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.

in short, angry gasps. "You can't do this. You've already

'brother,' will you?" Stella cut her

words dying

family's

the Quinn family had taught her to cherish deeply. But the Larkins had given

Cloudia hesitated. "Why?"

knowing the difference between close and distant, claiming

mind

Stella asked, a faint smirk tugging at her

a

despise your pretentious faces and your so-called family ties. 'Brother'?

might have been different. But the Larkin family's version of "family" was nothing more than a weapon-

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,

en novelxo

run through her as a question surfaced

been this

her idea of discipline so warped it

were mocking. "I thought you might have learned something by now. Maybe

the words hang in the air before turning her gaze back to the