Goodbye Saintess (by Edelweiss W.S.) novel Chapter 57

“Secondly, I’m not letting you off the hook for what you did to my daughter last night. So here’s the deal–break your own legs with this and leave Astergrad for good. Then maybe I’ll let you live.” James tossed a steel bat. It clattered to the ground at my feet. “Do it.”

My frown deepened. I knew the Caniens were one of the most powerful families in the city, but since when did wealth and power give anyone the right to treat ordinary people like garbage?

Still, I wasn’t proud of what happened with Rhea, especially since that had been her first time. I had to admit, I wasn’t exactly in the moral high ground here. Thus, I forced myself to stay calm.

“Mr. Canien, I intend to take responsibility for that and-”

“You? Take care of her?” James laughed bitterly. “Look at yourself. You’re just one of the countless nobodies in this city. What can you possibly offer my daughter? Money? Power? What do you even have? Stop kidding yourself. Break your legs and get the hell back to your mommy’s house!”

That did it. I couldn’t hold my rage back anymore.

It was no wonder Rhea turned out the way she did and wanted to hurt herself. It was also no wonder she threw herself at the first decent guy she met or that kept trying to tear herself away from her family in the most self–destructive ways. Her father worshipped status like it was a religion.

“Are you deaf or just brain–dead?” James barked. “Move! Or do you want me to do it for you?”

I picked up the bat and pointed it straight at him. “Say that again, old man. I dare you. Let’s see whose legs break first–yours or mine.”

James went pale. “You fu-”

His eyes locked onto the bat in my hand, and he stopped himself. “You… You wouldn’t dare! I’m Rhea’s father!”

“Oh, so you do remember. For a second there, I thought you forgot. What kind of father forces his daughter to marry a man twice her age just because he’s rich and well–connected?” I rested the bat on his shoulder and smirked. “If you weren’t her dad, your brain would already be decorating the sidewalk thanks to the very bat you so kindly handed me.”

James started shaking. I couldn’t even tell if it was fear or fury.

“I–I knew it. Y–You’re a thug! Ah–hooligan! You don’t deserve my daughter!” He jabbed a trembling finger at me. “Even if you beat me half to death, do you think the CEO of Baron Inc. will be fine with you sleeping with his fiancée? You have no idea just how fucked you are!”

Baron’s sycophantic grin flashed through my mind. I’d thought he denied the engagement because of something the Caniens had done, but now it hit me. Baron outranked them.

Which only made his attitude toward me even more baffling. Why had he been sucking up so hard?

A shrill car horn blasted behind me as a sleek luxury vehicle pulled up beside us.

“T–That’s Mr. Goldman’s car!” James lit up like a Christmas tree. “Oh, you are doomed! Mr. Goldman’s here, and I’m gonna make sure my daughter’s future is protected–starting now!”