Return of The Alpha Heiress-Chapter 58: Clarissa – It’s Her Again

After Larry left, I headed toward the table, keeping my mouth busy so I wouldn’t have to exchange meaningless pleasantries with the youths who had been whispering insults from afar. Yet the moment I approached, they smiled as if we were old friends reunited.

I glanced toward a group of men.

Richard wasn’t there.

With a glass of orange juice in hand, I walked toward the side entrance.

Near the door, several girls were gathered around someone, though I couldn’t see who it was. I kept walking, ignoring them.

Suddenly, everything in front of me slowed down.

Including a leg wrapped in a green dress that appeared right in front of my feet.

I tried to step back, but my body’s reflexes failed to match what my eyes perceived.

I stumbled forward.

The orange juice slipped from my hand and splashed onto the floor. The glass shattered.

I fell directly onto the shards.

Thankfully, my dress was thick enough that the glass didn’t pierce through it. But part of my arm, left uncovered, was stabbed.

I shouldn’t say ’thankfully,’ fresh blood was already dripping down.

Several girls shrieked in fright. I clenched my teeth, forcing myself not to cry out.

When I looked at my arm, my vision returned to normal. I truly had no control over that strange ability.

I pulled a shard of glass about five centimeters long from my arm and looked up at the onlookers, hoping that at least one of them would think rationally enough to get a first-aid kit.

However, the one standing closest to me was a woman in a green dress. The same green dress worn by the person who had tripped me.

She was Arlisse Green.

She smiled mockingly. "Long time no see, adopted child."

"What are you doing here?" I asked. "Wasn’t your father supposed to punish you by keeping you confined at home?"

Arlisse burst into laughter. It echoed loudly, almost maniacal. Yet no one around us whispered or thought she was insane.

If I acted like that, they would’ve already spun ridiculous rumors about me.

After laughing, she looked at me with ridicule.

"Punished to stay at home? You mean the punishment that lasted only one day?"

"One day?"

My heart sank. I clearly remembered forgiving Darren because I thought he had truly taught Lisse a lesson.

Her smile widened when she saw my expression.

"Oh right, I should thank you, lowly birth. Because of you, I didn’t have to be engaged to a man who’ll disappear forever. I even got shares that’ll support my life with my new fiance later."

It felt like being stabbed by thousands of needles.

She wasn’t just insulting me. She was degrading Larry and using him as leverage.

I didn’t even know who to blame anymore. Alpha Will? Darren? Or did they truly not know that the Beta never genuinely punished his daughter?

"Hey, your wound is still bleeding," Lisse said suddenly, fake sympathy dripping from her voice.

"Let’s take her somewhere to treat it, girls."

She signaled to the girls around her.

I didn’t need to ask. I knew they were up to no good.

One of them grabbed my arm, gripping the fresh wound.

"Ahh!" I screamed instinctively from the pain.

Immediately, they formed a circle around me. One of them covered my mouth.

Lisse stepped closer and whispered with a twisted grin,

"That scar on your face makes you look like a monster. But it’s still not scary enough."

A chill ran down my spine.

I looked at her hand.

Her nails were slowly extending.

Memories of Fani clawing at my face surged back. The pain. The helplessness.

Fear welled up.

But alongside it came a fierce determination. I would not let them do as they pleased.

"Agh!" The girl covering my mouth screamed when I bit her hand with all my strength.

As she loosened her grip, I kicked another girl in the shin. When one of them collapsed, I seized the chance and ran.

From a distance, I saw other guests looking our way. They only whispered.

My state was a mess. Dirty dress, bleeding arm, and panicked face.

Yet none of it seemed wrong to them. Or perhaps they thought I deserved it.

Suddenly, Lisse grabbed my hair.

The expensive hairpin Luna Eileen had put on me fell to the ground and snapped in half. My hair came loose and tangled.

"You think anyone will save you?" Lisse hissed, her voice devilish.

Just as I thought there was no escape, I heard Shannon’s voice.

"Sister Clarissa!"

Instantly, Lisse released my hair and clapped her hands lightly as if she had just touched dirt. Her group stepped back at once.

She walked toward Shannon, smiling sweetly, and took her hand.

"She tripped over her own dress. We were going to take her somewhere to treat her."

She lied effortlessly.

Shannon looked at me, then at Lisse, and said something I never expected.

"Thank you for helping Clarissa, Lisse."

Her words were so sincere that I nearly collapsed.

I was shocked.

I knew Shannon was naive, but seeing what just happened... if she truly didn’t realize anything, then she wasn’t just innocent. She was foolish.

By the time I came back to my senses, Shannon and Lisse had already led me to a sofa in the corner.

Not long after, Adrian arrived with a first-aid kit. Since Shannon couldn’t bear to look at my wound, Adrian treated it himself.

"Sis Clar, I’ll go get a jacket from the car. Your dress is really dirty," Shannon said before leaving me alone with Adrian, Lisse, and her group.

It felt strange.

Should I tell Adrian what really happened? He couldn’t possibly be as naive as Shannon, right?

"Adrian," I called.

He looked up from my arm, which he was carefully cleaning.

Just as I was about to speak, one of Lisse’s friends scoffed.

"She’s trying to flirt with Adrian again, huh?"

Lisse replied in a whisper that was clearly audible to both of us. "Of course. She’s always trying to seduce Adrian."

I raised an eyebrow and stopped Adrian’s hand.

Then I looked straight at the gossiping girls.

"What did you just say?"

...