SAVANNA (VERONICA)
This pathetic shit of a man returned?
Damn it!
I couldn’t help but feel irritated.
Wasn’t he running away from money launderers?
Or perhaps caught?
How on earth did he escape?
My jaw tightened ever so slightly.
I hadn’t expected those debtors to be so useless that they couldn’t even hold a pathetic shit like Gregory.
Cold annoyance coursed through me.
Why were all these people around Veronica so useless!?
My gaze dragged over Gregory.
He looked like someone had taken a shower with alcohol.
Good, he didn’t just escape the debtor’s successfully, he even got drunk.
Just what I needed more to my already rushing schedule.
Not that I couldn’t handle it.
There were countless ways I could deal with him.
Break him.
Strip him down to nothing without even touching him twice.
In fact, men like Gregory aren’t worthy of Savanna’s attention.
They’re too tiny to be noticed.
If only not for mom and Ethan, they would have been buried six feet under and no one would have known.
I just didn’t want to waste my energy on this guy.
“Elena, what’s going on?” Mom’s voice came from behind them, soft but already edged with worry.
Ethan came beside her as well— his face gloomy and concerned for his sister.
Elena stepped forward like she had been waiting for this exact moment, “Oh, I’ll tell you what’s going on,” she said loudly, her voice rising with dramatic accusation.
“You think she got all those clothes legally?
Do you even know how much those brands cost?
The price alone could land her in jail for years.”
“She even has the latest phones and MacBook!”
“I’m sure she stole these things!” Her tone was full of confidence.
Ethan immediately stepped in, “V-vero d-didn’t steal!” Trying to be protective of his sister in his fragile way.
Mom nodded quickly, “Yes, she wouldn’t do it…”
“Oh please,” she scoffed.
“If it’s not stealing, then it’s something worse.
There’s no way she got that kind of money legally.”
Her eyes narrowed as she looked at me.
“Maybe— spreading legs for some old rich man?”
Her disgusting words made mom and Ethan gasp.
“Elena!
What are you saying!?” Mom cried out.
But Elena only let out a victorious sneer.
“Well, who knows?”
I, on the other hand, witnessed things quietly.
My eyes mostly on Gregory, his expression darkening.
“You— you whore!” He growled out, flinching mom and Ethan.
His hands were already reaching for his belt.
“You think you can do illegal crap and bring trouble into my house?”
My house?
I couldn’t help but frown.
What a joke!
“I should have killed you!” His face reddened with anger.
He pulled out his belt, sharply slicing the air.
My brow only rose.
The painful memories of Veronica crept within me, eliciting the anger within.
“But, today I’ll correct my mistake!”
Gregory, stop—” Mom gasped.
But he had moved already.
And— that was the biggest mistake he made…
I grabbed the flying belt and pulled it harder
The force was enough to completely throw him off balance.
His feet slipped, and before he could recover, his body slammed down onto the floor with a heavy thud, silencing the entire house.
All eyes widened in shock..
Gregory groaned, then pushed himself up slightly, his face twisting with disbelief.
“You—” his voice shook with fury.
“You dare push me?!”
“Don’t test me.” My cold voice rolled, lowering the temperature of the room.
“If you try something like that again,” my gaze steady and merciless, “you won’t like what happens next…”
He was stunned.
His eyes widened.
For a moment he was quiet but then, his ego came forward.
“You think you’re something now?” he spat, scrambling to his feet.
“I don’t care how you got that money—you’re handing it over.
Every single dollar belongs to me!”
His sense of entitlement and his desperate attempt to sound like the man of the house were almost laughable.
My head tilted slightly.
And before he could utter anymore, I tore it apart.
The leather split under my strength, and that again froze all of them.
I let the torn pieces fall to the floor, dusting my hands.
Then, I stepped forward and before anyone could predict, my hand grabbed Gregory by the collar, yanking him forward.
I heard a gasp behind, yet didn’t care.
Gregory’s eyes bulged in shock.
“Money, eh?” I scoffed.
My fingers were tightening around his collar.
“Even if you die in front of me you won’t get a single penny.”
“Do I put him in jail?
And take out restraining orders?” I was too casual, and that earned gasps again.
Gregory’s entire body went rigid.
The drunken haze in his eyes shattered instantly.
“W-what…?” he stammered, his voice barely holding together.
Mom looked completely lost.
Her lips parted, but no sound came out at first.
“J-just…
leave him for now…” she finally managed, her voice shaking as she struggled to process everything happening in front of her.
I scoffed.
Of course.
Still soft, still hesitant.
Still tied to a man who didn’t deserve even a glance.
But I didn’t argue.
I’d seen women of her kind.
They took everything instead of returning anything.
Although their behaviour was illogical, I felt she was just not sure of my strength yet.
Well mom, no worries, soon you’d be confident enough.
I leaned closer to Gregory, my grip tightening around his collar.
The desire to strangle him was itching yet I controlled.
“I’m letting you go for now,” I hissed, “but if you ever look at me, or my mom, or my brother again…”
Just long enough for him to feel it.
“I’ll rip your eyes out just like that belt.” My words grazed against the air.
With that, I shoved him back.
He hit the floor again, harder.
This time he didn’t move.
He looked stunned and scared.
Unable to understand what had just happened to him.
Leaving him, I straightened and now my focus shifted to Elena, who looked like she would have a heart attack at any moment.
All that confidence from earlier?— Gone.
I was not in the mood for her at the moment.
Instead I turned to mom.
“All the house chores we have— these two will do.” I said.
Mom was quiet, her eyes widened again.
“Wha-at!?” Elena gasped.
But my gaze silenced her.
Slowly I stepped toward her and she looked like she wanted to vanish within the cardboard wall.
My lips twitched in satisfaction.
“You both are good for nothing.
However, because of mom I’m letting this go this time only…”
I turned my head slightly, my gaze fell toward Gregory still sprawled on the floor.
“Both you and your father,” I added coldly.
“If you want to eat in this house, then work.”
“Move your pathetic bodies and do the house chores…
Only then will you get food.”
Elena nodded immediately.
Too desperately.
Her fear was so obvious it almost bored me.
“Also,” I added calmly, brushing invisible dust off my sleeve, “clean your room.”
“I’ll be moving in there tonight.” She stared at me like I had just pronounced her execution.
Then she glanced at Gregory— hoping for support.
But he didn’t even move.
“Th-then where will I-I s-stay…?”
I raised a brow.
“In here,” I said, pointing casually toward Veronica’s shallow room.
Her face was completely drained of colour.
“Any problem?” my brow arched.
The threat beneath the question was enough for her to shake her head immediately.
“N-no!”
“Good.”
Then my gaze shifted back to Gregory.
He was still sitting there, staring at me like I was something he no longer understood.
“Don’t even think about getting close to my mom again,” I said, my tone turning cold again.
“Not with excuses.
Not with fake apologies.”
I took a step closer.
“Or next time— not even she can stop me.”
He flinched, and that was enough.
Without another word, I walked out of the apartment and went to the cab station.
I slid into the back seat of a yellow cab.
“Where to?” the driver asked.
I leaned back on the seat, my gaze drifting toward the city lights stretching endlessly ahead.
There was only one place I wanted to go now.
A place where money burned as fast as engines.
Just perfect for me.
“To Hunts Point,” I said calmly…