Chapter 173
Briar noticed that two people who had stood up to be Sawyer’s alibi witnesses had now shown up at Shoneport University. She wasn’t convinced they were there for work, especially since Jewell seemed to be paying a lot of attention to Emily.
A cold look crossed Briar’s face as she ignored the annoyed looks from Emily.
She quickly took out her phone and messaged lan, asking him to check on Sawyer at the school clinic.
Just the day before, Briar had testified to provide an alibi for Sawyer, and now these two were seen together. It felt suspicious, and she knew the others would think so too.
lan replied to her message almost immediately, and Briar could sense his frustration even through the screen. [Briar, Sawyer isn’t in the infirmary.)
‘I’ve been watching him all morning, but he disappears as soon as I go to grab lunch?
‘If this isn’t intentional, then what is?‘ she thought.
lan replied: [You little punk, you’ve really managed to pique my interest now.]
Briar narrowed her eyes as she wondered, ‘He’s not there?‘
She texted back: [Find him]
lan promptly replied: [Got it.]
Briar didn’t even glance at Emily, but Emily didn’t take it as a snub. No–she was sure Briar was putting
on
airs.
As such, she marched up to Frank, ignored the warning in his eyes, and arrogantly addressed Briar, who was hiding behind him. She spat, “Hey, you’re that gold–digging tramp who’s been clinging to my fourth brother lately, aren’t you?”
Of course, Emily knew who Briar was and thought, ‘This woman wasn’t simple. She’d deliberately used the excuse of delivering medicine to Griffin to show her face in front of Ashton, then played up her so–called traditional medicine skills. Sure enough, after a few encounters, she managed to worm her
way in.‘
It wasn’t just that she stole Ashton’s attention–she also ruined Emily’s shot at becoming Wyatt’s apprentice. Because of her, Emily, once a top student in modern medicine, was now reduced to a glorified intern in name only.
Honestly, Emily resented Ashton even more. If he hadn’t cut off their branch of the family’s connections in the industry, she wouldn’t have had to start from scratch in such a lowly position.
But she didn’t dare blame him directly, so she took it all out on Briar instead.
To Emily, Briar was just some nobody from a third–rate wealthy family. Even if she did manage to latch onto Ashton, so what? A man as sharp and calculating as Ashton would never take someone like her seriously. She was just a passing fling.
“You’d better watch your mouth before you talk to me,” Briar said, her tongue pressed against her cheek. She had a temper and wasn’t about to take this lying down.
Even if she were holding back for Ashton’s sake, if Emily couldn’t speak properly today, Briar wouldn’t mind teaching her a lesson.
“Ha! What are you even supposed to be? Just a pretty face playing the vixen, trying to seduce Ashton?” Emily sneered.
“Emily!” Frank snapped, cutting her off coldly “Don’t say I didn’t warn you–if you don’t leave now, Ashton might just show up himself and teach you a
lesson.”
Getting shut down like that, in public and in Ashton’s name, made Emily’s temper explode. She exclaimed, “Frank, do you even know who you’re talking to? You’re just a mutt from the Wade family’s side branch, living in a doghouse-”
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31 Wed 20 Aug. DB)
Chapter 173
The sound of a sharp slap echoed through the room, and everything went dead silent.
Briar had moved in a flash-
-no one even saw how she slipped out from behind Frank and landed the hit.
Frank was stunned, but deep down, he was thrilled.
‘Serves you right. That’s what you get for running your mouth–finally put in your place,‘ Frank thought.
Emily staggered back a few steps before managing to steady herself. A bright red handprint stood out starkly on her left cheek, making her look downright pitiful–almost laughable.
Briar hadn’t even used much force, but the slap was far from light; Emily could already taste blood in her mouth.
“You… you dare hit me? Do you even know who I am? Frank, hit her back! Hit her back!” she shrieked, lunging toward Briar in a rage.
Briar easily dodged her, and Emily spun around, screaming at Frank at the top of her lungs. But he didn’t even flinch. In fact, when she reached for Briar again, Frank casually stepped in her way, blocking her path._
If Briar hadn’t slapped her first, he would’ve done it himself. He inwardly sneered, ‘Did she think she could still boss me around like when we were kids?
‘What a joke.
‘Does Emily seriously believe their family is still untouchable, and they can keep looking down on everyone?
‘Ashton has already stripped both extended families of all their power. Without him, they’re nothing now.‘
“Emily,” Frank said coolly, watching as Ashton, Hamish, and Marvin strolled over, chatting and laughing together. A smug, punch–worthy grin spread across his face. “You’d better apologize to Briar right now–or you won’t be able to handle the consequences.”
Emily didn’t even notice what was happening behind her. Still fuming, she snapped, “She hit me, and now I’m supposed to apologize to her? Does she really think she deserves that? Someone like her–Ashton’s just interested because she’s something new. She’ll be tossed aside soon enough… Ah!”
The next second, Emily let out a shriek as she was sent flying.
Yes, that’s right; she really took off.
No one could believe that Briar, who had such a petite frame, packed such a punch! And the one she sent flying was the precious heiress of Wade’s extended family. Briar didn’t even hesitate when she threw a punch, and that showed her guts.
Briar noticed Ashton and the others walking over, but she didn’t bother to rein herself in. She casually retracted her leg after the kick, even arching her brow in a bold, almost taunting way.
As for Emily, she was sent flying, and she landed right at Ashton’s feet. Briar couldn’t have aimed it better if she tried.
The way Briar kicked her–with that precision and force–made it obvious to everyone that it was no accident. No one was buying it for a second.
Ashton might not have seen what had just happened, but for Briar to strike someone like that in front of everyone…
His expression darkened instantly as he swept his gaze across the crowd and demanded, “What’s going on here?”
As soon as Ashton spoke, Emily’s wild, hysterical energy vanished. She was left groaning in pain, not daring to make another sound.
While Briar had held back a little with that kick, it was still more than enough to knock the wind out of Emily—she didn’t even have the strength to throw
another tantrum.
Jewell and the rest of the group fell silent.
No one dared to say a word as they kept their heads down, pretending they hadn’t heard anything.
31 Wed 20 A00
Chapter 173
Aud
Just from Ashton’s voice, you could tell he was barely holding back his anger. No one was dumb enough to step up and get themselves in trouble
Ashton looked downright grim, and nobody dared to step up at a time like this. In the end, Frank was the one who spilled the whole story. He rezpusted the incident without sugarcoating.
But even without any exaggeration, it was enough to make Hamish and Marvin, who had just walked up, frown in unison. Hamish even gave Emily, who was still sprawled on the ground, a sarcastic thumbs–up and teased, “Emily, you’re a real daredevil, huh!”
At this point, everyone in Shoneport’s high society knew that Briar was Ashton’s girlfriend.
Hammish pondered, ‘The mighty CEO of the Wade Group took a job as a librarian at Shoneport University for Briar. If that doesn’t prove how much she means to Ashton, nothing will.
‘And yet, there were still people dumb enough to go looking for trouble with her.”
But when Hamish realized it was Emily who was dumb enough to walk right into the line of fire, he thought, ‘Well, figures.
‘This woman really doesn’t have a brain.‘
AD
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