I didn’t waste a single breath on her. Again, I slapped her. In fact, it was even harder than before. This time, blood instantly welled at the corner of her mouth. A thin crimson line slid down her chin.
At that moment, the sound of hurried footsteps echoed outside. The door burst open. Brian stormed in. The second he saw Adeline’s bloody mouth, his eyes filled with rage so intense it was almost murderous.
"Lilian! Have you gone mad? Who gave you the right to hit her?"
Immediately, Brian rushed to Adeline. He pulled her into his arms as he carefully wiped the blood from her lips. Before I could speak, his palm struck my face with a loud crack. Pain exploded across my cheek. My head jerked to the side as my mouth filled with the metallic taste of blood.
I swallowed it down and slowly lifted my head to look at him. Instead of anger, I smiled coldly.
"Brian, I hope you won’t regret this."
My parents arrived right after him. They immediately rushed to my side. Not to protect me, but to scold me like I was a stranger.
"Lilian, you ungrateful wretch! How could you hurt Adeline like this? What has she ever done to you?"