I Walked Away And He Lost His Mind (Zephyra) novel Chapter 127

Hearing those venomous words, I paused, the steak still in my hand, my expression turning cold. But I didn’t say anything or walk away. Instead, I calmly picked up the bottle of black pepper sauce and poured it over the steak. It was a thick, seven-eighths done filet mignon that Gordon had ordered specially for me, still pink in the middle.

Steven’s brow furrowed, his low voice unreadable. “What did you just say?”

Verna shot to her feet and looked at Steven. “Mr. Lancaster, it’s not like that. Mrs. Lancaster was very kind to me. She didn’t bully me at all.” Turning to her friend, she pleaded, “Bess, please stop. You’re going too far.”

Bess jumped up as well. “Verna, what is wrong with you? I’m sticking up for you, and you’re scolding me? Didn’t she say exactly that? Didn’t she tell you to shut up or she’d snap and get violent? Mr. Lancaster asked her to take care of you, and she agreed to his face, but the second he was gone, she turned on you. She’s petty and two-faced, am I wrong? And now that Mr. Lancaster is back, he can stand up for you. Why are you—Ah!”

A sharp *smack* echoed through the room, cutting her off mid-sentence. Her head snapped to the side, one cheek instantly smeared with black pepper sauce.

The room fell silent. Everyone stared, stunned, especially Bess, who looked at me in disbelief. “You… you hit me?”

That’s right. I hit her. With a big, thick steak.

I held the steak in my hand and gave her a dark, twisted smile. “You knew I’d snap if you provoked me, so why the surprise? You’re so good at being passive-aggressive, you could teach a master class. With a mouth that foul, you were begging for it.”

Bess’s face flushed with rage, one side clean, the other covered in sauce, making her look utterly ridiculous. “You’d better apologize! No one in my entire life has ever hit me—Ah!”

*Smack.* I swung the steak again. Now her entire face was a mess of black pepper sauce.

“Apologize?” I scoffed. “I’m already petty and two-faced, so why would I apologize to you? Have you ever seen a crazy person say they’re sorry? You’re ugly, stupid, and a total witch. I warned you to shut your mouth, but you just had to keep running it. It would have been an insult to myself not to hit you.”

Verna’s eyes reddened. Even with sauce on her face, she had a pitiable, heart-wrenching beauty. She bit her lip and held onto Bess, not saying another word.

Steven, who had been watching from the side, finally moved. He strode toward me, his voice low and tight with reprimand. “Zephyra, that’s enough.”

I turned to face him, my expression cold, my right hand still gripping the steak. I swung it back, intending to slap him with it. But before it could connect, he caught my wrist in a vice-like grip. The steak, having served its purpose, fell to the floor with a wet thud.

He squeezed my wrist, his voice sharp. “Are you done with your tantrum?”

The next second, a crisp *slap* echoed through the suite.