The blows kept coming, each one chipping away at whatever was left of me.
Every hit felt like it was breaking me down piece by piece. I ignored the pain, gritting my teeth as I pulled my head away from Vanessa’s foot.
Then, I shot her a glare, my eyes burning with fury.
"Go ahead, Vanessa," I ground out, barely able to get the words out. "Have your assistant pull up the security footage. Keith just admitted it himself. He’s not going to let me go..."
Vanessa didn’t say anything, but I saw a flash of some unreadable emotion in her eyes. She was about to signal for her subordinates when a deep sigh came from behind her.
"Forget it, Vanessa," Keith’s voice cut through the tension, thick with sarcasm. "Don’t bother checking. Looks like Gabriel just wants to blame everything on me. Fine, I’ll accept it. I'm poor and worthless anyway. If I die, at least he will finally get some peace."
Right then, he pulled a small knife from his bag, slashing it across his forearm in some kind of dramatic gesture.
The room grew heavy with the tension his theatrics created.
Vanessa’s eyes went wide with panic. She slapped the knife out of his hand and, without thinking, kicked me hard in the stomach.
"Enough!" she snapped, her voice cutting. "Gabriel, I was right next to Keith earlier, and I didn’t hear a thing! If you keep making a scene like this, you’re out of the family. I don’t need a husband like you—someone so disgusting. A good guy like Keith is way more suited to be my husband."
Her words were sharp and icy.
At that moment, everything Vanessa had ever promised me played out in my mind like an old film. I let out a bitter laugh, cold and devoid of warmth, and stared up at her, my voice heavy with disdain.
"Vanessa, that bastard killed our daughter. He caused my mother’s death. And now, you still want to be with him? Do you really think you can bully me just because my family doesn’t matter to you anymore?"
Vanessa froze, her eyes narrowing.
Then, after a brief pause, she let out a cruel, mocking laugh.
"Your mom just died, right? So, there’s no one left to defend you, is there?" she said, her voice full of vicious amusement.
Keith joined in, his laugh sharp and mocking. He wrapped his arm around Vanessa’s waist, leaning down to kiss her cheek, smugness radiating off of him.
"What, Crawford," he sneered, "are you hoping your dead parents will come and support you? Keep dreaming!"
I spat a mouthful of bloody foam at them, my vision blurry with rage, before turning toward the slowly opening doors.
Finally, he was here.
"Gabriel..." Uncle Jack's voice was a lifeline, grounding me in the chaos.
"Uncle Jack," I rasped, barely able to speak through the pain. "What do we do with a rebellious mutt like this in the family?"
"Kill it!" Uncle Jack’s voice rang out, booming and cold, echoing through the room.
I saw Vanessa’s face drain of color, her legs nearly buckling beneath her.
