Chapter 298

Chapter 298 Slapping Emma

I was actually resentful that Ronan said nothing about me eating his steak. Upon seeing his smile, I felt that my embarrassment didn’t matter. Well, I’d just consider my humiliation as making it up to him.

Then, I stared at the cut steak he handed me just now. Putting my mortification aside, I started wolfing it down.

Without realizing it, the atmosphere between us eased considerably.

At some point, I noticed Ronan frowning slightly at something behind me.

Following his gaze, I likewise glanced behind me in puzzlement. The moment I glimpsed Emma’s countenance, my appetite swiftly vanished.

My brows scrunched together, and I planned to ignore her since there was nothing more to contend between us. Michael has already decided to be with me. She won’t be able to affect me, no matter what she says.

“What a coincidence to bump into you here, Anna! And you’re even having lunch with Ronan!” Emma smirked.

I could see the sheer hatred in her eyes, but she was currently suppressing it and feigning a calm expression.

“I don’t think it’s any of your business who I have lunch with.”

I eyed her frostily, not in the mood to entertain her. Hearing her scornful tone, I knew she must be plotting something or other. Nonetheless, I didn’t want to go head to head with her since Ronan was here.

“Ronan, I heard you courted Anna in the past, yes? At that time, your relationship with her seemed to be extremely intimate. Is that true?”

Surprisingly, Emma wasn’t offended by my indifference. Instead, she turned to Ronan and spoke to him in a mild voice.

The man was a shrewd person, so he could tell at a single glance she was deliberately picking on me. All at once, his expression went stony.

“Who are you to meddle with my relationship? Who are you to me? My cousin-in-law? Oh yes, I forgot my cousin has already called off his wedding to you! You’re nobody to me now.”

“How dare you, Ronan Moore?”

Ronan was also one who could kill someone effortlessly. He didn’t use any profanity or blow his temper, yet a nonchalant remark was all it took to aggravate Emma.

She shot daggers at him, obviously infuriated at being ridiculed.

“Please leave if there’s nothing else, Emma. Don’t hamper our appetites here!”

Ronan didn’t give a sh*t whether she was pissed off. Emma was livid, but Ronan feigned ignorance and he chased her out of the restaurant.

Emma was a proud woman. At the sight of the man’s contempt for her, the reins of the wrath within her instantly snapped.

“You’re really something else, Anna. You’ve finally stolen Michael away from me, and now you’re seducing Ronan. Can’t you live without a man?”

Although Emma was fuming because of Ronan, she directed her anger at me instead. After all, he was still Michael’s cousin, and his power in the family wasn’t to be underestimated. She probably didn’t dare offend him, so she could only vent all her rage on me.

Her remark was simply a declaration that I was cheating on Michael and insinuating that I was a sl*t. I had no problems inferring that implicit meaning when it was so conspicuous. I initially didn’t want to bicker with her, but she was always so relentless that I was truly enraged this time.

“Emma, please watch your tongue when you speak. Ronan and I are friends. Is it against the law for us to have lunch together? Besides, what has whomever I eat with has got to do with you that you’re pointing fingers here?”

I abruptly shot to my feet and looked right into her eyes. I usually refrain from kicking up a fuss, but that doesn’t mean that I’ll allow others to pick on me! She always assumes that I’m easy prey; she has underestimated me. Also, she’s only targeting me because Michael doesn’t love her and doesn’t care about her.

Many people swung their gazes at her when my words rang out.

Emma had always been an arrogant person, so she glared at me irately now that she was left with no retort. The loathing in her eyes glinted even more vividly.

“Anna, don’t think that you now have nothing to worry about anymore. You’re not worthy of Michael! I’ll never allow you to marry him!”

Having nothing else to say to that, she could only spit out those words.

“You have no say in whether I can marry Michael. He’s willing to marry me, and I’m also willing to marry him. Therefore, you can’t stop it from happening.”

I regarded her coldly, not at all intimidated by her threat.

“Anna, you’re truly shameless, you b*tch! You already have Michael, so why are you still seducing Ronan?”

At my words, Emma hit the roof. After bellowing that in high dudgeon, she lifted her hand to swing it at my face.

My eyes went wide in shock. Oh no, it’s already too late for me to dodge! Am I really to just take this blow from her?

Fortunately, Ronan was quick to act. He grabbed her wrist in one fell swoop. At that moment, his expression was icy cold, making it evident that he was furious.

His grip was extremely strong, and fury blazed in his gaze as he stared at her.

“What are you doing, Ronan? Let go of me!”

Emma wrenched her hand away hard when pain shot up her wrist. Likewise, her eyes radiated outrage as she glowered at him.

Hmph! She must have thought that her hand would’ve surely landed on my face and never expected Ronan to stop her at that critical moment!

My heart that had been previously lodged in my throat finally settled back into my chest. Turning, I eyed her with wrath similarly burning in my gaze.

Facing her, I raised my hand and slapped her across the face without an ounce of hesitation. I put a lot of strength into the blow, so much so that even my hand was smarting.

Emma’s face snapped to the side at my strike. When she finally gathered her wits about her, she gaped at me in disbelief even as the anger in her eyes blazed all the more hotly.

“How dare you hit me, Anna Garcia? Who do you think you are that you actually dared to hit me?”

After jolting back to her senses, her face contorted into a mask of fury, and she struggled desperately. Right that moment, her blood was boiling so hot that she wanted to kill me.

She wanted to charge at me, but before she could do so, Ronan shoved her away and stood in front of me.

“Emma Jones, is this your manners as the daughter of a prominent family, simply hitting someone just for the sake of it?”

Ronan’s expression was glacial then, making it unmistakable that his patience toward Emma had reached its end.