Her expression grew more twisted, more terrifying.
She had come to force Felicity and her mother to repay their debt, but she never imagined she would witness Felicity becoming so beautiful-so stunning that it far outshone her own pride, her daughter.
Her heart burned with resentment, filled with defiance.
The woman she had trampled beneath her feet for so long-was she really about to rise above her now?
“Repay the debt?” Kayden’s lips curved into a faint smirk. “When exactly did her family owe you money? Forget taking back what you’ve stolen from them, and you still have the nerve to come here demanding payment?”
The stout woman, seething with rage, pointed at Kayden and shouted, “Who do you think you are to butt into our family’s business? This is none of your concern! Stay out of it!”
“Anything that concerns Felicity is my business!” Kayden declared, his voice firm and unyielding as he stared her down, word by word.
Those words warmed Felicity’s heart once again. She lifted her head to look at Kayden, her face filled with gratitude. “Thank you, thank you, Kayden! You’ve already done enough by making me beautiful. I’ll handle the rest myself!”
Kayden met her gaze, his tone calm but resolute. “It’s fine. This isn’t something you can handle. Dealing with people like her requires someone like me. Don’t worry-leave it to me.”
An eye for an eye, evil for evil-that was Kayden’s specialty.
He turned back to the stout woman and said coldly, “Felicity’s family doesn’t owe you a single cent-not a penny! If you know what’s good for you, leave now while you can. Otherwise, I won’t hesitate to make you crawl out of here.”
“You scoundrel!” the stout woman spat. “If her family didn’t owe us money, would I even be here? Since you want to involve yourself, fine-pay up! Seventy-five thousand dollars, not a cent less. Right now, immediately, hand it over. My daughter needs to take beauty classes in the city. If you delay her future, I’ll tear you apart!”
The woman’s tantrum was as repulsive as her appearance.
Kayden let out a cold chuckle, his gaze locking onto Annie. “With your daughter’s face, what’s the point of beauty classes? Her future? Someone like her will never have a future. She’s too ugly-there’s no hope for her.”
Those words, once used to humiliate Felicity and her mother, were now mercilessly thrown back at them by Kayden.
“Ahhh!” Annie suddenly let out a crazed scream.
She lunged at Felicity, shouting as she charged, “You ugly freak! How dare you become so beautiful? How dare you? I’ll ruin your face! I’ll ruin it!”
Annie, who had been silent until now, finally lost control. This woman she had always suppressed and insulted, this woman she had always deemed the ugliest, had suddenly become stunningly beautiful. How could she accept that?
In her mind, Felicity was supposed to be the ugliest. But now Felicity was far more beautiful than she could ever hope to be. Jealousy consumed her, choking her. She couldn’t accept it. Not for a moment.
Driven by madness, she made her move. She had to destroy Felicity’s face-she had to.
But before she could even reach Felicity, Kayden stepped in. He grabbed Annie and, without a word, delivered a vicious slap to her face.
The slap wasn’t enough. Kayden lifted his foot and kicked her, sending her flying out of Felicity’s store.
Annie landed outside with a thud. The stout woman rushed over, cradling her in her arms.
“Annie! Are you okay? Annie, are you hurt?”
“Mom, he hit me! He actually hit me!” Annie wailed, tears streaming down her face. She had never been struck before, and now she was sobbing uncontrollably.
The stout woman screamed, “Leo! What are you standing there for? Your daughter was hit! Are you blind? Are you even a man? Where’s your sense of responsibility?”
Felicity’s uncle, Leo, snapped out of his daze, finally shaken from his shock.
“You-you hit my daughter? I don’t even dare to lay a hand on her, and you dare? You bastard, I’ll kill you!” he shouted, charging at Kayden.
The result was the same. Before Leo could even reach him, Kayden slapped him hard across the face.
The crisp sound echoed in the air, sharp and satisfying.
Leo stumbled backward, nearly losing his balance.
“And you call yourself a man?” Kayden sneered. “You can’t even control your own woman, and you have the audacity to call yourself a man? I’ve never seen someone as pathetic as you. Why don’t you just drop dead? You’re no different from trash.”
“Felicity and her mother are your family. Don’t you think they’ve suffered enough? Look into your heart. Look at what you’ve done. Do you think you’re worthy of your late father? Do you think you’re worthy of your late brother?”
“Smack!” Another slap landed on Leo’s face.
“I hope this slap wakes you up and teaches you how to be a real man.”
If it had been anyone else, Felicity’s uncle would already be dead. But Kayden held back. He knew that if he killed Leo, there would be no one left to protect Felicity and her mother in the future.
Leo was their only blood relative, their only possible support. Though he had remained silent earlier, the helplessness and regret in his eyes had been clear.
His expressions revealed that he didn’t truly want to force Felicity and her mother into such a situation.
“Leo, what are you doing? Hit him! Hit him now! He hit your daughter! He hit your daughter, you useless coward! You worthless piece of trash!” the stout woman continued to shriek, her voice growing more hysterical.
Leo stayed silent, but Kayden began walking toward her, his steps deliberate and menacing.
She widened her eyes in fear. “What are you going to do?” she demanded.
“Slap you,” Kayden replied without hesitation.
“You wouldn’t dare!”
“Smack!” Without waiting, Kayden’s hand struck her face.
“Ah! Ah! Ah!” The stout woman stared at him in shock and horror, disbelief written all over her face. “You hit me! You actually hit me! I’m her aunt! I’m Felicity’s elder! How dare you hit me?”
Kayden laughed coldly. “An aunt? Someone like you dares to call herself her aunt? Calling you an animal would be an insult to animals. You’re nothing but garbage-a waste of space. You should just die.”
With that, Kayden grabbed her by the hair and unleashed a flurry of slaps across her face.
By the time he was done, her face was swollen beyond recognition, her already hideous appearance now even more grotesque.