From Worthless Son-in-Law to Island King

Chapter 7：A Thankless Rescue

Joseph’s expression darkened.

For a moment, he considered turning away.

After everything Charles had done to him, why should he care what happened to Charles’s sister?

He took one step, then stopped.

Charles’s crimes belonged to Charles.

Heather had not been the one who humiliated him, threatened Alice, or ordered him thrown into the sea.

No matter how much Joseph hated her brother, Heather did not deserve this.

He bent down, picked up a stone, and hurled it.

“Argh!”

The rock struck the man hard.

He spun around, clearly having believed they were alone.

The moment he saw someone watching, all the color drained from his face. He scrambled to his feet and fled through the trees without even bothering to pull his trousers up properly.

Joseph waited until the man had disappeared before stepping out of hiding.

“You have no idea how much trouble you almost ended up in.”

He crouched and lifted Heather over his shoulder.

Perhaps it was only his imagination, but she seemed considerably heavier than Alice.

“Heather?”

Alice stared when Joseph returned to the cave carrying another woman.

He set Heather down and briefly explained what he had seen.

Alice let out a quiet sigh of relief.

Then she looked at him.

“You didn’t do anything to her, did you?”

Joseph’s head snapped up.

“What?”

The question caught him completely off guard.

How had her mind gone there so quickly?

Was that really the kind of man she thought he was?

Alice looked away.

“You should think carefully about what to do with her. Her brother is not a good man.”

Joseph said nothing. He turned his attention to cleaning the fish and preparing them over the fire.

As Alice watched him work, the events aboard the liner returned to her mind.

She had always thought Charles was refined and courteous—the image of a perfect gentleman.

She had never imagined that such a monster was hiding beneath that polished exterior.

None of that was Heather’s fault.

Still, what surprised Alice most was Joseph.

He had known he was no match for Charles or his men, yet he had rushed forward to save her without hesitation.

He had been beaten and humiliated because of it, but he had never backed down.

Before long, the rich aroma of roasting fish filled the cave.

Joseph had just finished cooking the first one when a foot suddenly came flying toward him.

He jerked back, narrowly saving the fish from being kicked into the dirt.

“What the hell is wrong with you?”

“You disgusting creep!”

Heather was awake.

She scrambled to her feet and launched another kick at him.

“You tried to take advantage of me while I was unconscious! I’ll kill you!”

Joseph dodged again, anger rising in his chest.

“Heather Martin, this is a misunderstanding!”

“Alice, why are you still with this creep?”

Heather pointed furiously at Joseph.

“He’s a filthy pervert! He was trying to take advantage of me!”

“I’m warning you,” Joseph snapped. “I don’t hit women, so don’t push me.”

The words sounded painfully familiar.

He had saved her out of kindness.

And somehow, once again, he had become the villain.

“Alice, just because he hasn’t tried anything yet doesn’t mean he won’t.”

Heather leaned closer, whispering into Alice’s ear.

“Look at him. He has ‘creep’ written all over his face.”

“If you ask me, you should divorce him and marry my brother. Charles is better than him in every possible way.”

“My brother is the one who truly cares about you.”

Heather clearly had no idea what Charles had tried to do the night before.

Alice did not intend to tell her, either.

Perhaps Heather was only speaking out of ignorance, but Joseph had already reached the limit of his patience.

“Your brother?” he scoffed. “That animal?”

“You’re the animal!”

Heather rounded on him at once.

“Don’t you dare talk about my brother like that!”

“He knows exactly what he did.”

Joseph forced down his anger.

“I never should have saved you. I should’ve left you right where I found you.”

The moment the words left his mouth, he regretted rescuing her all over again.

He had not saved a person.

He had brought another source of trouble back with him.

“That’s enough,” Alice said sharply. “Why are you stooping to her level?”

Joseph fell silent.

He picked up one of the grilled fish and offered it to Alice, but before she could take it, Heather spoke again.

“What is that supposed to be?”

She eyed the fish with open disgust.

“Is it even safe to eat?”

“Maybe you put something in it. Are you trying to poison us?”

“My brother humiliated you yesterday, and you were too much of a coward to fight back. Now you’re trying to get revenge by taking it out on me!”

She wrinkled her nose.

“That looks disgusting. There’s no way I’m eating it.”

“Suit yourself.”

Joseph had no desire to argue with her.

“We don’t even know whether your brother survived, let alone whether any of us will ever leave this island.”

“If you refuse to eat now, you may not get another chance.”

“You yelled at me!”

Heather immediately turned to Alice.

“Don’t eat it, Alice. He’s definitely planning something.”

“He’s probably waiting for us to pass out so he can take advantage of us!”

Joseph stared at her, speechless.

Take advantage of both of them?

If she accused him of having improper thoughts about Alice, he might at least understand where the suspicion came from.

But Heather?

She was nowhere near as beautiful or graceful as Alice. Joseph had no interest in her whatsoever.

“Joseph,” Alice said.

He turned to her.

“Can you catch more fish?”

“Of course, honey—”

Alice gave him a cold look.

Joseph immediately corrected himself.

“I mean, Alice. Are you still hungry?”

“I saved another fish. You can have it.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

Alice shook her head.

“There are many other survivors on this island. Most of them probably haven’t found anything to eat.”

“If you can help them, then you should.”

Her voice softened slightly.

“It may earn you some goodwill. If we make it back, having a few people on your side might make things easier for you.”

“That won’t be a problem.”

Joseph smiled.

“I’ll catch more.”

Other people might not understand Alice, but Joseph had known her since childhood.

Beneath her cold exterior, she had always been kindhearted. She could never sit by and watch others starve when she had the power to help them.

And for Joseph, catching a few extra fish was hardly difficult.

Back in the city, no one had ever given him a chance to prove himself. He had spent his days doing menial work and enduring the contempt of others.

But here, on this deserted island, everything was different.