Chapter 3

SLAP!

The bodyguard flew sideways through the air, crashing heavily onto the ground.

Without his support, Roman went completely limp and collapsed onto the cold floor.

Everyone was stunned.

“Where... where did he get so much strength?”

Atticus, who was still being held in Cassandra’s arms, had been smugly enjoying watching Roman and me get punished. But the moment his eyes met my ice-cold glare, he let out a sharp scream.

“Lysander is going crazy! Look at his eyes—he wants to kill me! Cassandra, I’m so scared!”

Cassandra’s face turned pale with anger. Motioning to the other bodyguards, she stepped forward and grabbed my wrist.

“Lysander Montgomery! You’ve gone too far!”

With a slight twist of my wrist, I easily broke free from the bodyguard’s grip.

Seeing her standing there and helping that vicious snake torment us, I felt rage boiling inside me.

I raised my hand and slapped her hard across the face!

The sharp crack echoed through the entire grand hall.

Cassandra’s head snapped to the side, vibrant red finger marks swelling up on her pretty face.

Shocked, blinding fury boiled in her eyes. “You really have gone insane! You don’t belong in a mental hospital—you belong in a psych ward forever!”

“You absolute disgrace!” Alistair turned around and slapped Evelina, right across the face.

“Look at the good son you raised! How dare he strike the heir to the Vaughn family? Are you trying to ruin the Montgomery family completely?!”

He pulled Atticus closer to him. “If not for Atticus, you two would have lost all the Montgomery family’s dignity long ago!”

Evelina clutched her cheek, staring at me with tears in her eyes. “Can’t you show some common sense? From the time you were kids, you two brothers have done nothing but frame Atticus and bully him! It’s bad enough that you never helped me, but now you’re getting me beaten too…

“How did I give birth to two wretched fools like you? Why didn’t you both just die out there!”

Those words were like a knife, stabbing straight into my heart.

I used to think my father favored Atticus for some hidden reason, and that my mother was simply being tricked.

But looking at it now, she clearly just despised us because Roman and I couldn’t help her gain favor in this house.

A bitter laugh escaped my throat as tears streamed down my face.

Fine. So be it. There was nothing left in this house worth holding onto anyway.

Heartbroken, I gently scooped Roman into my arms and whispered in his ear, “Roman, hang on! I’m taking you away!”

This time, I showed no mercy, slapping away every single person who dared stand in my path.

Holding my brother tight, I finally broke through and reached the front doors.

Just as I was about to step outside, a bucket of foul, stench-ridden wastewater was hurled straight at my face!

I turned around to protect Roman, and another bucket of thick, nasty animal blood was dumped hard onto my back.

A few of Atticus’s close friends blocked the doorway, laughing mockingly.

“Roman, stop acting so innocent! How dare you try to drug and seduce your own sister-in-law!”

“Atticus is too soft-hearted, but we won’t just stand by and watch! Today, we’re going to get justice for him!”

My eyes turned blood-red, my voice hoarse. “Get out of my way! Anyone who delays me saving my brother dies!”

Yet those men still blocked the door, their words dripping with malice.

“So you’re that trash’s older brother? You really are two of a kind!”

“Throwing dirty water and blood on you is getting off easy! If you weren’t marrying into the Vaughn family, we would’ve made you drink battery acid by now!”

“Still want to leave? Until you two brothers learn your lesson, neither of you is stepping out this door!”

Before his words finished, a group of heavy-set, mean-looking women stepped out from behind them, along with a group of pale women with hollow, sickly eyes.

“Aren’t you two desperate for women? Are these enough for you brothers to enjoy?”

One of them giggled, covering her mouth. “The ones in front are wild, and the ones in back... carry terrible diseases. A pair of trash brothers belongs in the gutter!”

Alistair watched cold-heartedly from the side. “Even outsiders can’t stand your behavior. It’s a good thing someone is teaching you a lesson for me!”

Evelina turned her face away. “Don’t look at me. You brought this entirely on yourselves. It has nothing to do with me.”

A barely noticeable smirk touched the corner of Atticus’s lips, a flash of smug victory crossing his innocent face.

Cassandra nodded calmly. “Since you’re joining the Vaughn family, someone needs to teach you your place first.”

A metallic taste of blood filled my mouth. “Cassandra Vaughn! If I am humiliated today, it is the Vaughn family’s name that gets dragged through the dirt!”

She let out a contemptuous laugh. “I only agreed to marry you to appease my grandfather. Do you really think I would ever touch you? If you catch some terrible disease today, it gives me the perfect excuse to break off the engagement!”

Good. Very good!

So in your eyes, my brother and I aren’t even human beings.

I will remember everything that happened today deep in my bones.

Once I save my brother, I will make every single one of you pay back a hundred times over!