Luella crossed the room in three strides, grabbed Esme by the back of the neck like a stray cat, and hauled her out of the room.
"Ahhh! Luella, what are you doing?!" Esme shrieked in terror, thrashing wildly.
Luella didn't stop until she dragged Esme all the way into the kitchen. She picked up a heavy, gleaming chef's knife and tested its weight in her hand.
"What are you doing?! Mom, save me!" Esme wailed.
Yvonne rushed into the kitchen, her legs nearly giving out at the sight.
"Got rejected, so you hire someone to cripple Jimmie Tate?" Luella tapped the flat of the blade against Esme's cheek, her voice freezing. "Tell me. Were you planning to break his arms or his legs?"
"What does it have to do with you?!" Esme yelled, completely unrepentant. "What, are you sleeping with him or something?!"
In the entire Residence, only Lachlan, Yvonne, and Megan knew Luella's true gender.
"I think the thing that needs breaking the most is that filthy mouth of yours," Luella threatened, pinching Esme's jaw tightly.
"Luella, let her go!" Yvonne pointed a trembling finger, furious but too afraid to step closer.
"What's going on?" Jared Langley, who had been upstairs playing with a model airplane, trotted down out of curiosity.
"Holy crap." Jared rubbed his eyes and stared at the scene. "Did you do something wrong and make our brother mad again? Esme, you never learn. The one person in this house you absolutely do not mess with is him."
Jared spread his little hands, his childish voice completely serious. "Hurry up and apologize to Luella!"
"You little ungrateful brat, I'm your actual sister!" Esme wanted nothing more than to slap Jared across the face. How could he take Luella's side?
"He's my actual brother, too," Jared stated matter-of-factly. "We have the same dad, hehe."
"Jared Langley!" Esme was practically foaming at the mouth, her hair a disheveled mess. "When I get out of this, I'm going to beat you half to death, you little punk!"
Jared knew his sister's personality perfectly well. She was a spoiled brat who expected everyone else to clean up her messes. As far as he was concerned, she deserved to be disciplined by their older sibling.
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