Chapter 79
She jerked her head up and shrieked at the dazed thugs. "Are you all dead? Get her!"
The thugs snapped out of it.
Tate scrambled to his feet, one hand clutching his chest, the other grabbing a mop handle from the wall and charging forward.
Another thug, bald, whipped out a retractable baton from his waist. A third, shorter man circled around behind Lucinda, planning a sneak attack.
Lucinda merely glanced up, sidestepped the mop handle Tate swung down at her, grabbed his wrist with her free hand, and twisted it downward.
The mop handle clattered to the floor. Tate let out a pig-like squeal.
Using his arm as leverage, she yanked him forward and kicked the bald man square in the chest. The bald man flew backward, slamming into the shorter guy. All three tumbled into a heap, knocking over a stack of broken boxes in the corner. The crash echoed through the room.
The whole sequence took less than thirty seconds.
She hadn't even unbuttoned a single button on her coat.
The three men lay sprawled on the ground, groaning. Not one of them could get up.
Tate clutched his wrist and cowered in the corner, the arrogance wiped clean from his face. He trembled all over.
He'd been running rampant in this area with Pearl for so long. This was the first time he'd encountered someone who could send him flying with a single kick.
And she was a woman.
He'd been beaten before, but just now—he hadn't even seen how she moved.
Pearl knelt on the floor, watching the scene unfold before her. The arrogance in her eyes shattered bit by bit.
She braced herself against the floor and shuffled backward half an inch, her wounded palm dragging a streak of blood across the broken porcelain. But she didn't care about the pain anymore. She looked up at Lucinda.
"Do you… do you even know who I am? I'm the young lady of the Fisher family. Beau's daughter! If you cross me, you're crossing the entire Fisher family. You won't get away with this!"
The corner of Lucinda's mouth curved slightly. "The Fisher family's young lady?"
She leaned down slightly, her gaze settling on Pearl's face. "The Fisher family's young lady is Gaia. What are you?"
Pearl wanted to retort, but all her words lodged in her throat. She couldn't squeeze out a single one.
Her last name was Fisher. She'd told everyone she was the Fisher family's young lady, but right now she was kneeling on the floor, her face burning, and the woman before her was looking at her like she was some third-rate knockoff.
Lucinda didn't spare her another glance. She turned, picked up the rough fabric the thugs had brought to tie up Qiana, and in a few swift moves, bound Pearl's and the three thugs' wrists behind their backs.
Pearl kept cursing, her voice venomous. "Just wait… Once I get out of here, I'll make all of you regret this… Especially you, you bitch who came out of nowhere—"
Lucinda slapped her again, shutting her up.
Then Lucinda turned her head and looked at Gaia.
Gaia still stood where she'd been. Her blouse sleeve was torn, her wrist red and swollen from being restrained, dried tear tracks on her face.
But her expression was different now. Resolute. Cold.
"She's yours." Lucinda's voice was calm. "The grievances you and your mother suffered—you settle them yourself."
Gaia nodded firmly, then slowly walked over to Pearl and looked down at the woman kneeling on the floor, hair disheveled, blood at the corner of her mouth.
This person who'd stolen everything from her since childhood was now bound at the wrists, kneeling pathetically before her.
This was the first time Gaia had ever looked down at Pearl from this angle.
She wiped the tears from her face, then raised her hand and slapped down hard.
This slap was heavier than all three Lucinda had delivered.
Pearl was knocked sideways to the floor. Before she could get up, Gaia had already grabbed her by the collar, yanked her upright, and slapped her again.
Tears streamed endlessly down Gaia's face. She cried as she slapped. "Since we were kids, you've taken everything from me. You took my home, you took my dad, and now you want to destroy us completely… What gives you the right?"
Her voice mixed with tears and mucus, coming out in broken fragments. "When my mom and I were kicked out of the house, I didn't even bring a winter coat. Do you know how cold that winter was? My mom knelt at the door begging him—begging him to give us food to eat, for the sake of my dead grandfather. You and your mom were sitting in the living room with the heater on, drinking hot tea… What gave you the right?"
She gripped Pearl's collar with both hands, hauling her up from the floor only to shove her back down, then hauling her up again. Fists and slaps rained down on Pearl, every punch trembling. "Why did you have to come after us? You got the company! You got the houses! You got the money! You even got him! What more do you want? Tell me! What more do you want?"
Her voice exploded. Every emotion ignited in that moment.
Pearl shrieked as she was beaten, but she refused to back down, dodging and cursing at the same time. "You're just a coward! Your mom's a coward too! Your whole family are cowards! You deserved to be kicked out—"
Gaia raised her hand and slapped her again, slapping the rest of the words back into her mouth.
Then she grabbed Pearl's hair with her other hand and shoved her face toward the floor. "Bow to my mother."
Pearl struggled, refusing to lower her head, still cursing under her breath.
Lucinda raised her foot and kicked Pearl's knee again. Pearl dropped to the floor with a thud, her forehead slamming into the tile scattered with porcelain shards.
Gaia released her hair and stood up, looking down at Pearl curled on the floor. She lifted her foot and kicked.
Every kick carried a memory—Pearl stealing her first toy, Pearl tearing up her awards, Pearl dumping water on her in front of her classmates at the school gate, Pearl yanking her from her seat at her father's birthday party—
She kicked without form, with all her strength, tears scattering across the floor.
Pearl's shrieks gradually lowered, dissolving into broken sobs and pleas. "Stop… stop hitting me… I was wrong… I was wrong… Please… I'll leave. I'll leave right now…"
Gaia's chest heaved violently. Tears dripped from her chin onto the tile.
She looked at Pearl curled on the floor. Her fists were still clenched tight, but her fingers slowly loosened.
She couldn't do it anymore. She wasn't like this kind of person.
Her mother had raised her all these years—not to turn her into someone like Pearl.
She took a step back, her voice hoarse. "Get out."
Pearl crawled and stumbled toward the door, the three thugs staggering after her.
The crack in the doorframe from being kicked still shed bits of plaster. Chaotic footsteps and suppressed groans echoed down the hallway, growing fainter and fainter until they disappeared at the stairwell.
Pearl stumbled down the last step of the staircase, her palm scraping against the dusty railing and leaving streaks of blood.
She staggered upright and looked back at the half-broken security door, humiliation and resentment churning in her eyes.
That woman—she would make her pay.
And Gaia. Not one of them would get away.