Agnes' Awakening: From Zero to His Whole World novel Chapter 354

Vivian launched herself toward the wall as if to bash her head against it. Several people grabbed her and held her back.

The crowd started buzzing.

"Honestly, this doesn't really seem like it has anything to do with Ms. Brogdon."

"Yeah, I think I've got the picture. One of Ms. Brogdon's friends went after this Ms. Sinclair to get revenge over that whole broken engagement between the Brogdons and the Ruells."

"Right, first it was that Tiffany Lawson, now this Brooke girl. What kind of people are they?"

Everything seemed to be out in the open.

Agnes walked over to Brooke and stood above her, looking down with ice in her eyes. "You people come after me again and again. You've even tried to kill me. What, you have a death wish?"

Brooke shook her head frantically. "No, no, I wasn't trying to kill you! I just thought you were getting too full of yourself and I wanted to teach you a lesson. I went back to find you, I swear, but..."

Agnes's foot connected with Brooke's side and sent her sprawling. Blood streamed from her nose.

Brooke let out a wail. "I really wasn't trying to kill you! It had to be Vi..."

Before she could finish, Vivian charged over and cracked her across the face. "You're unbelievable, Brooke! I treated you like a sister and this is what you do?"

Brooke stared at her in disbelief. "Vivian! I did this for you! How can you turn on me like this? If you hadn't said..."

Vivian's hand flew up again. Another slap, hard enough to snap Brooke's head sideways.

"At the engagement banquet, things went sideways and yes, I vented. I said some things I shouldn't have. But I thought it through afterward, and none of it was anyone else's fault!"

A cold, thin smile crossed Vivian's lips, her eyes sharp as glass. "Brooke, you went after Ms. Sinclair because you wanted to. Don't you dare pin this on me. Do you think I'm stupid? Do you think everyone here is stupid? You're trying to drag me down with you? After everything my family has done for yours?"

Brooke pressed her hand to her stinging cheek and stared at Vivian, terror flooding her face. Behind those eyes was something lethal.

The Calloways had always depended on the Brogdons. Everything they had, they owed to the Brogdons. Gordon Calloway, Tyler Calloway, they all worked for Vivian's family.

And what Vivian had just said was perfectly clear. A warning. Keep your mouth shut, or your family pays the price.

Brooke bit down hard on her lower lip and swallowed every word she'd been about to say. All she could manage was the same broken refrain, over and over. "I didn't try to kill her. I didn't try to kill anyone. It wasn't me..."

Vivian turned to face the room, her eyes glistening, her voice trembling with conviction. "Please believe me. I had nothing to do with any of this. She acted entirely on her own! Take her away! Ms. Sinclair deserves justice!"

Before she could finish, he wrenched his arm free with enough force to send her stumbling backward onto the ground.

"Neal? Neal! Come back! Hey! Neal!"

She sat there on the ground, calling his name over and over, wrecked and pathetic. But he didn't slow down. Didn't look back. Just kept walking.

Vivian sat in the dirt, crying and seething.

Nearby, a cluster of onlookers whispered among themselves. Some watched with open amusement. Others laughed outright.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. I'm telling you, this whole thing traces back to the Brogdon heiress somehow. You see the way Mr. Ruell just walked off? Bet he never speaks to her again."

"Obviously. Who has their engagement blow up in their faces like that? They call it an 'accident,' but everyone knows Mr. Ruell called it off. She got dumped."

"The Brogdon heiress played that beautifully, though. Classic move. Let someone else do your dirty work. She even threw her own friend under the bus."

"The Brogdons are one of the most powerful families in Grandridge. People are lining up to suck up to her. She can always find another scapegoat."