Chapter 80

"What?" Marissa looked at her, raising an eyebrow."I was giving you and Bryson my blessing."

Without another glance, she grabbed the ruby necklace from the assistant and tossed it into the jewelry box.

Her movements were rough, almost careless, and all the women watching fell silent.

A piece this expensive should have been handled carefully, shouldn't it?

Yet Marissa acted like she was just tossing around cheap trinkets from a sale bin.

Was she just careless, or did she really not care?

Everyone was quietly wondering.

Evelina frowned, irritated by Marissa's casual tone."Who even asked for your blessings?" she muttered. Her eyes lingered on the ruby set, hoping, perhaps irrationally, that Marissa might show some softness.

In the past, Marissa would have handed them over without a second thought; she had never been sentimental about such items.

But now, things had changed.

"Pack them up," Marissa told the assistant calmly.

These were meaningful gifts from Corrine and Marc,and she wasn't about to let anyone mishandle them.

"Why are you putting them away? I haven't picked anything yet!" Evelina protested, spreading her arms to shield the jewelry. "I know her, and there's no way these belong to her! Leave them here!"

Evelina knew Marissa had almost no money left, and her accounts were nearly empty, leaving her only a few thousand at best.

"What do you know about me, huh?" Marissa asked,leaning back a little. She herself was still figuring out her real background,So why did Evelina presume to understand her so completely?

Evelina gave her a sharp look. "Your parents are laboring on some countryside farm. How on earth could you afford all this? It makes no sense!"

Her eyes widened as if she'd just had a sudden realization. "You're not some rich man's secret lover,are you?"

A kept woman, a hidden affair... it fit perfectly with Evelina's assumptions.

After all, which rich man didn't already have a wife at home?

Evelina started making up more stories. "You act all innocent around those men, but you've got them under your spell, don't you? These are gifts from your admirers, right? It's unbelievable that you're broke and yet you've got men lining up to pay for you and let you show off all this in front of everyone!" "And what's that got to do with you?" Marissa said casually, adjusting her hand to land another slap on Evelina's face.

"It's got everything to do with me!" Evelina retorted,hands on her hips. "The money you're flaunting?That belongs to me,you-"

Before she could finish, a sharp smack sent Evelina tumbling to the floor.

She'd been babbling nonsense, and Marissa had had enough.

Marissa flexed her left hand, still feeling the sting of the impact.

Then she inspected Evelina's face-the fresh slap mark was perfectly symmetrical to the previous one.

Without a word, she bent down, hoisted Evelina off the floor like she weighed nothing, and marched straight toward the door, ignoring everyone else in the dressing room.

Oh wow. Marissa's composure and precision left everyone in awe.

Just moments ago, she had seemed calm and indifferent, but now? She was taking real action,moving decisively.

Incredible.

Even the assistants watching had their eyes sparkling with admiration.

"Marissa!" Susanna snapped back to reality at the commotion. Seeing Evelina being dragged around like a rag doll, her anger boiled over. She grabbed a small wooden stool, ready to hurl it at Marissa.

"Careful!" one of the assistants yelled sharply.

Reacting instantly, Marissa twisted to evade and instinctively raised her arm.

Evelina, in Marissa's grip, became an unwitting shield, perfectly blocking the flying stool.

The stool hit Evelina's forehead with a heavy thump.

Then it clattered to the floor, and Evelina went limp, her forehead swelling as blood trickled down.

Everyone present froze in shock.

No one could grasp how quickly the argument had turned into a full-blown fight.

It had been two against one, and yet they were the ones losing.

Calm as ever, Marissa tossed Evelina toward Susanna like a rag doll. "You knocked her out," she said flatly.

"How can you be so heartless? She's your sister!"

Susanna gasped, staring at her daughter's swollen,

bleeding face, feeling her heart shatter.

She almost collapsed from grief. Luckily, a staff member steadied her, asking anxiously, "Ma'am, are you alright?"

"Get my husband, now!" Susanna ignored Marissa entirely, kneeling beside Evelina and shaking her gently. "Evelina, wake up!"

The staff scrambled to fetch Phil immediately. "Marissa, what happened?" Phil demanded the moment he arrived, finding Susanna crying and glaring at Marissa with pure resentment.

"She hit Evelina again! Look at her face!" Susanna cried, lifting Evelina's head to show Phil the bruises."This is MAarissa's doing!"

Phil's eyes widened. He couldn't believe it. Marissa had never struck anyone in front of him.

"Is this true?" he asked cautiously.

Susanna grabbed his collar, shaking him slightly, her anger so intense it was frightening. "Look at Evelina!Can't you see what Marissa has done?"