Chapter 175:
Jessica’s POV:
Watching Makenna bask in Bryan’s protection was enough to drive me up the wall with jealousy.
I shot a glance at Frank, who was still crumpled on the floor, looking like a dog that had just been kicked.
Adding to my frustration, he stared at Makenna’s retreating figure with a vacant expression, as if he were in a daze.
What was that supposed to mean?
My frustration boiled over. I rounded on him, furious. “Frank, you’re a worthless piece of trash! You can’t even give me the life I want, and now you’re making me look like a fool in front of that wretched Makenna!”
Frank snapped out of his trance and struggled to his feet, his anger flaring. “You’ve got some nerve blaming me! If you hadn’t given Makenna’s necklace to Kristina, none of this would’ve happened!”
His voice rose with fury as he shouted, “We’ve really ticked off Prince Bryan now! You figure out how to clean up this mess!”
“What does that have to do with me? You’re the useless one!” I cried back.
To my shock, my father actually sided with Frank, turning on me as well. “Frank’s right. You shouldn’t have done that. Now we’ve offended Prince Bryan and alienated the royal family!”
I was shaking with rage. When we were reaping the rewards from Kristina’s promises, they showered me with praise. But now, with Bryan involved, they had the gall to blame me!
Unbelievable!
Furious, I lashed out, “How dare you blame me! When Kristina was around, none of you had the spine to speak up! In the end, you all depended on me!”
Our argument reached a boiling point, and just as it seemed we might come to blows, the front door burst open with a bang, and a squad of soldiers stormed in. The lead soldier, his face set in a grim line, demanded, “The Dunns, right?”
𝖁𝖊𝖗𝖎𝖋𝖞 𝖘𝖔𝖚𝖗𝖈𝖊 𝖍𝖊𝖗𝖊: 𝖌𝖆𝖑𝖓𝖔𝖛𝖊𝖑𝖘[․]𝖈𝖔𝖒
My father nodded, fear evident in his voice as he stuttered, “Yes, but who are you…”
Once they had their confirmation, the soldiers wasted no time. They began tearing through the villa with a vengeance. Another group of soldiers barreled upstairs, heading straight for Makenna’s room.
I screamed in terror, and Frank, red-faced with rage, tried to intervene, shouting, “What do you think you’re doing? It is illegal to break into a private home! Would you like me to make a police call?”
One of the soldiers sneered and replied, “This is an order from Prince Bryan. Go ahead and call the police if you dare!”
Bryan! Was he doing this to take revenge on us on Makenna’s behalf?
The soldier’s words drained the color from my face, and the rest of us were equally horrified and despairing. If this was Bryan’s order, there was no one left to turn to! The soldiers ravaged the house like gangsters, destroying everything of value, while we could only stand there, paralyzed, watching our home crumble around us.
Damn it! How did it come to this?
Fear gripped me as I watched the chaos unfold, my anger and jealousy nearly swallowing me whole. That wretched Makenna! She needed to pass away right away! Why did she deserve the prince’s favor?
Before long, the upstairs was a disaster area, too. The noise of destruction echoed around us, but peculiarly, only Makenna’s belongings were carefully extracted by the soldiers.
When they were done wreaking havoc, the soldiers walked out, burdened with Makenna’s things, leaving us to gape in shock at the wreckage of our once-pristine villa.
I could hardly believe my eyes. Just minutes before, everything had seemed fine, and now, thanks to Bryan’s command, our house was in tatters.
I felt on the brink of a breakdown, ready to scream. But the nightmare was far from over.
Shortly after the soldiers departed, my father’s voice cut through the tense silence, his tone tense and strained. “Does any of you smell smoke?”
We all stiffened, sniffing the air. It hit me—they had set fire to the house!
The soldiers had torched our home!
