I Walked Away And He Lost His Mind (Zephyra) novel Chapter 85

The last time I was here, I had no leverage over them. If I had tried this, Martin would have been the first to stop me; I probably would have been kicked out before I even got near Janice.

But this time was different. I had made Martin strike his own beloved illegitimate daughter. And now, I had Janice pinned to the floor, and no one dared to say a word.

Janice was on the verge of a breakdown, her face swollen and a trickle of blood at the corner of her mouth. She looked at me as if I were a ghost, then shot a desperate, angry glance at Martin. He saw it but pointedly looked away.

Seeing this, Janice’s face hardened with resentment. “Is the affair really what’s important right now?” she spat at him, tears of frustration in her eyes. “Let her hit me, I deserve it! But you need to think about your company! If you can’t solve this crisis, we’re going to go bankrupt! When the company is gone, who will care about your reputation? Your priority isn’t damage control for our secret, it’s getting Steven to give you the money to save the business!”

Her words snapped Martin back to reality. He glared at me. “Zephyra, you’ve hit and cursed everyone you wanted to. Now, get Steven over here, immediately!”

I shoved Janice away, watching her fall back to the floor with a pained grunt before straightening up. “And why should I?”

Antonia, still huddled on the floor, found her courage. “Zephyra, are you part of this family or not? The company is in trouble, which means you have a responsibility. What is the meaning of this? Is this how you repay your father for raising you?”

Janice, despite the pain, pushed herself up to support the attack. “Antonia is right. The Jones family going bankrupt is bad for you, too. Mr. Lancaster has more money than he can count. The amount we need is pocket change to him. He’s the Jones family’s son-in-law. It’s only right and proper that he helps us out!”

Martin’s voice was a low growl. “Exactly. Call him. Now.”

Listening to their selfish, entitled prattling made me sick. Trapped in a family like this… my poor mother. Poor me. And poor Steven, I realized with a pang of sympathy. All he did was marry me, and he’d been treated like a personal cash machine ever since.

I braced myself, but the expected pain never came.

Instead, a familiar, cool scent of sandalwood washed over me.

I froze. The stagnant pool of my heart rippled as if a small stone had been tossed into it. It smelled like Steven.

I dismissed the thought immediately. Why would Steven suddenly appear here to save me? I hadn’t even told him I was coming to the Jones house. Besides, we’d had a fight just yesterday. I’d thrown a high heel at him. A man as vengeful as him would never come to my rescue.