Cross My Tigress Face the Wrath

Stella's silence alone had Cloudia fuming, but now that she'd spoken, it only fueled her anger further.

Stella's eyes were cold, and a sardonic chuckle escaped her lips. Ignoring Cloudia entirely, she turned to the butler standing nearby. "Make the arrangements to discharge Jaxon." The butler nodded dutifully. "Yes, Miss."

Cloudia's breath hitched, and she shot to her feet. "Are you out of your mind? He's your own brother!

You've already pushed Ursula to the brink, and now you're going to do this to him?"

Stella lifted her gaze to meet Cloudia's. "Mrs. Larkin, have you forgotten? There's nothing between us anymore."

The color drained from Cloudia's face. "You, you..."

Stella picked up the coffee pot and poured herself a cup of coffee, her movements unhurried and deliberate.

"You guys are very fond of throwing your weight around, aren't you?"

She couldn't forget how they'd treated her- trying to bury her, both literally and metaphorically.

Stella continued, "You've used that power to oppress others for years, haven't you? The Larkin family has been running rampant in this town for ages."

Especially Cloudia, whose infamous reputation among the society ladies was all too well-known.

do this. You've already made

'brother,' will you?" Stella cut her off sharply, her

froze, her words dying on

the Larkin family's use of the

deeply. But the Larkins had given her a new understanding of the word "blood." "Do you know why I

Cloudia hesitated. "Why?"

difference between close and distant, claiming he was my brother." Stella spat the word "brother" with

mind scrambling to process

get it?" Stella asked, a faint smirk

a loss

your so-called family ties. 'Brother'? What

But the Larkin family's version of "family" was nothing more than a weapon- sharp, cutting, and designed to

me who ended up as your daughter. If it had been anyone else, they'd either be dead from one of Ursula's 'accidents' or driven to their death by you, their so-called

en novelxo

run through her as a question surfaced in her

she really been

of discipline so warped it had bred

thought you might have learned

hang in the air before turning her gaze back