung to Julius Simmons, the boy I'd grown up with, my partner of many years, my fianc.

The Simmons family was one of the old established families in the area, and nothing mattered to them more than rules and reputation.

Everyone was waiting for him to turn on me.

I was shaking with anger, desperate to explain that none of it was true.

The next second, a woman glowing with white light appeared in front of me.

"Don't explain. The actor your cousin hired is right outside the door. The moment you open your mouth, he'll bring the man in and beat you to death!"

"I'm you, from your last life. Look at how I ended up and you'll understand!"

"Let them talk. The more they say, the deeper the hole they dig, and by the end it'll be them on their knees begging!"

I froze, then pulled out my phone and sent my best friend a message.

Already seated, she immediately raised the Sony camcorder in her hands and pointed it at the whole room.

I gave a cold laugh.

"Go on. What else do you know? Keep talking!"

The entire banquet hall went so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

Nobody had expected me not to deny it, let alone tell them to keep going.

Diana Finch stalled for a beat, then looked even more pleased with herself.

"I know a lot more than you think."

"Your cousin is your own academic advisor. He's heard about every single one of your scandals!"

"Isn't that right, son?"

Connor Henson set down his chopsticks and smoothed the front of his shirt.

He looked like he was trying to hold her back, but every word was another knife in me.

"Mom, why bring all this up? Julius is right here. How's Nellie supposed to face him after this?"

"Can't we just pretend we don't know? Why does it have to get dragged out?"

Then he turned to Julius, who was standing beside me with a face like thunder.

"Julius, take it from me. Young people these days all like to have their fun."

"As long as she settles down after the wedding and devotes herself entirely to you, don't hold her past against her!"

"A woman who's had an abortion can still bear children. It doesn't lower her worth!"

The relatives below started murmuring.

"Even Connor says so. Then it's probably true!"

"A university teacher wouldn't lie, would he? An advisor's whole job is keeping students in line!"

"My God, are girls really this loose now?"

I stepped forward, ready to fire back, and the woman glowing with white light grabbed my wrist.

"Now isn't the time to strike back!"

"With people like this, you have to take them down in one blow!"

"Otherwise he'll only come at you harder next time!"

I realized I was the only one who could see her.

My parents shot up from their seats, slamming the table, about to demand why family would spread lies like this.

But I got there first.

"So by what you're saying, my aunt's whole story about me having a string of boyfriends and getting abortions for them, that came from you?"

The sleazy smile froze on Connor's face.

"Yeah, I said it!"

"But how was I supposed to know my mom couldn't keep her mouth shut!"

"Don't go blaming her for it."

Diana Finch instantly clapped her hands together and cried out, "Everyone, you be the judge! A genius girl who gets into a top graduate program sleeps around and has abortions, and we're not even allowed to say so!"

"What is the world coming to? Is telling the truth a crime now?"

I didn't argue.

I shot a glance at my best friend.

Elaine, seated at another table not far off, gave me an OK sign.

"You flap your lips a couple of times and think you can ruin my good name?"

"You say I sleep around, you say I had an abortion. Then show me the proof!"

"No proof means it's slander, and I can call the police and have you all arrested!"

Connor froze for a second, then his face darkened.

"Nellie, for the sake of family, I was actually going to let you save some face."

"But since you insist on being stubborn, fine. I'll bring your boyfriend in right now and settle this in front of everyone!"

With that he rose and walked out of the banquet hall, and a moment later came back with a Black man, easily six-three, built like a wall.

"Sean Jensen is your boyfriend!"

The man called Sean came straight at me with his arms open, wanting to hug me.

"Hey, honey, I've got nothing to do with that woman, so don't be upset..."

"They told me you were here and I came right over. Flowers for you. You're prettier than the flowers!"

And like a magician he produced a bouquet of red roses and moved to press them into my arms.

Julius pulled me back with one hand, glaring at him, his eyes red.

I knew it. He believed me.

But the relatives went wild.

"So it's true!"

"The guy came all the way here for her!"

"This is outrageous!"

Connor looked satisfied.

"And you took two weeks off for the abortion. I have your leave slip right here."

He produced a leave slip with my signature and the school's stamp.

In the reason column were the words "scheduled abortion."

Then he dug out a screenshot from the school forum, a post exposing me for sleeping around.

"You dare tell me the person exposed here isn't you?"

"Four years of college, and you went through eight boyfriends. That's one every six months on average, and every one of them a different skin color!"

"Sean was just the last one!"

"And that's only the ones that got dug up. Who knows how many more there were behind the scenes!"

Diana, hearing this, deliberately lifted her teacup and spat out the leaves.

"Ptooey!"

"How did the Henson family end up with a shameless little tramp like you?"

"Not like my daughter, pure since she was a child!"

She reached out and stroked the face of my younger cousin Isabella, who had been standing silently at her side the whole time.

Isabella looked stiff and reserved.

On the surface she really did seem like an honest, decent girl.

But from the moment this started, her eyes kept sneaking over to Julius beside me.

I guessed the reason behind what my aunt's family was doing almost at once.

They wanted Isabella to marry into the wealthy family in my place!

To make sure I could never recover from this, Connor even dug out my school physical exam report.

"This is your physical from the end of last term."

"Severe cervical erosion, endometritis, gonorrhea..."

"Look. Don't say I'm smearing her. Can school medical records be faked?"

The banquet hall exploded.

Julius's face went dark.

"You..."

He was about to charge over and hit Connor.

I caught his arm.

"You're sure all of this is true?"

"Of course! I'm your academic advisor and your relative both. Would I lie?"

I nodded.

"Fine!"

"Then I'll handle it by calling the police!"

And I took out my phone.

The police? What do you think you're doing?

Connor's face changed color.

He lunged for the phone in my hand.

Julius blocked him.

What are you so afraid of?

You said you weren't slandering Nellie. Then let the police clear her name for you.

Connor's whole manner shifted.

Julius, half the reason I took such a huge risk to expose Nellie today was for your sake!

Marry a used-up little slut like her, and your grandfather might beat you to death. He'd cut you out of the inheritance!

Diana chimed in too.

Exactly!

Look at my Bella. Grown this old and she's never so much as touched a man's hand.

That's the kind of good girl a man should take home as a wife!

Isabella Henson lowered her head, all bashful.

Julius didn't spare her a single glance. He only sneered.

I trust who Nellie is.

The woman glowing with white light let her eyes linger on Julius, aching with longing.

Last time too, only he and Mom and Dad believed me. But the talk was so loud, so vicious. I couldn't bear to drag them down with me.

I pressed my lips together and dialed 911 without a second's hesitation.

Is this the police?

I'm at the Grandview Hotel.

There's someone in the second-floor banquet hall spreading false statements about me

I thought about it and swallowed back the part about passing a student's private information around.

I changed it to: falsely accusing someone and damaging their reputation!

In an instant Connor turned smug.

There was a thread of contempt in the way he looked at me.

I didn't even want to say any of this. You're the one who demanded it from me. How is that spreading false statements?

Diana let out a snort too.

You think the police will take your side just because they show up?

Better own up to what you did yourself, or the only one left humiliated will be you!

I'm sure Old Mr. Simmons would never want a piece of trash as his granddaughter-in-law!

Aunt Marge stepped up to talk me down.

Nellie, apologize to your cousin and your aunt.

If this really blows up, Old Mr. Simmons will come after your mom and dad!

Your parents' business still depends on the Simmons family!

You wouldn't drag your own parents down with you, would you?

Diana looked at me with meaning in her eyes.

A girl who only cares about her own fun and freedom, how could she ever think about her parents?

Poor second brother and his wife, this is their only daughter. When they're old, I'm afraid they'll have no one but my Connor to look after them!

You two old folks had better keep your eyes open. Whatever you do, don't hand your assets to her!

Give them to my son, or when you're old, you won't even have anyone to see you off in the end!

By now the fox's tail was fully out.

So this whole family didn't just want to hijack my marriage. They wanted to drain us dry, to swallow the assets my parents had worked so hard to build.

My father was shaking with rage.

I know my own daughter!

I'd sooner donate every cent than leave a single dollar to people who slander her!

You Diana was livid. Your daughter's been used up till her insides are ruined. No telling if she can even have kids. Your branch can just sit and wait to die out!

That line was too vicious.

It had my father ready to swing at her on the spot.

Connor planted himself right in front of my dad.

You old wreck, you touch one finger on my mother and see what happens.

My mom has a son. Do you?

All you've got is this one daughter, and she's a shameless whore!

Smack!

The crisp sound of a slap rang out.

Julius had stepped in for me.

You dare hit me? Twenty grand a slap. You're not leaving till you pay!

Julius picked up his phone at once and transferred forty grand to him.

Then that buys one more slap.

Smack!

His backhand landed a second one.

Oh, that felt good.

Right then, the police arrived.

The whole banquet hall went quiet again.

Connor clapped a hand over his face and rushed forward, playing the victim.

"Officers, you have to hear me out. She's the one who told me to say it. I only told the truth, and she hit me for it, then called the cops on me. Where's the justice in that?"

The officer in charge looked at me.

"Did you hit him?"

Julius stepped forward.

"I did."

"But I already paid him forty thousand in compensation. He asked for it himself."

"Every guest here can testify to that."

He pulled up the transfer record and showed it to the officers.

"I"

Connor tried to backtrack, to claim forty thousand wasn't enough.

But none of the guests wanted to cross the Simmons family, so they all chimed in at once.

"That's right, that's right, Connor asked for it himself."

"Twenty thousand a slap, that's a generous rate. If it went to mediation at the station, he might not even get that much."

The officer frowned.

"If you asked for it yourself, and he's already transferred the money, then what's left to talk about?"

Connor had nothing to say.

The officer went on.

"Now let's talk about the rumors you've been spreading."

Connor waved his hands right away. "I didn't spread any rumors. Everything I said is true!"

Diana spoke up loudly too.

"My son is a college instructor. He even has her medical report from school. There's plenty of proof!"

Connor tried to cover his mother's mouth, but it was already too late.

The officer's expression changed.

"A student's medical report from school is private."

"You're a college instructor, and you don't even have that much professional ethics?"

"I... I..." Connor had no answer.

I took the camcorder my friend handed me and passed it to the officer.

"I recorded everything this family just said and did."

The officer watched every clip on the camcorder, and his face went dark.

"Even if all of this were true, you have no right to spread it privately. Do you understand that you've broken the law?"

Diana only heard the first half.

"You hear that? Even the officer says it's true!"

"What's wrong with my son telling the truth?"

The officer went stern at once.

"I said even if. Whether it's true or false still has to be verified."

Diana shot back immediately.

"Verified? Verify what?"

"The facts are right in front of you. Her boyfriend's still here. Just ask him and you'll know!"

She shoved the Black man forward toward the officer.

The moment he saw the officer, his nerve broke. He waved his hands over and over.

"Don't ask me, I don't know anything!"

"I don't want to get deported. I'm leaving now!"

The officer blocked his way.

"You can't leave yet. You're coming back to the station with us for questioning."

Connor's face changed.

He leaned in and threatened me under his breath.

"Withdraw the report, now."

"Otherwise this blows up, and it does you no good at all."

The woman glowing with white light took my hand.

"Don't be afraid."

"It's your turn to fight back."

I nodded, steady, and looked the officer in the eye, saying it word by word.

"Officer, I request that all of Connor's electronic devices be sealed, and that you investigate the original leave slip at the school, the original links to the forum posts, and the medical report in the student records."

"Since Connor destroyed my reputation first, I request that the entire investigation be filmed and that I retain the right to make it public."

The officer didn't hesitate. "Granted."

The color drained clean out of Connor's face.

He swayed and nearly toppled off the stage.