Anna was filled with resentment and humiliation.
She crawled toward Douglas like a desperate dog. "Douglas... I'm a Vinton! I can't strip! If I do, it'll humiliate our entire family! Dad will blame you, and Grandpa and Grandma will blame you too!"
Isabella, her face pale, wept pitifully. "Exactly... Douglas, we were just playing a joke on Serena! We're all family. Isn't this taking things too far?"
"Humiliate the family?"
Douglas scoffed, kicking Anna away. The look he gave her held absolutely zero warmth. "A bet is a bet. The Vintons don't raise sore losers, and we certainly don't raise liars."
"If Holden and Kiera knew what you did today, they'd make the exact same decision."
Anna stumbled back, sitting in the dirt as she stared up at her uncle, who now looked like the grim reaper.
Her face turned ashen.
Douglas shifted his gaze to Isabella, making no effort to hide his disgust. "A joke? Then let me play a joke on you right now."
He smiled coldly. "You don't have to strip."
Anna's eyes lit up instantly.
Isabella, however, trembled, a deep sense of dread washing over her.
Just as she feared, Douglas's smile grew cruel. "Augus just lost a hand. If you don't want to run, you can trade your hands instead."
Isabella and Anna turned stark white, their lips trembling as words completely failed them.
That joke...
Wasn't funny at all.
Douglas tossed his dying cigarette into a nearby bin. "Since you can't decide, they'll decide for you."
He lazily waved a hand toward Augus's men.
The thugs, who had been calling them 'Miss Lancaster' and 'Anna' all evening, immediately understood and marched toward the two girls.
The doors shut, and Serena fired up the engine, speeding away.
The shrieks of the two girls faded into the distance until they were completely gone.
The pink supercar cruised down the suburban highway. The passing streetlights cast shifting shadows across Serena's strikingly beautiful face.
Douglas leaned against the window, resting his head as his dark eyes studied her intensely.
After a long silence, he let out a low chuckle.
Serena steered with one hand, her eyes on the road, her expression calm. "What's so funny?"
"Nothing," Douglas rubbed his chin. "Just thinking. You walked away without looking back. Are you really just going to leave them out there?"
Serena glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. "You handled it flawlessly. Did you expect me to go soft and let them off the hook?"
"Not exactly." Douglas never liked those two anyway; he truly didn't care what happened to them.

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