The lively mocking in the parlor cut off instantly.
For a single second, the room went dead silent. Maya’s tail stopped lashing, and Vivian’s arrogant smirk froze on her face. They stared at Thomas, then looked down at Blair—sitting on her knees in an improperly tied, crooked dress, bleeding from a tiny prick on her thumb.
Then, Vivian threw her head back and let out a loud, mocking laugh.
"Thomas! I don’t know what this woman paid you with, or what kind of absurd game you are playing, but you cannot make a joke like that!" Vivian declared, wiping a tear of fake amusement from her eye. "This human? This lowly, pathetic thing that doesn’t even know how to dress herself properly? You’re telling me she is my dear Maya’s cousins’ wife?"
Maya looked down at Blair, her expression twisting from fake amusement into pure, degrading disgust. "To three pureblood tycoons? Please. My cousins would rather marry a street beast than the likes of her."
"It is not a joke, Miss Maya," Thomas insisted firmly, his jaw set tightly. "They were legally bound just yesterday. It is officially registered on paper."
Vivian’s smile vanished completely, replaced by a dark, ugly malice. She didn’t want to believe it. She refused to believe it. The thought that a penniless, ragged human girl could step in and claim the title she had lusted after for years was an insult to her very existence.
Instead of accepting the truth, Vivian chose sheer, unabashed cruelty.
"Oh, please. Just get on with it, human," Vivian hissed, stepping closer.
Before Blair could react or pull her hand away, Vivian brought the heel of her designer shoe down hard—directly onto Blair’s pale, bare hand resting over the pile of sharp glass.
"AHHHH!"
A blood-curdling scream tore from Blair’s throat. Agonizing pain exploded through her arm as her fingers were crushed down into the jagged porcelain shards below. The sharp glass sliced deep into her palm and skin, digging mercilessly into her flesh.
"Please! Stop! It hurts! Please, Ahhh!" Blair sobbed violently, her body thrashing as she begged for mercy, tears spilling over her pale, blood-drained cheeks.
"Miss Vivian, you have to stop," Thomas pleaded, alarmed.
"Stop?" Vivian sneered, pressing her weight down even harder, grinding Blair’s hand into the sharp edges. "This is what you get for trying to deceive people who actually matter!"
While Vivian relished the cruelty, Maya had gone completely silent.
A sudden, cold drop of sweat rolled down the back of Maya’s neck. Her cousins—Philippe, Lukas, and Sebastian—were entirely unpredictable. They cared nothing for high-society norms, political expectations, or delicate feelings.
What if Thomas isn’t lying? Maya thought, a wave of panic crashing over her. What if this human really is their wife?
Maya knew this lowly creature wasn’t worthy of the Deruno name, but if she truly was legally bound to them, her cousins would be furious at this level of domestic bloodshed in their own parlor.
"V-Vivian... wait," Maya said nervously, reaching out to grab her friend’s arm. "Stop. Let it go for now."
Vivian glared at her, her heel still planted firmly on Blair’s bleeding hand. "What?"
"We can confirm it once my cousins get back," Maya urged, her voice tight with anxiety. "If Thomas is lying and she’s just an impostor, we can punish her ten times worse later. But... if it’s true..."
Vivian snapped her head toward Maya, her amber fox eyes blazing with pure, insulted rage. "What are you saying, Maya?! Are you saying this useless human has better standards than me? Are you saying she could actually be their wife?! Are you saying she is better than me?!"
"Of course not! But—" Maya stammered, pulling back slightly as Vivian’s terrifying predator aura flared in full force.
Vivian was beyond furious. Her pride, her vanity, and her long-cherished ambition of becoming Mrs. Deruno were being threatened by a sickly, ragged human who couldn’t even tie her own dress ribbons.
Seeing the blood pooling beneath Blair’s crushed palm, Thomas’s composure completely broke. Stepping directly into Vivian’s space, the butler’s voice dropped into a stern, commanding tone.
"Miss Vivian, stop this immediately! You cannot treat the lady of this household like this in her own house! I may have to call security if you—"
SLAP!
A sharp, violent crack echoed through the vast parlor.
Before Thomas could finish his threat, Vivian swung her arm, her manicured hand striking the middle-aged butler hard across the face. The sheer force of the blow snapped his face aside, sending his glasses skidding across the polished marble tile.
"Shut up!" Vivian hissed, her chest heaving as her fox tail lashed wildly behind her. "Lady of this house? Nonsense! Only I get to be the lady of this house! No one else! And especially not some lowly human beggar!"
Thomas stumbled back, his cheek blooming with a deep red imprint, but his eyes remained fixed on Blair in horrified concern.
Blair gasped, the horror of seeing Thomas struck overcoming even the excruciating pain in her shattered, bleeding palm. Using every ounce of remaining strength in her trembling legs, she dragged her hand out from beneath Vivian’s heel, and forced herself up from the floor with painstaking effort.
Standing on wobbly knees, Blair clutched her bleeding left hand against her chest. Bright crimson blood leaked through her pale fingers, dripping steadily onto her crooked dress and staining the floorboards. Tears streamed silently down her pale face, but her clear eyes were fixed squarely on Vivian.
She was terrified, she was bleeding, and her vision was already starting to spin—but she couldn’t stay silent while an innocent person was hurt because of her.
"I’m... I’m sorry if I offended you," Blair choked out, her voice quivering with a mixture of pain and quiet resolve. "But... but you can’t treat Thomas like this. He did nothing wrong..."
More than her own agony, her heart broke seeing the kind butler standing there with a bruised cheek. He had treated her with gentle respect from the moment she arrived. What did he do so wrong to warrant this?
"I don’t know who you are," Blair continued, taking a shallow, aching breath as her chest began to tighten. "But please... do not cause a scene like this. I listened to everything you wanted. I know my place as a lowly human, and I don’t dare reach far... but it’s not fair if you start hitting everyone..."
Vivian’s amber eyes widened in absolute disbelief. A lowly human—bleeding, trembling, and barely able to stand—was actually daring to lecture her on fairness?
"What did you say?" Vivian growled, taking a slow, dangerous step toward Blair, her manicured claws flexing. "It’s not fair? You think you can lecture me?" she spat, her voice rising into a sharp, venomous screech. "A pitiful, dirt-poor human leeching off this family?!"
Before Blair could even step back, Vivian lunged forward. Her hand swung through the air, striking Blair hard across the left cheek.
SLAP!