Chapter 175 Abigail or Emilia?
Emilia’s POV
Dorothy had never been humiliated like this in her whole privileged life. She fought against the warriors’ grip, her face red."You bitch! How dare you lay a hand on me! I’ll make you pay for this, you hear me? I’ll destroy you!"
I stepped closer, letting her see how much I was enjoying this.
"Oh, please, keep going. Every time you open that nasty mouth of yours, you hand me another reason to shut it for you."
I raised my hand again, and she flinched. "Here’s how this goes, Dorothy. Keep cursing me, and I’ll keep slapping that surgery-wrecked face of yours until the outside finally matches the ugly inside. Then you can explain to your country club friends why you look like you lost a fight with a brick wall. Tell them your husband’s illegitimate daughter finally gave you what you had coming. I’m sure they’ll love that one."
"You wouldn’t dare," she hissed, but her voice shook.
"Try me." I smiled sweetly. "I’ve been holding back for twenty-some years. You really think I’ve got anything left to lose?"
Dorothy’s mouth opened and closed, but nothing came out. For once in her life, she had nothing to say.
Linda strained against the warriors, eyes full of murder. "Wait until Dad gets home! He’ll never forgive you for this!"
I turned to her, and she shrank back. Good. Let her be scared.
"Your dad?" I let out a hard laugh.
"You mean the man who sold me off like a cow to bail out his sorry excuse for a company? That dad? Oh, I’m shaking."
"You’ll regret this," Linda spat, but the fight was going out of her. "You’ll regret everything!"
"The only thing I regret," I said, "is not doing this years ago."
I turned to the four Silver Moon warriors. They stood waiting. "Gentlemen, I think this house could use some redecorating. Don’t you?"
One of them grinned. "Absolutely, Luna."
They went outside and came back with iron rods as thick as bats, the metal catching the morning light.
Dorothy’s eyes went wide. "No! You can’t! This is our home!"
"Funny," I said. "It was my home too, once. You just never cared about that while you were making every single day here hell."
I nodded at the warriors. "Wreck it. All of it."
They moved fast. The first rod came down on the huge crystal chandelier Dorothy had shipped in from Europe. It burst into a shower of glittering shards. Linda screamed. Dorothy wailed.
The warriors tore through the room, smashing every expensive piece of furniture, every showy decoration. The seventy-inch TV Dorothy bragged about every chance she got? Shattered. The Italian leather couch she’d banned me from sitting on? Strips and stuffing. The porcelain vases she swore were priceless antiques? Fragments now.
"Stop! Please stop!" Dorothy was sobbing now, mascara running down her face. "Those were gifts! They’re irreplaceable!"
"So was my childhood," I said flatly. "You smashed that without a second thought, didn’t you?"
Linda and Dorothy huddled behind what was left of the sofa, clinging to each other and flinching at every crash.The servants who’d watched their cruelty all these years stayed out of sight, and I didn’t blame them. A few even peeked out, not bothering to hide their grins.
Something about it felt good. Every shattered piece felt like a weight coming off my chest.
When the living room looked like a war zone, I walked over to where Linda and Dorothy cowered and crouched to their eye level.
"Listen carefully," I said, my voice flat and even. "You made my life hell because you thought I had no power, no way to fight back. You were wrong. I’m the Luna of the Silver Moon Pack now. And if you ever come near me or mine again, if you so much as say Sebastian’s name, today’s going to look like a tea party. Understand?"
They nodded frantically, tears streaming down both their faces.
"Good." I stood. "Oh, and Dorothy? Buy some concealer. Those handprints are going to show for days."
I turned and walked out, the four warriors falling into step behind me. As we left Frostridge territory, Eve stirred in my mind.
"That felt good," she said.
"It really did."
"But you know it doesn’t fix what’s really broken."
My chest tightened. "I know."
Sebastian. Everything came back to Sebastian.
I had the warriors drive me back to Silverlake General.
When I reached Sebastian’s floor, I saw Mila and Titus heading toward the elevator, their faces troubled. Tiffany trailed behind, confused and upset.
"Is everything okay?" I asked, stepping forward.
Mila’s face softened when she saw me. "Oh, Emilia. Sebastian woke up."
Relief hit me so hard I almost staggered. "He’s awake? That’s wonderful! I should..."
"He asked you to leave," Titus said quietly. "He doesn’t want to see you right now."
The relief drained out of me.
"Oh." The word came out small and broken. I hated how it sounded.
"Don’t listen to him," Tiffany said fiercely, grabbing my hands. "He’s being an idiot. You sat by his side for three days straight, Emilia. You barely ate or slept. He has no right to treat you like this."
"It’s fine," I said, even though it wasn’t. "He’s been through a lot. He needs time."
"Time for what?" Tiffany shot back. "To drink himself into another hospital bed?"
"Tiffany," Mila said gently, but there was steel under it. "Let’s give them space."
After they left, I stood in the hallway a moment.
I was about to head to Sebastian’s room when I heard voices. Male voices, tense and angry. One was definitely Sebastian. The other...
I moved closer to the half-open door, staying out of sight.
"Have you ever considered," Titus was saying, his voice tight, "that the people who betrayed you might have had no choice? That maybe they never meant to hurt you at all, but were backed into a corner?"
"Who are you talking about?" Sebastian’s voice was cold. "Abigail or Emilia?"
My breath caught.
"Anyone," Titus said carefully. "I’m saying things aren’t always what they seem."
"Really?" Sebastian laughed, no humor in it. "Then explain this to me, Father. Why did you meet with Abigail over and over the month before she left? What exactly did you say to her?"