Chapter2

In the dead silent hall, only my hoarse questioning echoed.

Noah chuckled and shrugged indifferently, "Serena, did you forget? Not just in law, but in reality too—whoever stands the highest is the heir."

He shot Julian a highly contemptuous look.

Julian instantly raised his voice and strode toward me, "Forgive the scene, everyone! My fiancée's manic episode is acting up again. To prevent her from hurting anyone, I'll subdue her and take her down to take her medication right now!"

As soon as those words came out, the previously whispering guests instantly found their way out of the awkwardness.

"No wonder she was smashing things like a mad dog just now. Turns out she really is mentally ill."

"Not only is she a nobody, but she's also a psycho. How terrifying."

A few people looked away in disgust, while more stood coldly by with their wine glasses, as if waiting for a free circus act.

Julian kicked me hard in the back of my knees.

Thud!

My knees smashed heavily into the floor full of broken glass. The sharp shards instantly pierced through my palms.

Feigning an accident, Julian stepped his leather shoe viciously onto the bloody mess of my hand, grinding down hard.

"Ugh—!" I clamped my jaw shut as a muffled grunt escaped my throat.

"Did you think that just because your grandfather went on a vacation overseas, throwing a tantrum here would ruin Chloe's banquet?" Julian leaned in close and commanded me in a vicious voice that only I could hear. "Kneel down and apologize to Chloe right now. Otherwise, do you believe I'll have someone drag you to a back-alley clinic tonight and scrape that annoying little bastard right out of your belly?!"

My breath suddenly hitched.

The drowning despair from my past life surged up madly. In my previous life, right when I was eight months pregnant, they carved open my chest without batting an eye just to give my heart to Chloe.

Trembling all over, I raised my head and looked at the two men standing behind Julian.

Liam and Noah watched quietly as I was trampled underfoot. One did the dirty work, one watched the show, and one couldn't even be bothered to spare me a glance.

"You're... just going to watch him do this?!" I stared fixedly at these two "brothers" who grew up with me.

Noah swirled the champagne in his hand and sneered condescendingly, "Julian is right. You're having an episode, and you really need to be treated. Don't use that rotting piece of meat in your belly to disgust everyone."

As for the oldest brother, Liam, he did not spare me a single extra glance from beginning to end. He bent over, his face full of heartache as he checked Chloe's ankle, terrified that the commotion just now had frightened her.

The glass on the back of my hand had already pierced firmly through my flesh, but seeing their faces, I no longer felt the pain.

Julian increased the pressure under his foot again. "I'll count to three. Are you going to kneel or not? Three—"

The two security guards exchanged a look and stood rooted to the spot like wooden stakes.

"Two—"

I did not beg for mercy. Instead, I jerked my face up, dripping with cold sweat, and let out a low, mocking laugh. Julian froze at my laughter.

"Julian, remember this foot you're using to step on me today." My voice was extremely weak, yet it carried a hellish chill. "After tonight, I'll make you kneel on the ground with these legs, crying and begging me to kill you."

"You're courting death—"

Julian flew into an absolute rage. He yanked his foot up, preparing to kick viciously at my barely visible, pregnant belly.

Right at that moment, the hall's heavy French double doors were suddenly pushed open from the outside.

"Who is running wild in my estate?"

An extremely elegant yet overwhelmingly oppressive female voice suppressed the clamor in the room and crashed in like a deafening thunderclap.

The crowd automatically parted to clear a wide path. Escorted by over a dozen bodyguards, the current proxy head of the Astor family—my stepmother Eleanor—walked in with a completely intimidating aura.