Chapter 254

Chapter 254

Veda's gaze was like a poisoned blade, stabbing toward Victoria.

Her voice twisted with extreme hatred, "What gives her the right? A country bumpkin who grew up in the countryside! What gives her the right to steal everyone's attention the moment she comes back? What gives her the right to join the Starlight Project Team? What gives her the right to become some big designer? She never should have come back! She should have died in that countryside!!"

Veda got more and more worked up, even trying to break free from the police officers' grip, looking completely insane, "And Mr. Garcia!!"

She suddenly turned to Alexander, her eyes filled with obsession and the twisted madness of unrequited desire. "I'm the real daughter of the Gonzalez family! I'm the one who should be standing by your side! Why? Why is it that the moment Victoria shows up, you only have eyes for her?"

"What does she have that I don't? You won't even look at me! What gives Victoria the right? She's a curse! A bitch! She deserves to die! She's the one who deserves to die most!"

Veda's illogical, venomously jealous rant made everyone present frown.

Thalia's face went pale with anger. Unable to hold back any longer, she stepped forward, pointing at Veda's nose and scolding sharply, "Veda! Have you lost your mind? If you're sick, go get treatment! Even though Victoria grew up in the countryside, she's the Gonzalez family's second daughter by blood—that's a fact that can never be changed! And you—"

Her voice rose, filled with merciless mockery and contempt, "You're just an adopted daughter! Hayden was kind enough to take you in and give you a life of luxury, not so you could steal what's not yours, be ungrateful, and bite the hand that feeds you! You really think you're something special? After being an adopted daughter for so many years, you actually think you're the real daughter? Victoria coming back is just things returning to their rightful place. It's only natural! What right do you have to make a scene here? Everything you have never belonged to you in the first place!"

Thalia's words were like sharp knives, precisely cutting open the most unbearable reality Veda didn't want to face. Her face, twisted with agitation, instantly lost all color and turned deathly pale.

And at that moment, Alexander, who had been silently watching from the sidelines, finally spoke.

His voice wasn't loud, but it carried a coldness that seemed to freeze the air and an absolute detachment. Each word landed on Veda's heart like an icicle, "Veda Gonzalez," he even used her full name, his tone devoid of any warmth, containing only pure disgust, "Listen carefully. Even without Victoria, I, Alexander, would never be interested in someone like you."

Alexander's gaze was sharp as a hawk's, ruthlessly tearing apart her last shred of fantasy, "Your actions, your thoughts, are revolting. I used to ignore them out of respect for the Gonzalez family, but I never imagined it would lead you to such absurd delusions. From now on, don't let me hear any more disturbing remarks from you about Victoria or about me."

"Revolting," "absurd delusions," "disturbing."

These cold and cruel words, like the sharpest blades, sliced Veda's already wounded heart to pieces.

She looked at the undisguised disgust and contempt in Alexander's deep eyes, as if she were some filthy garbage. The massive blow made her body shake violently. Her lips trembled, but she couldn't make any sound. Only endless despair and coldness remained, completely swallowing her.

Veda's face, once considered pretty, now showed only ashen paleness and twisted despair.

Her last bit of strength seemed to drain away. Her whole body went limp as if her spine had been removed. She stopped struggling and stopped screaming, just staring blankly at the ground with empty eyes, as if she'd become a soulless shell.

Seeing this, the police didn't delay any further and expressionlessly took the completely broken Veda away.

What awaited her would be the stern judgment of the law and a long prison sentence. The rest of her life was destined to be spent in a dark prison cell, with no possibility of redemption.

Watching Veda being led away, looking lost and defeated like a beaten dog, Hayden stood there, his expression changing constantly, his heart filled with complicated emotions.

There was anger, there was fear, but most of all, there was a heavy, belated regret.

Hayden let out a weary sigh, as if he'd aged several years in an instant, muttering to himself, "It was all wrong, everything was wrong. If I hadn't believed that fake fortune teller back then, hadn't sent Victoria to the countryside, hadn't adopted this so-called Veda who would 'bring me good fortune,' would everything have been different?"

Only now did he truly realize that his superstition and stubbornness had not only made his biological daughter suffer for twenty years and alienated their father-daughter relationship, but had also invited a wolf into the house, raising an ungrateful wretch with a vicious heart who nearly killed Victoria!

Unfortunately, there's no medicine for regret in this world.

The drama at the police station finally ended.

After completing all the necessary procedures, Victoria and Alexander prepared to leave.

Liam looked at Victoria's calm expression, feeling even more guilty, and said, "Victoria, you had a scare today. Let me treat you and Mr. Garcia to dinner as an apology."

He felt embarrassed by what Hayden and Veda had done.

Thalia quickly chimed in, "Yes, yes, Victoria, let's go eat together. I'm starving."

Victoria glanced at Alexander, and seeing him nod slightly, didn't refuse, "Okay."

The four of them didn't go anywhere particularly fancy, but chose a private restaurant with an elegant and quiet atmosphere.

During the meal, although the atmosphere wasn't as tense as at the police station, it wasn't exactly relaxed and pleasant either.

Liam tried to say something several times, but seeing Victoria's calm and unruffled demeanor, felt that any words of apology would seem pale and powerless, so he ended up just silently serving her food.

Alexander took care of Victoria the whole time, his movements natural and considerate, looking at her with gentle and focused eyes, completely different from his cold and intimidating appearance at the police station earlier.

After dinner, Victoria and Thalia went to the restroom together.

Standing at the bright sink, Victoria looked at Thalia through the mirror as she applied lipstick, asking casually, "So, you and Liam got back together?"

Thalia's lipstick application paused slightly. Meeting Victoria's knowing smile in the mirror, her cheeks couldn't help but flush.

She didn't directly admit it, but didn't deny it either. She just responded with a sound, her voice barely audible, carrying a hint of shyness mixed with a kind of resigned helplessness.

"But," Thalia put away her lipstick, turned around, and leaned against the sink, her tone recovering some of its usual shrewdness and composure, "I'm still going back abroad in a couple of days. There's a ton of stuff waiting for me at Victrix Luxury Goods Company. I can't stay in the country forever."

She paused, a flicker of uncertainty about the future crossing her eyes, but it quickly became firm again, "As for Liam and me, I guess we're starting over, but who knows what will happen in the future or if we can stay together. After all, long-distance relationships are hard enough, plus we have so many practical issues between us."

Victoria washed her hands, the water flowing.

She looked at Thalia, who seemed both immersed in romance yet maintaining clear rationality, and nodded gently.