Dark Revenge Of A Jilted Bride: Till Life Do Us Part!-Chapter 48: Interference III

Gianna felt like bashing someone’s head in, someone like her cousin, who although was pleading with outstretched hands, had a glint of annoyance flashing intermittently in her eyes.

They had touched the properties she had kept in the farthest room, in the least visited part of the mansion.

Worse, they had sold it.

Sold it, as if it meant nothing, as if it was theirs to barter away.

Why would they do that? Because she was sure her uncle was talking bollocks.

His wife and daughter not having enough money? That was complete bullshit, laughably so.

It was just plain old greed, and then to spite her, to hurt her.

"Gianna, what do you want to be done to them? Just say the word, and you will have it..." Old Mr. Thorne spoke then, his voice level, measured.

Clement’s eyes darted like a yoyo between Gianna and Old Mr. Thorne, his gaze pleading now.

"Gianna... please... I’m truly sorry about our actions all these years... I’m truly sorry about the wicked actions of my family too, toward you. Concerning the jewellery..." His voice cracked at the edges, desperation seeping through.

Gianna scoffed, interrupting him, the sound sharp, derisive, as she returned to her seat with deliberate slowness, crossing one leg over the other.

Clement was only apologizing because he was wise enough to know when he was standing before a stronger adversary, when power had shifted and was no longer his to wield.

"What about the pictures?" she asked coolly, her tone deceptively mild as she ignored his pleas entirely. "And the ledger, the emblems? Why would you even touch those two?"

Silence greeted her questions, thick and suffocating, making her clasp her hands together slowly, fingers interlocking tight, her knuckles whitening as her eyes steeled even further.

"Any more beats of silence, and the guards will be beating you three up..."

She smiled then, a small, sinister curve of her lips, when Josephine blanched visibly and she cocked a brow as the same woman tried, shakily, to stand up.

"Tired of kneeling already?"

Clement turned to his wife sharply and glared at her, fury and warning tangled in his eyes.

The woman, whose knees were beginning to protest, stomped down whatever retort she had up her sleeves and remained kneeling, pain making her eyelids wet, lashes clumping together.

"The pictures, uncle... I don’t have time to waste..." Gianna pressed, voice cutting.

But Clement knew not what happened to the pictures. Didn’t even know there were pictures at all. So, helplessly, he turned to his wife for explanations.

Josephine was just as confused.

Seeing the confusion mirrored on both their faces, Gianna slowly shifted her gaze to Sabrina.

But even as their gazes met, she knew, without the latter speaking, that the pictures had been tampered with, out of sheer evilness, out of malice.

"Sabrina..." Gianna called softly.

"What? I have no idea what you are talking about..." Sabrina bit out quickly, the words rushed, defensive.

She frowned when she saw a guard move toward her just then, a guard gestured at by Old Mr. Thorne without even looking in her direction.

"Make sure she talks... do whatever necessary..."

"Please... Mr. Thorne..." Josephine cried out, her voice breaking as the build of the guard alone instilled terror within her.

She prostrated fully on the floor, dignity forgotten. "Please let my daughter go... please..."

The guard pinched Sabrina’s ear, ignoring Josephine’s plea entirely, and drew it in the same vein, hard, harsh.

Sabrina screamed, the sound shrill, as pain rocketed through her entire body, her hands clawing uselessly at air, with Gianna looking on like she was witnessing a nuisance rather than a tragedy.

"That’s less than a tip of the iceberg... I would say he is being lenient... maybe considering you are a woman," Gianna said coolly. "But he wouldn’t be so if I should repeat the question again..."

Sabrina’s eyes were already wet, tears pooling and spilling, her left ear burning, throbbing violently, her mouth full of curses, but still remaining stubbornly shut.

And when she felt the man’s hand tightening around her ear again, even more painful, even more roughly, her resistance shattered.

"I burnt them all!" she cussed out, the words exploding from her as a tear slipped down her cheek.

"What..." Clement’s words broke off uselessly.

Of course, he wasn’t concerned for the pictures particularly, only that the singular act of his daughter had successfully pushed the final nail into the coffin.

They were dead now. Completely. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

Sabrina’s head hung low, shoulders sagging, battling with disbelief at her circumstance, and bitterness.

So bitter was she that when the slap came, sudden and brutal, it took a while for her to process it, or even to know where it had come from.

Her ears rang violently, her brain going fuzzy, just as her body was pushed to the floor by the sheer force of it.

"W...hat..." she sputtered weakly, her ears still ringing as her hand lifted slowly to touch the burning area of contact.

Her tears were falling unbidden now, streaming freely.

She barely heard her father shouting at her, his voice thunderous, but she heard the breaking of her own heart when she realized that the slap hadn’t been delivered by anyone else but her father.

This was the first time he was laying his hand on her. And all because of that bitch. All because of Gianna.

Sabrina fisted her hands, nails digging into her palms, not even moving when her father towered above her, cussing and shaking with rage.

And when he lifted his hand again to strike her, she watched her mother scramble to cover her, sobbing and pleading, both to him and to the spectators.

Gianna.

Sabrina believed she would kill her cousin.

"Are you lot done?"

The casualness in Gianna’s tone, as if she were bored out of her senses, was the final straw.

Sabrina rose like a phoenix, eyes flashing with raw hatred, gathering herself to get to her feet, her glare locked on an amused Gianna.

But before she could even stand properly, another slap landed on her face, sending her staggering back to the ground.

"Are you stupid, girl? What were you about to do?! Don’t you feel any remorse for the evil you have done?"

Clement’s hand and heart smarted from laying hands on his daughter, but what choice did he have, with Old Mr. Thorne watching everything?

"Now get up, you fool! Apologise!"

When Sabrina took her time, trembling, he dragged her to her knees roughly, ignoring his wife’s muted weeping. He could deal with all that later.

"Now apologise to your cousin..."

"I am sorry..." Sabrina muttered, the words barely audible.

But Gianna wasn’t appeased. If anything, her anger simmered hotter beneath the surface, molten and dangerous.

Those pictures were the last she had of her parents, of their time together, frozen moments now destroyed.

"Sorry won’t bring back the pictures, cousin."

She smiled faintly when Sabrina glared at her. "What? You think all this display would get me over... you lot must be drunk."

It was the same calm tone, which grated badly on Clement’s nerves. But he kept quiet.

"And what about the ledger?" Gianna shifted to the last item.

She watched her uncle swallow hard and knew instantly—he had taken it.

For what? she wondered, staring at him with open distaste.

"Where is the ledger, Clement?" Old Mr. Thorne asked, wanting to be done with this collection already, the house itself beginning to press on his nerves.

"Go and bring it... or rather send the butler after it."

Clement cussed silently in his mind. He would have loved to bring it himself—his butler wouldn’t be able to make certain changes—but under that watchful gaze, he sighed and called for the butler.

The butler arrived looking nervous, sweat dotting his brow.

"Go to my study... in the last compartment of the desk’s cupboard, you will see a black-coloured ledger... bring it here...emblems too..."

Clement tried to catch the butler’s eyes, to signal something, anything, but whatever he attempted was lost on the old man, who didn’t even wait a second before bolting out of the room.

The room remained suspended in silence until the butler returned with the ledger in question.

A guard took it from him immediately and handed it to Old Mr. Thorne, who then passed it to Gianna. "Check if it is it."

Gianna dropped the emblems and went through the ledger, skimmed rather, relieved everything was looking as it was when she last saw it four years ago.

She nodded once. "I think it is complete."

"If it isn’t, we can come for one of his ears..."

Clement paled, not missing the warning threaded through Old Mr. Thorne’s calm voice. "It is... complete,"

He was glad he hadn’t given the ledger away when the organization asked for it; that would have made this situation far worse.

Gianna nodded slowly, keeping the ledger on her thigh, before looking at the only family she had left—family that wasn’t family at all.

"Pictures burnt. Clothes sold. Jewellery sold."

The trio flinched at every word, wondering what punishment would follow.

Gianna inhaled deeply, fighting for control, for wisdom over rage. She couldn’t get back those things, but she would make the most out of what remained.

"Mr. Clement..." she turned to her uncle. "Don’t ask for my shares again. If you do, I would submit the petition to Gramps..."

Old Mr. Thorne agreed with a firm nod. "And I’m sure you are wise enough to know what would happen then..."

Clement nodded immediately. What did he need the shares for, when he could still hope to maximise the relationship?

"Then lastly... sixty million dollars. That’s what you will pay for tampering with my goods." Gianna finished with a smile.

If she couldn’t get back the valuables, she might as well retrieve half the money to pay off Noah.

"Sixty million?" Josephine gasped, disbelief etched across her face. "That is more than the—"

"You have a month," Old Mr. Thorne declared impatiently, getting to his feet. "If you don’t do the needful, you will be losing the company."