Chapter 34 The Villian They Wanted

Chapter 34 The Villian They Wanted
Alina’s POV

I felt my father’s hand clamp around my upper arm like a vice, yanking me backward so hard my shoulder screamed in protest. 

My feet skidded on the polished marble floor, the rubber soles of my shoes squeaking loudly against it. 

The sudden pull jerked my whole body around, forcing me to face the mess again…Dorothy still clutching her bleeding arm like she was on her deathbed, maids fluttering around with the first aid kit, and my father’s face twisted in rage.

‘Don’t explode,’ I told myself, gritting my teeth so tight my jaw ached. ‘Breathe in, Alina. Hold it. You’re not a kid anymore. Don’t give them the satisfaction of seeing you break.’

My chest burned with the effort. I could feel the heat rising up my neck, my pulse hammering in my ears like a war drum. ‘They want you to snap. Stay calm. Just walk away. One foot in front of the other.’

But before I could even exhale, his other hand flew.

SLAP.

The sound cracked through the dining room like a gunshot. 

My head snapped to the side so violently that white stars exploded across my vision. For a second, I literally saw flashes of light, like someone had thrown me into another dimension. 

Heat bloomed across my cheek, sharp and stinging, spreading down to my jaw. My ear rang…a high-pitched whine that drowned everything out. 

Regina’s scream sounded like it came from underwater, muffled and far away, like she was yelling at me from a parallel universe.

I stumbled, tasting blood where my teeth had cut the inside of my cheek. The metallic tang filled my mouth. My eyes watered on instinct, but I forced them open.

And there it was…Dorothy’s smirk. That tiny, satisfied curl at the corner of her lips, gone in a blink when she saw my father looking. But I caught it. Of course I did.

Regina moved fast, stepping right between us, her body shielding me from my father. Her shoulders were shaking. 

“Fredrick! What the hell is wrong with you? Why are you so quick to take her side every single time? Over your own daughter! Why won’t you believe Alina for once? How do you expect her to open up to you when you always play favorites with this outsider?”

I stood there, ears still ringing, staring straight at my father. Tears were gathering in his eyes now…actual tears. 

The man who was supposed to protect me. The one who used to carry me on his shoulders when I was little and tell me the world was mine. My chest squeezed so tight I thought it might crack.

His expression softened, just a fraction. I saw his hands shake as he looked at Regina and me, then back at my face. The red mark on my cheek must’ve been glowing. He swallowed hard.

“I’m… I’m sorry,” he said, voice rough. “I didn’t mean to hit you. But Alina, your behavior lately… it’s uncivilized. You’re not acting like the perfect heiress I trained you to be.”

I willed the tears not to fall. Blinked them back hard, feeling them burn. A quiet, broken laugh slipped out of me before I could stop it. It sounded hollow even to my own ears.

“Well,” I said softly, “that makes the two of us.”

He looked at me cautiously, hurt flashing across his face. “What…what do you mean by that?”

I met his eyes dead on. “You’re not the man I used to call father.” My voice didn’t even shake. “I hate you. Do you hear me? I hate you both more than you can ever imagine.”

The words hung in the air like smoke after a fire. I saw the hurt crash into his eyes, deep and raw. But I didn’t stop. I couldn’t.

“I hate you both to the point where I cannot even begin to continue living like an animal in a cage just to make you happy.”

“Alina—” he muttered, voice cracking. “You shouldn’t say that. You don't mean that. When did you become this…”

“Free?” I finished for him, stepping forward even as Regina tried to pull me back gently. “Unbothered? Bold?” I shrugged her hand off. “Don’t touch me, Regina. Not right now.” 

I faced him fully, lifting my finger and pointing it straight at his chest. “I owe it to all the times you treated me like a stranger while cradling this bitch next to you like a prized treasure.”

“Alina! Watch your language young woman,” my father scolded. Like I give a damn about sounding polished right now.

Dorothy spoke up then, voice dripping with fake sweetness and victimhood. “Uncle Freddy, she’s being so unreasonable. How could she say all those things to you? She doesn’t have to be so rude and uncultured just because she was disciplined—”

“Shut up,” I snapped without even looking at her.

My father was still staring at me. The hurt in his eyes went deeper than I’d ever seen. Like something inside him was shattering. Good. Let it.

I kept going, voice steady even though my cheek throbbed and my heart felt like it was being ripped out. “I’m ready to cut off all ties with this family and go fend for myself. I won’t be the first to do it, but I’d rather be out there where I’m respected, where I can actually breathe freely, than stay trapped in this luxurious prison you call a home.”

Regina was crying now, tears streaming down her face. “Alina, please calm down. We can talk about this. Don’t say anything you don't mean.”

Dorothy piped up again, and this time the mockery behind her fake sweetness was impossible to miss.

“Alina, we’re family. You don’t have to say such hurtful things. And if this is about you refusing to apologize for cutting me…” she sighed softly, playing the saint perfectly, “I forgive you.”

The room went still.

Something inside me snapped so violently I actually heard it in my head.

Oh, she wanted a villain?

Fine.

I moved before reason could catch me. Before anyone could stop me. Before even I could rethink it.

My fingers closed around a jagged shard of broken glass on the table.

Gasps erupted.

Dorothy’s eyes widened, but too late.

I lunged, cutting her arm with the shard of the broken glass.

Her scream tore through the room as fresh blood spilled instantly, bright and shocking against her pale skin, and chaos exploded around us.

“ALINA!” my father roared, his voice shaking the walls.

But for the first time since this madness started, I felt calm.

Dead calm.

I let the bloody shard slip from my fingers and hit the floor with a sharp clink.

Then I looked Dorothy straight in the eye while she clutched her arm in horror.

“There,” I said coldly. “Now you can accuse me of cutting you… and this time, I’ll gladly apologize for it.”

The entire room stared at me like I had become a monster.

Maybe I had.

“You have completely lost your mind!” my father thundered, fury twisting his face as he turned to the guards. “Hold her down!”

The guards rushed toward me immediately, but I didn’t fight them.

I stood there with my chin high and my heartbeat steady while Dorothy cried dramatically in the background.

Because if they were determined to paint me as the villain no matter what I did…

Then I would become one they would never forget.

Just then, heavy footsteps echoed from the hallway, coming straight towards our direction.