Declan was grinning smugly at Yvette when I rushed over, my hand grabbing his hair with such force that he let out a sharp cry.
"Ah, what are you doing? Let go of me!" he yelped, struggling against my grip.
Yvette froze in shock, tugging at my arm, but it was no use. I wasn’t going to let go.
Dozens of slaps landed across Declan's face, each one harder than the last. He howled in pain, desperately trying to avoid my blows, but I wasn’t finished.
In a blind fury, I tightened my grip on his throat. "Why did you deliberately hang up on my mom’s call? You killed my dad!"
His face turned a shade of blue and purple, gasping for breath as he nearly passed out.
But then, a powerful force wrenched me away. Yvette, her face twisted with fury, raised a stone and struck me hard on the head. The impact left me dazed, blood trickling down my face as my vision blurred.
Yvette’s trembling finger pointed at me, disbelief in her eyes. "Stop spouting nonsense! Your dad greeted my mom just this morning! How could Declan have harmed him?"
"How could you turn into someone like this?" she continued, her voice trembling with anger. "Declan didn’t do anything, and yet you want to kill him? If you want him dead, you’ll have to kill me first!"
The thought of how Declan had deliberately stalled the rescue efforts, ultimately leading to my dad's death, sent a surge of rage through me. Without thinking, I lunged at him again, but Yvette and a few bystanders quickly shielded him, blocking my every move.
Frustration bubbled up as Yvette grabbed my arm and twisted it behind my back, her strength taking me by surprise. With a sickening crack, my joint dislocated.
Yvette stared, momentarily stunned by what had happened. But soon, she let out a sigh of relief, her voice condescending. "Calm down. You're used to this. As long as it’s not a fracture, it’s not that big a deal."
Just then, my phone buzzed, its sound slicing through the tension in the air. Without asking, Yvette snatched it from my hand and answered.
"Hello, is this Ethan Hendrix?" The voice on the other end continued without hesitation. "We’ve been waiting for your mother at the funeral home. Could you confirm whether to prepare your father, Simon Hendrix, for burial or proceed with cremation?"
Yvette froze, her face going pale. "What?" she stammered, the color draining from her face.
