Chapter 247
Ten minutes later, Gloria hauled herself up off the ground, her face bruised and swollen.
Willow stood beside her, also bearing some fresh marks from the fight, but overall in far better shape than Gloria.
"I'd actually planned on forgetting you even existed. But you chose to provoke me again and again. Can't stop thinking about your dear sister, can you?" Willow's tone was flat. "In that case, I don't mind disciplining you on behalf of the Brown family."
"You..." Gloria was furious, but just like when they were kids, she'd never been able to beat Willow in a fight. Today was no different.
Growing up, whenever she picked a fight with Willow and got taught a lesson, she'd never once managed to fight back successfully. All she could do was run home crying to Valerie and their father.
Willow's father had always been spineless. A few persuasive words from Valerie and he'd usually take Gloria's side, then turn around and scold Willow for laying hands on her.
"What, want to go tattle again?" Willow looked at the person before her with disgust. "Go ahead. My dad's dead. My grandmother won't take your side. There's no one left to back you up anymore. I'm warning you—stop coming after me."
Gloria bit down hard, forcing the tears in her eyes back. She scrambled to her feet. "You just wait!"
She threw out that parting shot, got in her car, and drove off.
Willow didn't stop her.
Emily had attacked her in a fit of rage, so Willow had given Gloria a beating in return. Fair exchange. It served as a warning.
Besides, she'd already resigned from the Lancaster Group. Even if Gloria tried to cause more trouble, there was no way to drag the company into it.
Like she'd just said—she had nothing to worry about anymore.
Watching Gloria's car disappear into the distance, Willow remembered Molly still waiting at the company entrance to give her an autograph. She turned and headed back.
"Willow, that was Gloria, right? She's the one who put Emily up to it? You beat her up pretty bad—are you sure that's okay?" Molly had looked up earlier to find Willow gone, then witnessed her pinning Gloria down and pummeling her. She'd been completely stunned.
Gloria might be no saint, but she was still a Brown family daughter.
If she went home and complained to the Browns...
Molly couldn't help feeling worried.
Having vented her anger, Willow felt considerably lighter. "Like I said, let her complain all she wants. There's no one I'm afraid of anymore."
Molly looked at her with pure admiration.
After exchanging a few more words, Willow hailed a cab back to the hospital.
Upstairs at the Lancaster Group, in the executive office.
Blake stood respectfully before the desk, still somewhat dazed from witnessing Willow beat someone up moments ago.
A few minutes earlier, he'd overheard employees gossiping about Emily attacking Willow. He'd immediately informed his boss, and they'd headed downstairs together.
What they hadn't expected was to arrive at the entrance and catch Willow in the middle of pounding Gloria.
"Mr. Lancaster..." The gap between how Willow had just acted and her usual demeanor was so vast that Blake didn't know what to say.
Sterling's expression was displeased. "Where is Emily now?"
Blake paused. "She should have left by now. Did you need her for something?"
"Have the legal find a way. I want to prosecute her for assault. Get her locked up for a few years." Sterling's order was clear.
He was settling the score for Willow.
Blake understood his boss's intent and immediately agreed.
After a beat, he carefully added, "Ms. Spencer beat up Ms. Brown pretty badly. What about the Brown family..."
With those fighting marks on Gloria's face, there was no way the Browns wouldn't find out.
If they learned Willow was responsible, they definitely wouldn't let it slide.
Sterling's voice was low. "I'll handle it. You can go. Tell Molly to spend more time at the hospital these next few days."
At the mention of his troublesome sister, Blake's face fell. "That was already my plan."
He couldn't control Molly anymore. Having Willow keep an extra eye on her would help.
The Brown Villa.
When Gloria walked through the door, Percy had just returned from outside. Kaitlyn was helping him out of his coat in the foyer, while Henry was preparing to head out.
Seeing her parents, Gloria had been ready to launch into her complaints, but spotting Henry nearby, she swallowed the words back. She'd wait until he left.
However, Kaitlyn had already noticed something was wrong. She abandoned Percy mid-coat-removal and left him to fend for himself.
"Glo, what happened? How did you get hurt like this? Who hit you?" Kaitlyn stared at the injuries on her face, heartbroken.
Percy finished removing his coat himself and hung it up. Hearing this, he turned and walked over too.
Seeing his daughter beaten up like this, rage immediately flared. His brow furrowed as he demanded, "Who did this?"
Henry also stopped in his tracks, turning to stare at her face. "How did it get this bad? Did you..."
He'd instinctively been about to ask if Gloria had caused trouble again.
The words were on the tip of his tongue when he realized their parents were right there. Plus, Gloria was his sister—seeing her beaten up like this, thinking badly of her seemed wrong. So he swallowed the question back.
Gloria held back, and held back, until finally she couldn't hold back anymore. She buried herself in Kaitlyn's arms and burst into loud, ugly sobs.
"Mom, it was Willow! Willow hit me! It hurts so much—she even hit my face..."
At those words, all three Browns' expressions shifted simultaneously.
Kaitlyn's feelings were complicated as she stroked her daughter's hair. "Tell me slowly. Willow hit you? Why would she hit you?"
Percy's face had turned stormy. "What do you mean 'why'? No matter what the reason, she can't beat someone up like this! Even if her family raised Glo for a few years, that doesn't make it okay!"
With that, he moved to put his coat back on and head out. "Where is she now? I'm going to settle this with her!"
"Percy!" Kaitlyn quickly grabbed him and shot Henry a meaningful look.
Though she was naive in many ways, after everything that had happened, even she'd picked up on the fact that her daughter didn't like Willow.
From her interactions with Willow, she didn't think Willow was the type to attack people without reason, either.
Kaitlyn was more inclined to believe the two had gotten into an argument that escalated into a fight, that it wasn't just one person's fault. At the very least, they needed to get the full story first.
Percy hadn't been around for any of this, which was why he'd immediately wanted to hunt Willow down the moment he heard.
"Dad, let Glo explain everything first." Henry helped his mother restrain their father. "Willow's household is just her and a seriously ill old woman right now. If you show up at her door like this, aren't you just bullying her?"
Percy's brow shot up. "She hit my daughter first—that's not bullying?"
Henry glanced at Gloria, still burrowing into their mother's embrace. "That's exactly why I'm saying we need to figure out what happened. Glo, speak clearly. Why exactly did Willow hit you?"
Naturally, Gloria had no intention of answering that question. She just kept crying in Kaitlyn's arms as if she'd suffered the world's greatest injustice.
In the past, whenever Willow had beaten her up, this was exactly how she'd dealt with Willow's father. She'd cry, Valerie would whisper in his ear, and he'd quickly take their side.
But now...
"Let's get a doctor to look at you first," Kaitlyn said.
Then she loosened her hold on Gloria. "Glo, your brother's right. Tell us what happened clearly so we can stand up for you properly."