The only reason Helena hadn't resorted to physical violence yet was to avoid traumatizing the child.
But now that Janetta was aggressively pushing her luck, Helena had zero intention of showing mercy.
Stepping forward, she seized the woman by the collar in a vice-like grip.
Janetta thrashed back purely on instinct.
Perhaps realizing that the little girl was Helena's ultimate weak point...
...she swung her free arm out, her manicured nails digging mercilessly into Skye's shoulder.
With a vicious shove, she sent the tiny child flying backward. Skye tumbled hard to the floor, her small head violently cracking against the baseboard.
Blood instantly blossomed from the impact.
Skye lay stunned for half a second before a blood-curdling, hysterical wail ripped from her throat.
It was a scream born of pure, unadulterated terror.
Helena watched in horror as her daughter gasped for air between broken sobs.
A crimson stream ran down the side of her pale face, rapidly soaking into the collar of her beautiful dress.
It was a genuinely gruesome and heart-stopping sight.
But worse than the blood was the aggressive wheezing—the unmistakable onset of a severe asthma attack.
All the color completely drained from Helena's face.
Her gaze locked onto Janetta with predatory, glacial intent, and she delivered a brutal, resounding slap across her cheek.
"You better pray to God she survives this, or I will put you in the ground," she promised, her voice dropping into a lethal, deadpan vow.
Janetta sprawled onto the floor from the force of the blow, her ears ringing in stunned disbelief.
Outside the massive glass walls, the gathering paparazzi finally noticed the chaos erupting indoors.
Cameras flashed as murmurs rippled through the crowd.
Several bold reporters pressed closer to the glass, hungry for a front-row view of the bloodshed.
Helena completely ignored them. She didn't give a damn about the spectacle.
She threw herself to her knees beside her choking daughter.
"Skye!" Frantically digging into her purse, she retrieved the emergency inhaler.
The little girl's breathing was deteriorating into frantic, rattling gasps.
Keeping her own panic tightly leashed, Helena expertly administered the medication.
"You're going to be okay. I'm right here. I'm taking you to the hospital right now," she whispered, stroking her damp hair.
Skye's tiny, trembling fingers maintained a death grip on Helena's sleeve.

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