Chapter 373

Alexander and Margaret froze when Evelyn raised the teacup to her lips. Their eyes burned with anticipation as they waited for her to take that fateful sip.

The porcelain rim touched Evelyn's mouth, but suddenly her gaze snapped up. A dangerous glint flashed in her stormy gray eyes.

The couple recoiled in shock. Before they could react, Evelyn's arm whipped forward, sending scalding tea splashing across their faces.

Though not boiling, the liquid still burned at nearly 160 degrees.

Margaret and Richard howled in agony, their skin turning an angry scarlet.

"You! Vivian, have you lost your mind?" Margaret screeched, dabbing at her blistering face with trembling hands. Her features twisted into something monstrous.

"Do you take me for a fool?" Evelyn's voice dripped with ice. "Did you really think I wouldn't notice your little 'addition' to my tea?" She hurled the cup at their feet.

The delicate china shattered like their fragile scheme. The couple scrambled back from the razor-sharp shards.

In mere seconds, they'd been assaulted by boiling liquid and nearly impaled by porcelain. It took them precious moments to regain their bearings.

When they finally looked up, Evelyn loomed over them like an avenging angel. "Well? How does your special brew taste?"

Margaret's face contorted with rage as realization dawned. "Darling, lock the door!" she shrieked.

Richard lunged for the exit, slamming it shut.

Margaret bared her teeth like a rabid animal. "How dare you attack us in our own home? Vivian, you'll regret this!"

Her hand flew toward Evelyn's face with vicious intent.

Evelyn caught the wrist mid-air, her grip like steel. "The day I opened my eyes again," she hissed, "I swore no one would ever lay hands on me without consequence."

She flung Margaret away with terrifying ease.

Margaret stumbled backward, crashing onto the sofa before rolling onto the broken porcelain. Blood bloomed across her designer dress as she screamed at Richard. "Kill this bitch! I want her dead!"

Richard charged like a bull, his face purple with rage.

Evelyn moved with lethal grace. Using the self-defense techniques Sebastian had taught her, she flipped Richard effortlessly, sending him crashing onto his wife.

"Ahhh!" Margaret's scream pierced the air as glass shards embedded in her flesh.

Humiliated, Richard scrambled for a weapon. As he pushed himself up, a stiletto heel crushed his hand against the floor.

He looked up into Evelyn's arctic gaze. She stood over him like a queen surveying her prey.

"Does it hurt?" she purred. "But this is nothing compared to the pain of you grinding my fingers beneath your shoe."

Richard paled. "W-what are you talking about? I never—"

"No?" Evelyn's laugh sent chills down their spines. "Has your memory failed so soon? Let me refresh it."

Her hand flashed out. The crack of her slap echoed through the room as red fingerprints bloomed on Richard's cheek.

Margaret gasped. "How dare you strike my husband!"

Evelyn's smile turned glacial. "Why not? Did you ask permission before your countless beatings? Before you left me bleeding on the floor?"

The color drained from their faces.

Silence swallowed the room, broken only by their ragged breathing. Then Margaret's finger trembled as she pointed at Evelyn. "W-what did you just say?"

Evelyn tilted her head. "Are your ears as useless as your conscience?"