Chapter 7: Haven’t Been Slapped Enough

The next morning.

To look more formal for the hotel ownership transfer in the afternoon, Victoria made a special trip to an upscale mall to pick out clothes.

As soon as she walked into a designer women's clothing store, she ran right into Sarah, who was also shopping for clothes. What's more, Sarah had two sleazy-looking men with her.

When enemies meet, hatred flares.

Sarah touched the cheek that had been slapped yesterday, a flash of vicious calculation in her eyes.

"Well, if it isn't Victoria! What's this? After leaving Ethan, someone like you who has to think twice before buying a cup of coffee actually dares to come into such an expensive store?" Sarah said in a shrill voice, her tone full of undisguised mockery.

She knew Victoria's situation better than anyone. All these years, Jade had controlled the Hughes family finances, and Charles favored her. Victoria's position in the Hughes family was worse than a servant's—she couldn't get any allowance at all. Her daily expenses came entirely from the design work she scraped together online.

How could a poor pushover possibly afford clothes here?

Victoria didn't even glance at her. She casually browsed through the high-end business wear on the rack and shot back coldly, "I'm spending money I earned myself. None of your business."

Seeing Victoria's aloof attitude, Sarah wasn't about to let it go. With two men backing her up, she deliberately raised her voice and said sweetly to one of them, "Oliver, this is my stepsister. At home, she has to rely on my mom's handouts to get by. Outside, she's a shameless woman who debases herself to please Ethan."

Oliver Lewis immediately caught on, his eyes sleazily looking Victoria up and down. "So this is that famous slut? Not bad looking though, pretty hot. Since Ethan doesn't want you, why don't you come please me instead?"

The other man moved closer too, grinning obscenely. "I'm more gentle with women. My tongue is especially skilled—I guarantee I'll lick you until you feel real good."

Disgusting vulgarities echoed through the store. Sarah stood to the side with her arms crossed, laughing gleefully, wishing these two men would strip Victoria's clothes off right there in public.

Victoria's eyes darkened sharply as she snapped, "Get lost! Watch your filthy mouths!"

But these two perverts didn't back off. Instead, they reached out to grab Victoria's arm. "Feisty! I like your type. Come on, let's go to a hotel and have some fun in bed."

Before their dirty hands could touch even the hem of Victoria's clothes, her eyes became extremely dangerous.

William's words from last night flashed through her mind—"When bad people attack you, you should hit back hard."

Without a moment's hesitation, Victoria grabbed a crystal ornament from the display counter and smashed it hard against Oliver's head!

A dull thud, and Oliver screamed, clutching his head and staggering backward.

Before the other man could react, Victoria lifted her foot in its pointed high heel and struck fast and hard right at his crotch!

A pig-like scream rang through the entire store. The man instantly dropped to his knees, clutching his lower body, his eyes rolling back in pain.

Victoria didn't give them a chance to catch their breath. She grabbed a metal clothing rack pole nearby and beat them mercilessly!

In just a dozen seconds, the two men who were a head taller than Victoria were beaten into cowering, howling wretches.

The store clerks huddled in the corner, trembling with fear.

Sarah was completely stunned. She never imagined that Victoria, who usually seemed so weak and easy to bully, could be this crazy when fighting!

Seeing the backup she'd brought getting beaten without any ability to fight back, Sarah panicked. She rushed forward trying to grab the pole from Victoria's hand. "Victoria, are you insane?! This is an upscale mall, and you're making a scene and hitting people! When Ethan gets here and sees you acting like a shrew, he'll be completely disgusted with you!"

"He's disgusted with me? I find him disgusting!" Victoria shook Sarah off and backhanded her across the face. "Didn't get hit enough yesterday? Here's more for today!"

Sarah saw stars from the slap.

Just then, a voice wrapped in fury exploded at the store entrance.

"Victoria! What are you doing?"

Ethan stood at the door in a black designer suit, his face dark with anger.

Sarah saw her savior. Ignoring the burning pain on her face, she scrambled toward Ethan, crying hysterically, "Ethan, help! Victoria's gone crazy, she's going to kill me!"

"This is an upscale establishment—how can she act like a shrew and hit people here?"

"Stop her, please!"

Hiding in Ethan's arms, Sarah blamed everything on Victoria in just a few words, not mentioning a thing about how those two men had verbally harassed and even tried to grab Victoria.

Victoria laughed coldly to herself. Sarah just wanted to use this to smear her in front of Ethan, to get the satisfaction of defeating her.

In the past, Victoria would have tried her best to explain what really happened to Ethan. But now, she couldn't be bothered to say even one word.

Since they'd already broken up, even if she was crazy, what did it have to do with Ethan?

Seeing Victoria, who used to be so obedient and well-behaved, turn into this, Ethan frowned and scolded her condescendingly, "Victoria, haven't you made enough of a scene?"

"Do you have no dignity left at all? Fighting in public—that's the kind of crude thing only lowlifes do!"

Victoria casually tossed aside the rack she'd used for beating people and looked coldly at Ethan, who couldn't tell right from wrong.

The two beaten men had already scrambled away to hide. They never expected that Victoria, who looked so delicate, would be so vicious! In just a few minutes, they'd been beaten black and blue.

"Victoria's really lost it," one of them said, clutching his head and grimacing in pain.

Victoria dusted off her hands, calmly picked out a few pieces of clothing from an intact rack nearby, and walked straight to the checkout counter, not giving Ethan even an extra glance the entire time.

Being completely ignored made Ethan furious. He never imagined that Victoria, who had been so compliant just days ago, would now dare to treat him like he was invisible!

He strode forward and blocked Victoria's path. "Victoria, there's a limit to throwing tantrums! Come home with me right now. I need to talk to you tonight."

The "home" he referred to was his luxury apartment. All along, Victoria had lived there, taking care of him like a free servant, so he naturally assumed Victoria was his possession.

Victoria rolled her eyes and reminded him coldly, "Ethan, I'm telling you for the last time—we've already broken up. I'm not going back to that so-called home of yours."

"Also, I'm not throwing a tantrum. I'm about to get married."

"I wish you two assholes a long and happy life together."

With that, Victoria picked up the bags the clerk had packed and turned to leave.