THE CASTAWAY HEIR: POWER UNSEEN

CHAPTER 8

Ava Bennet’s piercing stare lingered even after Jessica had forced a smile and murmured a polite greeting.

The air in the corridor grew tense as she repeated, facing Brandon.

"Speak! How did you get here?"

“Maybe the same way you ended up here. I've got nothing more to say. I’m leaving,” Brandon replied sharply.

But just then, Ava raised her voice.

“Stop right there. Did I say you could go?” Ava’s tone dripped venom with her chin tilted high as if she were addressing a servant.

Upon seeing this, Jessica’s stomach clenched.

The sheer arrogance in the older woman’s posture made her uneasy.

She was about to explain, but Brandon’s voice broke the tension first.

“I’ve already discussed the divorce with Sophia,” he said firmly.

“From now on, wherever I go, whatever I do, is none of your business.”

Ava was initially shocked to learn that Brandon had divorced Sophia. She couldn’t even pinpoint when it had happened.

But the surprise faded quickly.

In her mind, Brandon had always been nothing more than a useless live-in son-in-law, so what was so remarkable about their marriage finally ending?

Ava’s lips curled into a sneer.

“How dare you? So just because you’re divorced, you think you can do whatever you want? That you can disregard your elders?”

Her eyes gleamed with malice as she leaned closer with her voice rising.

“Look at you—you're just a useless stray. So shameless!

She stared at him with venom, then turned her cold gaze toward Jessica.

“So this is your mistress?” she asked mockingly. “You really aren’t picky, are you? You’ll take anything that throws itself at you.”

Jessica stiffened as heat rushed to her cheeks.

She never liked to be involved in arguments or misunderstandings.

Her throat tightened, but she forced herself not to speak. This wasn’t her fight.

Just then, she heard Brandon’s voice cut through the air.

“Has anyone ever told you that respect works both ways?”

The authority in his tone should have silenced the corridor.

But Ava reacted as if he’d just told the funniest joke in the world. She burst out laughing with her back bending with the force of her mockery.

“Respect?” she repeated with a sharp, mocking laugh.

“You? A leech who’s been living off my daughter’s hard work for years? Don’t make me laugh.”

Her words dripped with venom as her friends snickered, whispering among themselves, their gazes flicking between Brandon and Jessica.

Jessica’s pulse quickened and her hands clenched at her sides as anger and humiliation burned in her chest.

She couldn’t stand hearing Ava publicly insult Brandon anymore.

“Enough!” she burst out.

“You will not talk to him like that. Whether he’s your son-in-law or not, Brandon is a man who’s earned respect—and he deserves far better than your cruelty!”

The words tumbled out before she could stop herself.

Ava’s head snapped toward her, her smile twisting into fury.

“Shut up!”

The slap of the words stung more than any hand.

Jessica recoiled as Ava’s voice boomed through the hall.

“Who are you to butt in while I’m teaching a worthless fool a lesson?”

Ava hissed with her eyes ablaze. “Know your place!”

Jessica’s lips pressed together. She didn’t want to be involved in a quarrel.

But Brandon had saved her life, and from the look of things, Ava was getting out of hand.

Watching him slandered and humiliated like this, gnawed at her conscience.

She took a careful breath, trying to handle the matter calmly this time.

“Even though there’s some misunderstanding between you, Sophia, and Brandon. I don’t know the details, but—”

“Misunderstanding?” Ava cut her off, her laugh sharp and cutting.

“Oh, I see what this is now.”

“You’re just as much a fool as he is. Ever since you started sleeping with him—who knows for how long—you think like him!”

Her eyes narrowed and her lips curled into a mocking smile.

Jessica’s heart lurched, her face burning.

“And he’s given you money too, hasn’t he?” Ava pressed on, her voice loud enough to echo. “That’s what this is all about. A shameless slut clinging to scraps!”

Before Jessica could react, Ava shoved her hard.

Jessica stumbled back a step, catching herself against the cold wall.

“Hand it over,” Ava snarled, her voice dripping with contempt. “Whatever he’s given you—it’s all my family’s money! You think you can pocket it? Never!"