Chapter 24
24:
The slap was a breath away from Christina’s cheek, but in a flash, she pivoted, dodging cleanly. Her hand shot up, catching the attacker’s wrist midair and wrenching it in one fluid, brutal motion.
“Ah! Ouch, ouch, ouch!” Joselyn Dawson, Katie and Brendon’s mother, cried out, her face twisting in agony, pain etched deep into her furrowed brow.
“Mom!” Katie and Brendon shouted at once, panic lacing their voices.
“Christina, let go!” Brendon barked, lunging in and yanking at her wrist.
Katie hurried to intervene, reaching to pry Christina’s fingers away, but she didn’t need to. Christina had already released her hold, cold and calculated.
Joselyn cradled her wrist, stunned and trembling. Had no one stepped in, there was no doubt in her mind—Christina would’ve broken it clean. Ruthless didn’t even begin to cover it.
“Disrespecting your elders is one thing,” Joselyn snapped, her voice razor-sharp as her glare bore into Christina, “but now you’ve pushed Bethel into a hospital bed with your theatrics—what do you have to say for yourself?”
Joselyn’s dislike for Christina ran deep. To her, this woman was unworthy of her son—no pedigree, no influence, no place in their world. If Bethel hadn’t insisted on that godforsaken marriage, Christina would’ve never gotten to marry into the Dawson family. Her son deserved better. Someone like Yolanda—refined, well-connected, useful. Not Christina, who was nothing but a liability, dead weight dragging him down.
“You have no right to accuse me of anything,” Christina replied, voice calm but cold, her chin lifting with unshakable defiance.
That expression—it drove Joselyn mad. The arrogance. The nerve. The way this nobody stood there like she owned the room, like she belonged.
“No right?” Joselyn hissed. “Bethel is my mother-in-law! And you are the reason she’s lying in that hospital bed! If she dies—I’ll see to it you rot in jail.”
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Christina’s gaze didn’t waver. “All I did was break the news of the divorce. Your precious son is accountable. He argued with her and raised his voice, insisting that he marry Yolanda. He’s the one who pushed Bethel over the edge. Not me.”
Christina’s voice cut like tempered steel. Yes, maybe she’d played a role in Bethel’s collapse—but Brendon lit the fuse. He’d stoked the fire. Without him, Bethel might have been upset—but she wouldn’t have collapsed in that chair, gasping and pale.
Christina wasn’t about to lie—but she sure as hell wasn’t taking the fall for all of it.
“Christina, you bear undeniable responsibility in this,” Brendon said, his brow furrowed with exaggerated gravity. “If you hadn’t brought up the divorce, none of this would’ve happened.”
Christina let out a sharp, humorless laugh. “Did you really think you could keep it a secret forever? Not everyone’s as clueless as you seem to hope. And newsflash—the divorce is real. I have every right to speak the truth.”
Katie’s voice exploded like a grenade. “Grandma was perfectly fine until you showed up! The minute you stepped into that house, she ended up in a hospital bed. This is all on you!”
“Exactly!” Joselyn snapped, her voice like venom. “If anything happens to her, you’ll pay dearly.”
Brendon pounced, seizing the moment like a vulture. “Christina, let’s not make this harder than it is. You’re not blameless, and you know it. Give up your treatment slot for my grandma, and we’ll move forward—no grudges.”
“Never,” Christina replied, her tone flat, final.
Brendon’s frown deepened, twisting into disappointment. “Christina, how could you be this heartless?”
Katie threw up her hands. “See, Brendon? I told you she was vile! After everything our grandma did for her—this is how she repays her?”
“Trash. That’s all she ever was!” Joselyn snarled furiously. “A gutter rat clinging to scraps of power she doesn’t deserve. Bethel must’ve gone mad, wasting all that affection on such a woman instead of her own blood!”
Christina remained stone-faced. “I’ll get Bethel a surgeon. If she has the operation and proper post-op care, she’ll recover fully. That’s what matters.”
Katie burst out laughing, cruel and shrill. “You? Don’t make me laugh! You couldn’t even book an appointment with a half-decent doctor, let alone someone reputable. Just admit it—you want her dead. You’d hand her off to a back-alley butcher and call it ‘help’. My grandma gave everything to you, and you repay her with betrayal!”
Christina didn’t flinch. Her next words cut through the chaos like a blade. “I’m bringing in Dr. Calvin Emmett.”
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