Dark Revenge Of A Jilted Bride: Till Life Do Us Part!-Chapter 100: Narratives

"Sabrina... how did this happen?"

Clement’s voice carried disbelief first, then rode in on a wave of anger so sharp it scraped the air. His eyes were hard, incredulous, fixed on her like she had personally torn something vital out of his chest.

"How could this happen?" he continued, his voice rising. "How could you be so careless, so foolish?" His hand cut through the air. "Didn’t you say you were going to see a friend?"

Then he pointed at his phone, which was still playing the video—over and over—of his daughter running mad through the streets, streaked red, screaming as tomatoes hit her.

"How then are you running on the street like that," he demanded, "pelted with tomatoes?" His lips curled. "Did your friend push you away?"

When silence greeted him, he hissed through his teeth and dropped the phone hard on the table.

"You better talk to me," he warned coldly, "or I might get rid of those eyes for real!"

Sabrina whimpered and burrowed deeper into her mother’s arms, clinging to Josephine like a child seeking shelter.

Josephine glared at her husband, fury flashing in her gaze. "Can’t you see she’s in pain?"

"Shut up, woman! Shut your dirty, stinky mouth!" Clement shouted, spittle flying as his fury finally broke loose. "If you had kept her well under the leash, she wouldn’t be this reckless!"

He gestured wildly toward the television now replaying commentary. "Are you seeing the news? I’m being dragged down with Zane! The shareholders want me out!"

Josephine exhaled slowly, deeply, forcing calm where there was none. "All the more reason why we should talk about this reasonably as a family..."

She paused, choosing her words carefully. "We won’t go anywhere if we keep throwing blame at each other. We’ll only sink deeper into the mire that’s already been dug for us." 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

Clement scoffed derisively but said nothing. He knew—damn her—that she was right. There was no point shouting his aching head apart.

Still, his glare found Sabrina.

She had a bandage over her burning eyes, soaked with milk, the cloth already stained and limp. It did nothing to soften him.

She deserved it, he thought bitterly. Consequences of carelessness. Of not understanding the precarious position they were in.

And now she had lost her phone too.

Clement clenched his fists, knuckles whitening, but said nothing. He waited, just as his wife suggested, for his daughter to get herself together.

Sometimes, he prided himself on Sabrina’s supposed common sense and sharpness. Other times—like now—he thought she was a curse dealt to him by fate, meant to make him age faster and die miserable.

"Rina..." he heard his wife call gently.

He scoffed again, this time lighter, leaning back into the sofa as if exhaustion had finally caught up with him.

Sabrina, meanwhile, wanted nothing more than to lie down, to close her eyes and let the burning sensation lull her into sleep. She didn’t want to talk. Couldn’t they give her just one moment to recover?

She cursed Esme for the umpteenth time in her head. Cursed herself for dropping her guard—for being played by someone she had believed herself wiser than.

"Rina..."

"Yes, Mom..." she finally answered, pulling away from the comforting warmth so she could face them. The faster this ended, she realized, the better.

"It was Esme Newman that I went to see," she said quietly, "and it’s Esme that is behind all this on the socials..."

Both Josephine and Clement frowned. They knew who Esme Newman was. And they also knew the top designer was no friend to their Sabrina—especially with rival companies standing between them.

"Esme of the Becketts?" Josephine asked carefully.

Sabrina nodded with a tired sigh. "She hates Gianna too. She was the one who gave me Gianna’s location three days ago..." Her jaw tightened. "But I didn’t check well. I didn’t know Noah had been with the bitch."

She sighed again. "Esme wasn’t happy about it—about putting her family in trouble. So she threatened to go to the police..."

Josephine and Clement visibly paled.

"What?" Clement’s voice caught. "Go to the police?" His eyes flared. "Does she know everything? Did you tell her everything, you godforsaken bastard?!"

"Of course not, Dad!" Sabrina snapped weakly. "What do you take me for?"

"A fool," Clement replied immediately. "A very big fool." He leaned back. "But by all means—go on."

Sabrina bit hard on her lower lip, hating that she couldn’t look him in the eye. She felt small. Exposed. Ridiculous.

"When she reached out to me about Gianna," she continued, "I told her I’d take care of it—that plans were already underway. She didn’t ask for specifics."

She swallowed. "When I did try to convince her of my capability, I only mentioned that I knew some thugs... championed by an old friend in debt to me."

She shrugged weakly. "That was all."

Clement exhaled in visible relief. "Go on."

"When she threatened to go to the police," Sabrina said, her voice tightening, "I panicked. I told her that if she did, we’d both go down—because our chats implicated us both."

Her teeth clenched. "Then she broke off whatever partnership that was between us and stormed out of the café. My mistake was staying behind. I should have left immediately."

A hard pause followed.

"She played me," Sabrina admitted. "She knew I was the desperate one."

She swallowed. "When I finally left, the tomato throwers came. I ran for my life. No cab would stop—except one."

"Which turned out to be part of the whole conspiracy," Clement completed dryly, shaking his head.

"You’re right," he went on. "Threatening Esme was foolish. Even if you wanted to act, you should have kept your mouth shut. Do you know what kind of family that is?"

His jaw tightened. "Now our dirty linen is out in the open."

Sabrina kept quiet.

"Let’s talk solutions," Josephine said firmly. "Sabrina has taken enough for one day. What do we do?"

Clement bowed his head into his hands. "First, we sell off some properties."

Both Josephine and Sabrina shook their heads instinctively.

"What?" Clement snapped. "Do you have a better idea?"

They didn’t.

"Good," he said. "Start making a tally of your jewelry. We pay back the debt we owe Gianna... then we solicit for help."

Sabrina shook her head slowly. "That won’t work."

Both parents turned to her.

"Gianna won’t budge," she said calmly.

Then something shifted. A light sparked in her bandaged eyes, unseen to her parents.

"Unless," she continued, "we break down her defenses. Make her vulnerable. Make her desperate enough to want her real family."

Clement frowned. "What are you talking about, child?"

"Zane is already going down," Sabrina said, a slow smile curling her lips. "... for pushing me to the wolves." Her smile sharpened. "Why don’t we go a step further? Why don’t we make him the scapegoat?"

She leaned back, seeing it clearly now. "Let’s change the narrative—with the truth."

She can always kill Gianna later, she thought calmly.

For now... pain would suffice.