Chapter 49: Truth Hurts
The slap cracked through the air like a whip.
Merlina’s hand collided with Conor’s cheek so hard that her own palm stung from the impact.
She stood firm. Didn’t blink. Her breath came quick, chest rising and falling, anger radiating from her.
Conor staggered back slightly, his cheek turning a deep red, his expression stunned. But Merlina’s fury was louder than the silence that followed.
"I don’t know how you were raised," she said through clenched teeth, "but you don’t lie on the dead. Especially not my mother. Especially not about something this disgusting," she spat, rage trembling through her voice.
"I’m gonna let this go," he said. "Only out of the respect I have for your mother. But if you ever try this again," his voice dropped, deadly calm, "you’re gonna regret it."
She stepped into his space. "Fuck you!" she snapped.
Her voice ricocheted off the walls, raw and full of fire. He pulled back, but she didn’t stop. Her body shook as she took more steps toward him, eyes wild with disbelief and disgust.
"Everything I ever heard about you, every rumor, every warning, is nothing compared to the despicable, rotten animal standing in front of me right now," she spat. "How dare you? How dare you stand there and say my mother...my mother, had an affair with you?"
Her chest rose and fell with every word, like each breath was trying to stop her from falling apart.
He didn’t flinch. He pulled out his phone, his hands oddly calm.