Chapter 16 Bumping into Jared
Sloane's POV
I looked closely and froze in shock. The person who came was actually Jared's sister, Hannah Montclair.
Hannah was wearing a sharp motorcycle jacket today, her stylish short hair framing a bright and bold face.
She grabbed Keira's hair, and without mercy, raised her other hand and delivered a loud slap right across Keira's face.
The crisp sound made the entire coffee shop fall silent.
"Who the hell do you think you are, acting all high and mighty in front of Sloane?" Hannah's voice was cold and sharp, filled with undisguised disgust. "A bitch who throws herself at men—you really think you can become part of the family?"
Keira was stunned by the hit. The burning pain on her face brought her back to her senses. She covered her face, looking at Hannah in disbelief, then lunged at her like a madwoman. "How dare you hit me!"
The two women instantly started fighting, their screams and curses mixing together. Keira usually acted delicate and weak, but when it came to fighting, she was ruthless—her nails were long and sharp, aimed straight at Hannah's face.
Hannah wasn't backing down either, pulling at her hair relentlessly.
I never expected Hannah to suddenly show up, let alone get physical for my sake.
Seeing the situation spiraling out of control, with people around already pulling out their phones to record, I didn't have time to think. I immediately stepped forward to break them up.
"Stop fighting! Both of you, stop!"
I struggled to separate them.
Keira's hair was a mess like a bird's nest, with several striking red marks on her face, panting heavily in embarrassment.
When she realized it really was Hannah who hit her, she froze completely, her face full of grievance.
"Hannah... why?"
Hannah's arm had been scratched too, with a few streaks of blood showing.
I pulled her over, took out tissues and band-aids from my bag, and said quietly, "Let me take care of that for you."
She glanced at me, the hostility in her expression softening a bit, letting me clean her wound.
"Don't be scared." Hannah said to me, her tone gentler now. "Women like her who have no shame deserve to have their mouths torn apart."
"It's you! Sloane, it must be you!" Keira finally found an outlet for her emotions. She pointed at me, her voice shrill with accusation. "You said something to Hannah, didn't you? You deliberately tried to drive a wedge between us!"
"Drive a wedge?" Hannah exploded again at those words. She pulled her hand away from me, stepped forward, got close to Keira, and sneered. "Keira, stop flattering yourself. An ungrateful snake like you—you think Sloane would waste her energy scheming against you? Three years ago when my brother was about to get married, you disappeared. Now that you see my brother has built up the Montclair family business, you come crying and running back. What, the sky abroad isn't as blue as ours, or are the men abroad not as rich as my brother?"
Hannah's words were like knives, each sentence stabbing right into Keira's heart.
Keira's face turned pale and flushed alternately, completely speechless.
Her specialty of playing the victim to gain sympathy was completely useless against Hannah's direct accusations.
Seeing she couldn't win with words, Keira's eyes reddened, tears starting to well up in her eyes, ready to use her old tricks again.
Just then, my phone rang at the worst possible moment.
I instinctively put it on silent, but Hannah's sharp eyes caught the caller ID. She raised an eyebrow. "Oh, Jared's calling." A sly smile crossed her face. "Answer it, sister-in-law. Let my dear brother hear what his precious sweetheart has been up to."
I didn't want to answer this call in front of them, especially not in this chaotic situation.
Thinking about how Jared might be on the other end, gently comforting Keira who was "wronged because of me," made me feel sick.
I shoved my phone back in my pocket and said to Hannah, "I'm leaving. Take care of yourself."
"Hey, Sloane..."
I ignored the voice behind me, just wanting to escape this mess immediately.
I didn't want to see Jared, and I definitely didn't want to see him questioning me because of Keira.
That would make me sick.
I quickly walked out of the coffee shop, practically fleeing.
Just as I pushed open the glass door, I crashed right into a solid chest.
A familiar cool scent drifted into my nose. I froze.
I looked up sharply, meeting Jared's unfathomably dark eyes.
He clearly hadn't expected to run into me here either. His handsome brows furrowed slightly as he reached out to steady my shoulders. "Why are you in such a hurry?"
Before I could speak, Keira's extremely delicate cry came from behind me.
"Jared!"
I instinctively turned around to see Keira stumbling out of the coffee shop. When she saw Jared holding my shoulders, she seemed to trip over something, her body swaying as she fell limply to the ground.
"Ah! My foot..." She sat on the ground, painfully clutching her ankle. Her tear-stained face was full of pain, but her gaze looked past me toward Jared with pitiful appeal.
Everything happened too fast, like a badly rehearsed drama.
Jared's expression changed instantly. He almost immediately let go of me and strode toward Keira.
I watched as Jared released my hand and turned without hesitation to rush to another woman.
My fingertips still held the warmth from his palm, but that warmth vanished in an instant.
"Jared, my foot hurts so much..." Keira sat on the ground, lifting her tear-stained face, as delicate as a little flower ravaged by a storm. "I think I twisted it again..."
Jared crouched down in front of her, his brows tightly knit, carefully examining her ankle with a concern in his tone he'd never shown me. "Don't move, let me see."
I stood there, watching this painful scene, suddenly finding it absurdly ridiculous.
Only a fool like Jared would fall for Keira's act.
Keira's gaze moved past Jared's shoulder, landing on me with a hint of hidden provocation, then immediately turned back to aggrieved tears.
While sobbing, she shrank into Jared's arms, her voice choked. "Jared, don't blame Sloane... I just wanted to explain last night's misunderstanding to her. I don't know why she was so angry, and she even had Hannah hit me..."
Hearing her twist the truth, I wanted to rush over and tear apart that lying mouth of hers.
So disgusting.
I didn't need to think to know that fool Jared would believe her.
Sure enough, Jared's movements paused. He looked up. "Sloane, what exactly happened?"
His voice was heavy, with a hint of suppressed impatience.
My heart went completely cold in that moment.
I didn't even have the energy to be angry, just felt endless exhaustion and disappointment drowning me like a tide. I looked at him, at this man I'd loved for so many years, cared for so many years, watching him once again question me without getting the facts straight.
I pulled at the corner of my mouth in a faint smile.
"Bro, are you fucking blind!"
Before I could speak, an angry shout exploded beside me.
Hannah, like an enraged cheetah, rushed forward in a few steps, yanked Keira away as she tried to burrow into Jared's arms, stood in front of me, and glared at her own brother.
"Look clearly—it was Keira who started it! She threw water on Sloane! Your wife was bullied right in front of you, and you're still asking her what happened? Jared, where's your moral compass!"