Chapter 21 Severing Ties
B: Finished
Battered and bruised from the earlier skirmish, Brielle suffered fresh indignity. She lifted her gaze in disbelief to her father, his face twisted in fury. “Why?” she demanded, her voice shaking. “Why did you strike me?”
A tumult of anger and heartbreak surged within her. What crime had she committed to deserve this? The entire world seemed arrayed against her; even her own father had lashed out without deigning to hear her side of the story. It was Donna who had purloined their mother’s keepsakes in the first place!
Was it truly a sin to seek the restoration of her own mother’s belongings?
“How dare you answer back!” Vincent roared, his wrath undiminished. His hand swung again, delivering a second stinging slap.
Brielle was reeled, her vision swimming. She was too slow to dodge the blow. The twin strikes left her seeing stars, her skull throbbing with a sickening rhythm while blood splattered onto the flagstones.
She clenched her jaw, fingers curling into tight fists as rage boiled over. She stared Vincent straight in the eye, refusing to yield an inch. “What transgression did I commit? I merely sought to reclaim my mother’s mementos! You beat me without asking for cause. It is unjust!”
Recollections washed over her-memories of a time when she had been the apple of his eye. But ever since that cruel illness had ravaged her body, leaving her swollen and frail, she had become the laughingstock of Kinston. She had become a source of embarrassment for the Whitmore family, and from that moment on, Vincent had looked upon her with disdain.
Yet, never before had he raised a hand against her with such brutality.
“You have the audacity to speak?” Vincent bellowed. “I turned a blind eye when you stole your sister’s place in the marriage, assuming Lord Daniel would not make a scene. Very well. I let that pass. But then you had the temerity to spread slander within the Clarke household and meddle with dark ley energy formations? You have grown bold!”
Vincent was apoplectic, his brow furrowed so deeply it seemed his face might crack, his complexion pale with uncontrolled fury.
“I did not construct that formation,” Brielle retorted, her own anger flaring. “I saved Daniel. I did not harm him. Where is the fault in that?”
Her blatant defiance only served to stoke the fires of his temper. “So now you talk back as well? It seems your sister spoke the truth. You forced your way into that marriage and acted as though you owned the estate. You abused the servants at Clarke Manor, tyrannized the staff, and showed insolence to Lord Daniel! How did I sire such a disgrace?”
Brielle’s eyes turned glacial as shot a daggered look at Donna, who stood nearby watching.
So, Donna had been poisoning his ear with lies again.
It was no wonder Vincent was in such a rage; Donna had surely spoken nothing but ill of her, twisting facts to make him explode.
“Father, you cannot place blind faith in everything she uters,” Brielle said, her voice trembling with suppressed hurt. “You raised me-do you not know my character? I have endured endless suffering at Clarke Manor, and now that I have returned home, ever my own family casts blame upon me.” Tears began to carve tracks through the grime and blood on her checks as she spoke.
1/3
09:53 Thu, May 7
Chapter 21 Severing Ties
D
Finished
Her tears mingled with the blood; she looked utterly shattered. The sound of her weeping was enough to soften a heart of stone.
For a fleeting moment, Vincent’s expression wavered.
But in an instant, Donna rushed forward and sank to her knees, clutching at Vincent’s sleeve. “Father, please, do not be too harsh on my sister,” she sobbed, her voice thick with feigned distress. “It is true she knocked me unconscious and stole my place in the marriage to Daniel, but she remains a daughter of the Whitmore line. And since she is the legitimate heir, marrying Daniel is far more… proper than if I, a mere bastard, were to stand beside him.”
Donna’s voice cracked with calculated fragility.
“But my sister has accused me of stealing the late lady’s keepsakes. How could I? I have no such items to return to her. Please, Father, you must defend my honor.” Donna looked wounded, tears glistening in her eyes. Anyone witnessing the scene would have felt a surge of pity for her.
Hearing this, Vincent’s hands clenched into white-knuckled fists once more. He recalled the unsightly brawl Brielle had started over her mother’s trunk, and his face went pale with renewed anger.
He pointed a shaking finger at Brielle and shouted, “What has gotten into you? Why are you suddenly demanding your mother’s keepsakes? Her effects were buried with her corpse! You are simply fabricating excuses to torment your sister again. If you possessed half her sense, I would not be the mockery of the entire nobility!”
He was already seething from the snide whispers of his colleagues, who mocked him behind his back for being a father who could not control his own get.
Brielle felt a cocktail of anger and resentment rising in her throat. Just moments before Vincent had arrived, Donna had openly admitted with her own lips that she had taken the keepsakes.
“Father, before you arrived, Donna admitted she took my mother’s keepsakes. They belonged to my mother. What is wrong with me wanting them back? You cannot lay the blame for everything at my feet!”
Yet, everyone was completely hoodwinked by Donna’s performance. Not a soul believed a word Brielle said -not even her own father.
Donna began to wail again, sounding pitifully frail. “I didn’t take it, Father. I swear I didn’t…”
After just two sobs from Donna, Vincent believed her without a shadow of hesitation. He turned his glare back upon Brielle. “You wicked girl! I have been too lax in my discipline, and that is why you have become such a scourge. Well, today I shall teach you a lesson you will not forget!”
He then barked a command to the waiting guards. “Guards! Bring me the family discipline whip!”
Several servants stepped forward, seizing Brielle rough by the arms and dragging her out into the open. Brielle struggled with every ounce of strength she possessed, but she was no match for their grip.
They hauled her into the main courtyard and forced her down onto her knees on the hard stone.
Violet was terrified. She sprinted forward, trying to intervene, and shouted desperately, “You cannot do this! She is Lord Daniel’s wife! Lady Brielle! You have no right to strike her!”
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Chapter 10
I had saved the Chloe in the book.
09:54 Thu, May 7
Fate Binds Me to Lord Clarke
