Chapter 163 - A Slap In The Face

'Someone needs to be punished? What is she talking about?' Natasha raised her eyebrow upon hearing Marceline's remarks.

"Are you making trouble for our Family, Marceline? Grandpa is already in the hospital. Why are you doing this?" Natasha started to argue with Marceline.

Marceline just gave her a side glance, ignoring Natasha's presence. She had to face and confront Evelyn. She didn't have time to waste. Natasha's ranting was not worth her time.

Meanwhile, Ronan was looking at Marceline with complicated emotions on his face. He was glad she didn't commit suicide but he was annoyed at how Marceline was treating them right now.

'Is she setting me up? Why do I feel like she is accusing us of trying to kill her? What happened to her?' Ronan pondered to himself.

"What kind of drama is this, Marceline? You pretended that you committed suicide. But it turns out you are alive and safe," Ronan questioned Marceline, looking at her suspiciously.

On the other side, Kira had been observing Ronan's actions. He could easily read someone. And now, he just confirmed that Ronan was not faking it. He looked like he didn't order the Zhou Family guards to kill his niece.

'I can't figure him out. I saw a gleam of concern in his eyes when he thought Marceline died. Does he still care about his niece? But why?'

Kira continued observing them when suddenly his phone rang. He excused himself for a moment, answering the phone call.

As Kira left, Marceline continued confronting Ronan and Evelyn in front of two police officers and Natasha.

"Miss Marceline Zhou didn't write the suicide note. After comparing the handwriting in the suicide note and Miss Zhou's penmanship, the strokes and the style didn't match even though at the first look they seemed similar." The police officer shared the result of their investigation with them.

"I think the mastermind wanted the incident to look like a suicide but the truth is it's a murder! The guards tried to kill Miss Marceline Zhou!" The other police officer also spoke up, supporting the claim that Marceline almost died because of the assassination attempt.

"They injected me with sedatives. I was stabbed in the car. They threw me over the Golden City Bridge. Fortunately, a good samaritan rescued me from drowning." Marceline reminisced how she was taken and attacked by those bodyguards.

'I'm just lucky that I have this werewolf's regenerative ability wherein I can heal my own wound.'

"Are you sure? Then show me your wound. I want proof! I want to see your stab wound!" Natasha demanded.

Marceline was taken aback for a moment. She couldn't show them her wound as it was healed already.

"What now?! You can't show us! This only means you are making up stories and trying to frame my mother for the crime she didn't do! Stop this madness, Marceline Celeste!" Natasha yelled at her. She thought Marceline was lying.

She decided to challenge her. "Where is your wound? Show us now!"

Natasha dashed in Marceline's direction. She wanted to confirm whether she was lying or not. But even before she could touch Marceline, Kira arrived, stepping in the middle. He was shielding Marceline away from Natasha so that she couldn't touch Marceline.

"Don't touch her. Stay away from her. I will not let anyone see her body. It's for my eyes only!" Kira said as an alibi, but he said those words with a straight face, not smiling at all.

"Cough! Cough!" 

"Ahem!"

The two policemen reacted. One of them chuckled while the other one choked on his saliva. Kira was flaunting his display of affection towards his so-called wife!

The two didn't seem to be acting, though they agreed that their marriage was just fake. The way they acted towards each other was very natural.

"We should respect Mr. Alaric," The officer seconded, supporting Kira's statement.

They were still having some arguments when Enrique entered the mansion. His tired and dull eyes sparkled with delight upon seeing Marceline.

'Marceline! She's alive… she didn't die. She came back!' Enrique's heart was jumping in joy. He finally found the person he was searching for the whole night!

Enrique sprinted in Marceline's direction. He wanted to hug her but Kira stopped him, pushing Enrique away.

'Fuck!' Enrique cursed inwardly while giving Kira a deathly glare.

"What's happening here?" Enrique asked them as he could feel the heavy tension surrounding them.

'This is great. They are now complete… a complete family!' Marceline felt the rage inside her, stirring her emotions. She also smiled bitterly at the thought that they would have been a complete family if her parents didn't die… if they were not murdered.

The police officers were the ones who explained everything to Enrique, filling him up on what he'd missed before arriving at the mansion.

Enrique didn't know how he would react as his parents were now involved in this case. He wondered if they could truly hurt Marceline just because of the inheritance.

"Take her and bring her to the Police Station for the interrogation," Marceline said with her stern cold voice. She was staring at Evelyn straight into her eyes.

"No! You can't! I didn't do it." Evelyn refused to cooperate, insisting she was innocent.

"I will not allow you to take my wife!" Ronan showed his authoritative and dominant aura. He's a member of the Zhou Family. He would use this family influence to protect Evelyn.

Ronan dialed his phone, calling the Chief of Police of the Golden City.

"Do you really want to protect and defend her? The woman who ordered to kill your niece… the same woman who poisoned your father?" Kira revealed a piece of shocking information to them.

"What?! Our grandfather was poisoned?" Enrique questioned Kira exasperatedly. There was a look of disbelief in his eyes.

Natasha and Ronan frowned deeply, not believing Kira's words.

"That's another lie!" Natasha said.

On the other hand, Evelyn suddenly felt anxious. She had a bad feeling about this. 

'How come he knew about this. I used the black flower poison. This will not be detected by human technologies. There is no way the doctor will find out about it or diagnose the old man's illness. And how did he know that it was me who poisoned my father-in-law?'

At that certain moment, Evelyn recalled the last warning given to her by her Master, Vladimir. He mentioned being wary of Kira. He was not an ordinary human.

Evelyn clenched her fists as she overlooked important things like this. For more than two decades, she managed to hide her true intention of getting into the Zhou Family by seducing, winning Ronan's heart, and controlling him under her palm.

But all her efforts were about to go in vain because of Kira's interference. Kira was the strong factor in this. She wondered what other information he had on her.

Little did Evelyn know, Kira used his connections with the werewolves and witches just to do a thorough investigation regarding Grandpa Roland's poisoning.

It just so happened that one of the werewolves managed to see Evelyn taking the essence of the black flower from Vladimir. This kind of poisonous flower could only be found in the Kingdom of Phantasia. This black flower was known for its effect of killing the victim slowly by absorbing the person's life's essence.

The person who called Kira a while ago was his werewolf spy. He informed Kira about this very important discovery.

"Grandpa Roland is in critical condition because of the poison fed to him by Evelyn. Are you not wondering why he didn't get better even though she was giving him the medicine every night? It's because… she's poisoning him." Kira declared to them, making everyone speechless.

Marceline was also taken aback as this was her first time hearing this. 'She is the one who poisoned my grandpa…'

Marceline's feet moved reflexively towards Evelyn. Upon reaching her spot, Marceline raised her hand, slapping Evelyn in the face so hard!

Pak! Pak! Pak!

Marceline didn't hold back as she slapped her three times using both hands. Natasha, Enrique, and Ronan were not able to react as they were caught off guard when Marceline slapped Evelyn.

Evelyn's lips and nose bleed from the impact as Marceline applied too much force. Her cheeks were so red with Marceline's handprint.

"This is for poisoning my grandfather…"

Pak! Pak! Pak!

Another crispy slap reverberated in the entire living room as Marceline slapped Evelyn once more. Evelyn tried to block her hand but failed. Marceline moved so fast that she couldn't catch up with her. She could only feel the sting on her cheeks. She thought her teeth were about to fall off because of the strong impact of Marceline's slap.

Natasha was the first one who recovered, yanking Marceline's left arm."How Dare You Hate My Mo–" 

Pak!

Natasha was not able to finish her words as she was interrupted by a loud and strong slap on her face. Marceline also slapped Natasha.

"You are a family of murderers!" Marceline let her anger and frustration out of her heart.

Among the people there, it was Enrique who got affected so much when Marceline uttered those words.

"If you want to know the truth, I will show you all the proof. Come with me…" Kira challenged Ronan.

Ronan remained silent, still trying to absorb everything. Though he hated his father for being biased, he didn't want him to die. He needed to know the truth!

This time Ronan nodded his head in agreement with Kira's suggestion.. "Show me the proof."