Chapter 1420

Vanessa continued her tirade. “Yes, I deliberately got close to Evelyn. Seeing her was just as disgusting as seeing Eleanor. I pretended to like her, to play with her, but it was all to get on your brother’s good side. But she’s an ungrateful brat. No matter how nice I pretended to be, she never appreciated it.”

“Shut up!” Serena snapped. “Evelyn was just a child. How could you be so malicious as to use her? And you have the nerve to stand here and say these things?”

Vanessa’s eyes flashed with intense resentment as she shrieked, “If Eleanor hadn’t stolen your brother from me back then, I would have been your family! It never should have been her!”

Serena just raised an eyebrow in response. “Vanessa, where do you get this confidence that my brother would ever like you? Let me tell you something: my brother has only ever loved one woman in his life, and that’s Eleanor. I’m sure you, of all people, know whether he had any feelings for you over the last ten years. Stop daydreaming that he’ll fall in love with you. It’s pathetic.”

Vanessa was so furious she slammed her glass down on the table. “Serena!”

Hiding behind the pillar, Evelyn jumped. Then, she rushed out. “You’re mean! Don’t you bully my aunt!”

With that, Evelyn’s small body stood protectively in front of Serena, her big eyes glaring angrily at Vanessa.

Vanessa was stunned to see Evelyn there. She panicked for a moment but quickly composed herself.

A twisted sense of satisfaction crept onto her face. So Evelyn had heard everything. Good. Let the little thing get a taste of what it feels like to be deceived and hurt.

Just as Vanessa was about to say something more to Evelyn, she felt an intense chill coming from the direction Evelyn had run from.

She looked up sharply and saw lan appear, his face a mask of cold fury.

Her heart skipped a beat, and she instinctively took a step back.

“Daddy!” Evelyn cried, running toward him as if she’d suffered the world’s greatest injustice, lan quickly keelt and swept his daughter into his arms, but his gaze, like shards of ice, shot toward Vanessa.

Vanessa’s face paled, her earlier arrogance gone, replaced by a rising tide of fear

and panic. Her lips trembled, but no sound came out.

The way lan was looking at her was

something she had never seen before. Beyond the undisguised disgust and anger, there was a murderous intent that

*!@ St

physical.

“lan, you’re here. Evelyn is terrified,” Serena said, looking with heartache at her niece in her brother’s arms.

She hadn’t had time to process it all, but now she realized Evelyn must have heard every vicious word Vanessa had said.

lan walked toward them, step by step, holding his daughter.

From a few feet away, his words were like daggers of ice. “Vanessa, what did you just say to my daughter?”

His voice was terrifyingly calm, but to Vanessa’s ears, it was more frightening than any furious roar.

“I—I didn’t Vanessa stammered, trying to explain. She then forcedza

smile at Every Evelyn what said

just now wasn’t true. I was just talking nonsense-don’t take it to heart!”

Evelyn, nestled in her father’s arms, was silent, her eyes filled with tears and her little mouth pouting, clearly hurt.

lan’s large hand gently stroked his daughter’s head, comforting her. “It’s okay, sweetie. Daddy’s here. You don’t have to be afraid.”