“Then get lost quickly. Don’t stand here embarrassing yourself.”
“If my family saw you, they’d only feel disgusted.”
His face darkened at that.
“Claire, playing coy once is enough. Don’t keep testing my patience.”
“And besides, your parents are long dead. Other than me, what family do you even have?”
Even now, he stood over me with that same lofty arrogance.
He could mention my parents’ deaths so carelessly—as if he’d forgotten that it was his doing.
Had he forgotten how we spent three years locked in vicious combat, trying to destroy each other?
Why did he now act as though nothing had happened—so casually speaking of the pain he caused me?
That unbearable ache surged up again, and I couldn’t stop myself.
My hand flew across his face in a resounding slap.
“Alexander, you disgust me.”
He faltered, stunned, staring at me with my fury blazing in his reflection.
One hand rose to my cheek, the other slipped to my throat.
“So many years later, you finally speak the truth.”
His smile held no warmth, only cruelty.
“Disgusting, am I? Do you still think you’re that pure little flower you once were?”
“You’re nothing but a ruined toy now. What right do you have to stand against me?”
His grip tightened, cutting off my breath.
Just as the edges of my vision began to darken, I grabbed the heavy object at my side and swung it hard at him.
