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Novel Catalog
Chapter_74
The atmosphere was electric with tension, the kind that crackled and pulsed through the air. Alyssa’s slap had cut through the chaos like a lightning strike, leaving everyone stunned and silent for a moment. Liana was still reeling from the force of the blow, her hand flying to her cheek, eyes wide with both shock and seething anger.
“Alice, you’ve crossed the line!” Jasper’s voice was a low growl, laced with fury, but there was something in his eyes—something that wasn’t just directed at her. It was as if the entire situation had pushed him to the edge of something he couldn’t control.
But Alyssa, her heart racing with anger and her pulse a roaring storm inside her, stood unfazed. She stared at Liana for a moment, her lips curling into a tight smile, one that spoke of years of frustration and pain finally coming to a head.
“I hit you because you deserve it,” she said, her voice trembling with rage, the words sharp and deliberate. “This slap is for the bracelet Grandpa gave me. What makes you think you can throw a tantrum and break my things?”
The words cut deep, and Liana gasped, her eyes filling with fake shock and horror as she staggered back, clutching her cheek. She didn’t expect this kind of retaliation from Alyssa, not in the least.
Jasper’s jaw clenched as he looked from Alyssa’s fiery expression to the angry tears in Liana’s eyes. But something in Alyssa’s gaze made him hesitate. For all the fury he felt for her actions, there was something else—a glimmer of something old, something raw and untamed that he couldn’t ignore. He wasn’t sure what it was, but it made him feel uneasy, torn between the loyalty to his family and the haunting memory of the woman he once loved.
“Alice, you’ve gone too far,” Jasper repeated, though his voice had lost some of its edge. He had noticed her wrist, red and swollen, and the way her fingers trembled, but he chose to ignore it. His mind was too clouded with anger and disbelief to process the full picture.
Betty, standing off to the side, was watching everything unfold with a mixture of disbelief and jealousy. Her feelings for Alyssa had always been complicated, but now, seeing her ex-sister-in-law stand up to everyone, looking as confident and defiant as she ever had, only deepened the loathing in her heart.
The Kirkman sisters, on the other hand, exchanged uneasy glances. They had always seen Alyssa as the quiet, docile woman who would let herself be trampled over by their family’s manipulations. But now, here she was, unshaken in her defiance. It made them uncomfortable, especially with Jasper looking on in stunned silence.
Landon, who had stepped in earlier to try and mediate, found himself growing more and more frustrated. He had hoped that by offering a reasonable approach, they might find a way out of the situation, but now it seemed like everything was spiraling out of control.
“Ms. White, you need to calm down,” Landon said, his voice edged with concern. “This isn’t helping anyone.”
But Alyssa only smiled bitterly at him, her eyes cold. “Calm down? Why? So they can keep blaming me for everything? So they can keep treating me like the villain? No, Landon. I won’t back down anymore.”
Jasper’s eyes flicked from Alyssa to Liana, then back to Alyssa, his emotions a whirlwind he couldn’t control. It was clear that the woman standing before him wasn’t the same one he had married. But what was more confusing was the lingering feeling that she might still be the woman he used to know—the one who had been so strong, so capable, so fierce when the world had turned against her.
“I won’t apologize,” Alyssa said, her voice rising slightly. “Not for this. Not for standing up for myself.”
Jasper looked at her, his heart heavy with unspoken words, but instead of speaking, he turned away. “This isn’t over,” he muttered, as if trying to convince himself more than anyone else.
Liana, still clutching her cheek, shot one last hateful glance at Alyssa. “You’ll regret this, Alice. I won’t let you get away with it.”
Alyssa didn’t flinch. She was done being scared. Done with pretending she didn’t have the strength to fight back. “I already have,” she replied coolly.
And with that, she walked away, leaving the broken fragments of her past behind, as she stepped into a future she would face on her own terms.