Chapter 7 Take It Out On Me

• "I…you've always been Uncle Zeke to me!"
• Anne's heart skipped several beats. It had to be because she was frightened, right? Yes! That was the only explanation for it!
• Anne tried to move backward so she could put some distance between herself and Zeke; unfortunately, she did not succeed.
• When Zeke saw that she was behaving like a trapped animal, he suddenly felt uncomfortable. Was she truly so afraid of interacting with him? "If no one's around, please call me Zeke." He withdrew his hand and moved away, distancing himself from Anne.
• It felt as if a breath of fresh air had swept through, and Anne drew it greedily into her lungs, gasping like a fish out of water. Her back was drenched with sweat, however.
• "Okay," she replied obediently, but she did not dare look at him.
• "I'll send you home," Zeke offered. He was just about to rest his hand on Anne's shoulder when she sidestepped, her back sliding against the wall. With a bright, spurious smile, she answered, "It's alright, there's no need for that. You're too well-known, after all. I'll just take a cab."
• With that, she turned and fled as if the devil himself were at her heels.
• A trace of self-deprecation flickered across Zeke's face.
• Too well-known?
• That was just an excuse; the truth was that the girl was afraid to be seen with him.
• "Don't forget to send me those one thousand lines at noon," Zeke informed her coldly.
• Anne almost tripped and fell at that. Her mouth twisted slightly, and she thought crossly, Tyrant! However, she did not dare to say what she was thinking. Without turning around, she waved at Zeke and replied, "Yes, yes, I know. As if I could forget something like one thousand lines!" She uttered that last comment through gritted teeth, the words laced through with a hint of resentment.
• Zeke merely smiled faintly in resignation and returned to his room.
• Anne dashed out of the hotel and hailed a taxi to take her home immediately.
• "Miss Anne, you're back already?" Mrs. Lautry, the housekeeper, looked up from where she was mopping the floor.
• Jaiden was sitting on the couch, reading the newspaper.
• Anne's anger gave her wings; she covered the distance between the entrance and the couch in an instant. Ripping the newspaper out of Jaiden's grasp, she slapped her hard twice.
• "Oh goodness!" Mrs. Lautry was so startled by Anne's actions that she let out a scream and dropped her mop with a clatter.
• Before Jaiden could recover from her shock at being slapped, Anne seized her by the hair and yanked her up close to look her in the eye.
• "What the hell do you think you're playing at?" Anne was furious! This woman had dared to scheme against her in such a manner! How dare she!
• Jaiden's scalp hurt. Wanting to prevent her long tresses from being torn out by the roots, she tried to pull away from Anne, crying and shrieking, "Harper! Harper, please come here quickly! Anne's going to kill me!"
• Anne froze immediately, startled. Her father was at home? Hadn't something happened to him? As she stared blankly, Harper came out of the bathroom and caught sight of her viciously tugging on Jaiden's hair. With a furious expression, he went right up to Anne and slapped her hard.
• "Misbegotten brat! Are you on drugs or what? Let go of her at once!"
• Anne had no time to duck away; she took the slap full in the face. Her cheek throbbed painfully, but it was nothing compared to how she felt. It was as if her heart had been ripped to shreds.
• "You actually hit me?" Anne had no intention of crying, but a surge of bitterness rose up from within her heart and choked her.
• Harper was trembling from head to foot with rage, but when he saw Anne's accusing gaze fixed upon him, he felt a trace of remorse.
• "Do you know what you've done? No matter what, Jaiden is older than you. How can you simply hit her like that? These last few years, you've become entirely too unruly. Not only that, yesterday you stayed out all night and didn't come home! You tell me, what do you think you're trying to pull?"
• Harper's words stabbed through Anne's heart like knives.
• "You're asking me what I'm trying to pull? Why don't you ask your dear wife what she did to me yesterday?" Anne abruptly shrieked in fury. She felt as if she were about to suffocate. Apart from censuring her, when had this man ever been truly concerned whether she lived or died, even though he was her closest blood relation? She was his legitimate, biological daughter, after all!
• Involuntarily, she tightened her grip on Jaiden's hair. She wanted nothing more than to rip the woman's entire scalp off. She would find out then whether or not Harper would kill her on the spot.
• The excruciating pain made Jaiden scream even louder. "Harper! Harper!"
• The sight of Jaiden's distress and humiliation enraged Harper so much his entire body began shaking. "Let go right now, Anne! Do you hear me?"
• "I won't! You want to hit me some more, don't you? Why don't you hit me like you hit mom last time and send me packing as well? It would be even better if a truck came along and killed me! Then your conscience would be nice and clean!" Anne screamed furiously like a mad woman. Tears began rolling down her cheeks, unbidden.
• Harper froze as if struck by lightning, his gaze betraying a trace of remorse.
• When Jaiden saw that Harper's rage had eased, she suddenly struggled to sink onto her knees before Anne. Weeping bitterly, she sobbed, "Anne, I know you hate me, but how can you wound your father so deeply? If you're angry, take it out on me; don't talk like that about him. All these years, your father has never gotten over your mother's death. Just hit me instead. As long as it gets rid of your anger, go ahead and hit me."
• With that, she grasped Anne's hand and slapped her own face with it.