Chapter 82: What have you accomplished?
Then, her gaze shifted to Tania, and the smirk on her lips turned sharper. "But what about you?" Anne sneered. "What have you accomplished? You have no career, no success of your own. You survive purely on Denis’s mercy. So what right do you have to look down on others? You walked into this party on his arm as his mistress, nothing more. And if he ever decides to let you go, you’ll have nothing. You’ll be forgotten in an instant—just another woman discarded without a second glance."
Tania’s face contorted with rage, her body trembling with barely restrained fury. "You... Who gave you the nerve to speak to me like that?" she hissed, raising her hand in blind anger, ready to strike.
But Anne was faster. She caught Tania’s wrist in mid-air and shoved it away. And before Tania could react, Anne’s hand snapped forward in a sharp, resounding slap.
The impact whipped Tania’s head to the side, her neatly styled hair tumbling out of place. A stunned silence stretched between them as she clutched her burning cheek, eyes wide with shock and fury.
"You... you hit me!" Tania gasped, her voice shaking. Her gaze darted toward Denis, her lips trembling as she forced tears into her eyes. "Denis, did you see that? She bullied me—right in front of you."
Anne’s eyes burned with fierce defiance as she met Tania’s indignant glare. "You came to me first. You provoked me. You mocked me. And you even tried to slap me first. I only defended myself. That’s not bullying—that’s self-protection."
Tania’s face darkened further, her frustration spilling over. She stomped her foot, her voice rising in a desperate whine. "Look at her! She slapped me, and now she is scolding me. Denis, are you seriously just going to stand there and do nothing?"
"Anne, you’ve crossed the line today," Denis said gruffly. "You dared to lay a hand on her. Apologize to her now."
Anne let out a dry chuckle, shaking her head at his audacity. "She was about to hit me," she pointed out. "Did you stop her? Did you ask her to apologize?"