CH.58

Mutters of disbelief rippled through the crowd.

"What the hell? This can't be right..."

"Son of a bitch, they can't do this!"

"I've been with the network for fifteen years!"

Serena watched the scene with furrowed brows. Every single paparazzo and reporter present had just had the professional rug ripped out from underneath them in one decisive move.

As if losing their luxurious media positions wasn't enough of a punishment, they were instantly followed by a series of menacing rumbles coming from the street.

The crowd split like a wave when two luxurious black SUVs, armed to the teeth with heavily armed men pulled up to flank Serena's convoy.

The reporters watched in stunned silence as the rear hatches opened and a small army of imposing figures piled out, fanning out to surround the entire crowd in a loose semicircle.

These weren't the typical rent-a-cops most were accustomed to dealing with - these men were clearly trained military operators. Their icy professionalism and the unmistakable way they moved left no doubt of their brutality.

"Alright, shows over, folks," Dimitri's gruff baritone cut through the tension. "I'd suggest finding a new line of work that doesn't involve harassing someone above your pay grade. Get lost now before my associates here get impatient."

The sound of gun barrels rattling in uncanny synchrony, the harsh metallic clangs resonating all around them seemed to emphasize his words.

The remaining reporters still foolish enough to linger swallowed hard, suddenly regretting every insult and slur they had hurled at Serena as the reality of just who they had provoked became chillingly clear.

"Y-you can't do this! We have rights!" one particularly idiotic paparazzo sputtered out, only to be met with a dozen icy stares and the unmistakable sound of safeties being flicked off in response.

"Last warning, jackass," one of Knox’s men growled, taking a menacing step forward with his finger tightened on the trigger of his gun. "Get moving before we remodel this sidewalk with your ugly face."

That seemed to be all the incentive the vultures needed to finally disperse, breaking into a frantic scatter like cockroaches when the lights get turned on.

The entire area was clear within seconds.

Dimitri let out a soft grunt of satisfaction. "Apologies for the delay, Madam," he rumbled. "I've taken the necessary steps to ensure your safety and privacy going forward. Those fools won't be bothering you again."

Serena, on the other hand, wasn’t paying any ear to the man’s words. She had snapped out of her semi-shock at the display of power she just witnessed when she spotted her stepmother, Kayla rushing out of the villa's side entrance. Close on her heels trailed Alex and Kylie who instantly burst into hysterical, gulping sobs the second she took in the full scope of the explosive situation unfolding.

"Oh my god, she's trying to kill us!" Kylie wailed, burying her face in Alex's chest as she clung to him in a display of terror and distress. "Daddy was right, she is dangerous! She is a monster!”

Serena’s expression darkened. "That's enough, you pretentious bitch!" She spat. "Your acting is exceptional, I have to agree... You truly deserve to win the Best Actress prize. Really, it makes sense that you were able to fool me for years.”

"What are you saying?" Kylie put on a brave face. She was furious that the paparazzi she had hired to be stationed outside their house were so easily dismissed.

Kylie knew Serena all too well. She was aware that the latter was undoubtedly coming to exact revenge for the widely shared sex tape on the internet, among other things.

"Daddy’s will was announced less than an hour ago. He left everything to Mom, Alex, and me since you're such a selfish, ungrateful, prodigal child! This is your pathetic attempt at an assassination because you didn't get a single cent of his fortune!" She pointed a quivering, accusatory finger at Serena as fat tears rolled down her cheeks in an unsightly display.

A stunned hush fell over the place as Serena processed the words her stepsister had just uttered. It was simply unfathomable - a ludicrous lie, no doubt perpetrated by these two grasping vipers in their latest attempt to seize control of her father’s wealth.

Serena suddenly threw her head back and burst into a demonic peal of laughter that sent chills racing through her enemies’ skin.

Her eyes seemed to blaze with an almost feverish light as she raked her stepmother, Alex and stepsister with a look of pure, unbridled loathing.

"That's impossible!" she spat out between gasping guffaws. "You must be out of your mind to think I'd believe that crap coming from a couple of two-bit gold diggers like you."

"Serena, dear..." her stepmother began in a placating tone she always adopted when trying to mask her true nature. "I understand this is a terrible shock… your father's passing was quite sudden and-"

"Shut your trap, you homewrecking whore!" Serena bellowed, cutting off whatever pretentious drivel the older woman was about to utter.

Hot rage lent her voice a guttural and almost inhuman quality.

Everyone was stunned.

Kayla and Kylie seemed momentarily cowed by the younger woman's outburst, their mouths hanging open in disbelief.

"How dare you disrespect my mother like that, you ungrateful bitch!” It was Kylie who finally broke the heavy silence, dashing forward with hands raised as if to slap some sense into her defiant stepsister. “I'll teach you some long overdue respect if it's the last thing I-"

The harsh crack of flesh striking flesh rang out like a gunshot, cutting Kylie off in mid-sentence as her head whipped violently to the side.

A thick rope of spittle arced through the air from her stunned cry of shock and pain, splattering across the priceless earth.

It was Serena's lead bodyguard, Dimitri, who had back-handled the foolish girl with enough force to nearly take her from her feet.

"You will not raise a hand to the madam," the hulking man rumbled, his face an impassive mask of stone as he straightened to his full, intimidating height.

At well over six and a half feet tall and with a physique sculpted from sheer slabs of dense muscle, Dimitri cut an utterly imposing figure that radiated an aura of lethal capability. This was a man who had seen and dealt more death than most could even fathom.

Alex was beside Kylie in an instant, catching her before she crumpled bonelessly to the floor in an undignified heap.

His handsome face was twisted into an ugly snarl of rage as he drew the sobbing Kylie protectively into his arms. Despite his substantial wealth and influence, at his core, Alex was little more than a privileged fop who had never faced any true adversity in his sheltered life.

The sight of Kylie struck down so callously by this unsmiling brute of a man had him seeing red.

Alex had been taken aback when he first laid eyes on Serena earlier. He expected her to look shattered after everything he'd put her through. But here she was, standing tall and defiant. And she wasn't alone.

He'd been racking his brain trying to figure out how Serena managed to turn the tables during the court trial - and now he suspected someone powerful was backing her up.

"How dare you lay your hands on my woman, you filthy thug!" he glared murderously at Dimitri and the rest of Serena's imposing security team. "I'll have you all arrested and thrown in prison, you swine!"