Crossroads

Stephanie suddenly felt someone was watching her intensely.

As she turned around, her expression suddenly darkened.

"Why are you here?" Claire locked eyes with her, raising her voice sharply as she questioned her.

Stephanie sneered, "How dare a homewrecker show up? Aren't you scared of karma?"

Claire held the hand of a three-year-old girl, her eyes flickering with malicious intent.

"Who do you think you are, S Stephanie? You'll be kicked out from the Nelson family soon enough. You are not the lady of the house anymore...

As Claire spoke, she burst into laughter. "Honestly, Stephanie, I feel sorry for you. Your own husband couldn't wait to get rid of you, so he sent you to another man's bed. By the way, how did it feel? What a night, isn't it?"

"Shut up!" Stephanie shrieked, the mention of that night pushing her over the edge.

Claire's laughter grew even more scornful and arrogant. "Oh, look who's angry! Kevin said that he hadn't even touched you over the last three years. Stephanie, you are such a loser. Everyone in the circle thinks you are a pathetic woman who can't have a child.....

"Kevin brought me and our daughter to the Wellington's banquet today," she sneered. "He said he wants to introduce us to his friends in the circle. I think you should leave before you make a fool of yourself."

"Fine! We'll see who the fool in the end is!" Stephanie snapped back, her teeth gritted in fury.

"Listen up, Claire. As long as I'm still married to Kevin, you and your daughter will always live in the shadows."

Claire's face twisted in rage as she heard this.

She clenched her teeth, her voice cold and menacing "Stephanie, I've raised my daughter alone abroad all these years just to become the lady of the Nelson family. Cross me, and you'll regret it!"

Just as Claire finished speaking, she raised her hand to strike Stephanie but accidentally hit her daughter standing close by instead.

With a sharp slap, the girl's cheek turned red and swollen, and her small body staggered backward, falling to the ground.

She knocked on a table behind her, sending several ceramic plates crashing to the floor. Pieces were everywhere.

As the girl fell, her arm scraped against the broken ceramic shards, and blood began to seep out immediately.

The girl cried out in pain.

Stephanie watched in shock, unable to react.

It showed how Claire didn't care about her daughter.

Claire was stunned for a moment, and she quickly yelled, "Don't hit my daughter, please! She's innocent, don't hurt her..."

Claire's loud valce quickly drew the attention of people around.

She held her injured, bleeding daughter and tearfully said to Stephanie, "Stephanie, Kevin and I were truly in love, and you forced me to leave the country. I know I shouldn't have come back to disrupt your family, but my daughter just wanted to see her father. I'm not here to compete with you,

12:46 Thu, 20 Jun M.

please, just don't hurt us..."

Stephanie couldn't believe that Claire would do all this just to frame her.

"I didn't touch her, it was Claire who... Stephanie started to defend herself from the gathering crowd of onlookers, her voice tinged with panic But before she could finish, a figure charged through the crowd from the right.

"Stephanie, how could you do this? You should go to hell"

Kevin broke through the crowd and pushed Stephanie hard.

She couldn't dodge at that moment and fell straight down. Her mind went blank, and her head spun. As her vision blurred, she saw Kevin rush to protect Claire.

"This Stephanie, married into the Nelson family for three years and had still no kids. She can't even stand to ve see others have children, and now she's taking it out on that poor little girl. That's just so cruel..." the guests whispered among themselves.

Stephanie bit her lip, tears welling up in her eyes as she fought back the grievance in her heart. She knew she couldn't cry, not there.

Her arms and her palm were sliced deep by shards of broken porcelain, her face turning pale in pain.

A shard d of glass had sliced open an artery in her arm, sending crimson streaks down her skin.

The smell of blood filled the air, and the pristine marble floor was marked by a pool of dark red.

"Get her out of here!"

Kevin looked at her without a sense of pity. His eyes were filled with hatred and disgust as he gave orders to the servants.

Soon, a man appeared behind Stephanie, supporting her. "Get away, don't touch me..." Stephanie said...

She held back her tears, determined to leave on her own.

But the grip on her tightened instead of loosening

"You think you can bite me and then just r run away?" His voice, deep and clear, echoed against her ear.