The bodyguard grabbed another piece of cake, but before he could shove it into my mouth, Margot slapped him across the face.
“Do you want to kill him?” she snapped.
She took a step forward as if to help me, but Steven was quicker.
Wrapping an arm around her waist, he pulled her back with a sly grin.
“Steven, don’t get your hands dirty. Let me help him instead.” Margot cunningly smiled.
Right then, Steven crouched down beside me, grabbing my arm and yanking me to my feet. His fingers dug into my injured left hand, and I couldn’t suppress a cry of pain. He smiled at my reaction, his eyes glinting with sadistic pleasure.
“There’s only one piano here tonight,” he said, his voice dripping with mock sincerity. “Carmichael, you don’t mind waiting your turn, right?”
I gritted my teeth through the pain, shaking off Steven’s hand as anger flared up inside me.
“Steven, does humiliating me in front of Steve make you feel proud?” I snapped. “You deliberately pressed on my injured left hand—what’s wrong? Are you that scared I’ll outshine you?”
This time, I didn’t care about Margot’s reaction. I had reached my breaking point. For once, I stood my ground and let all the pent-up frustration spill out.
Steven’s expression darkened instantly. His eyes darted to Margot as he put on his usual pitiful act. “Margot, I was just trying to help Frank, but he doesn’t appreciate it. Now he’s accusing me…”
Margot’s cold, indifferent gaze turned to me, her voice laced with disdain.
“Frank, stop making excuses,” she said icily. “You need to play with your left hand—no more theatrics. Steven is helping you out of kindness, and you should be grateful instead of acting like you’re too good for this. Because, honestly? You’re not anymore.”
Her words cut through me like a blade, extinguishing the last shred of affection I had for her. My chest tightened, and my eyes stung with unshed tears.
“Margot,” I said, my voice trembling but steady enough to convey my bitterness, “have you ever genuinely cared about me? Or was I just here today to make Steven look better?”
I could feel the weight of every suppressed emotion rising to the surface. My voice grew louder, steadier. “I’m done. I can’t keep watching the two of you flaunt your ‘love’ in front of me.”
With that, I yanked off the tie she had tied for me earlier and threw it at her feet.