Chapter 231: Crime And Punishment

Savannah If someone had told me a few months ago that this same living room—the one that once smelled like grilled meat, laughter, and cheap beer—would turn into a battlefield, I would have laughed in their face. Back then, this house had hosted a barbecue for Chloe and Dean. Music had played. Uncle Jace and Alyssa had danced. Drinks had flowed. People had smiled like we were a normal, functional family. Now? Now it smelled like blood, rage, and something rotten that had been festering for years. “Jace, take that girl and get out of my house!” Julius’s voice cracked through the room like a gunshot. His finger was extended, shaking as it pointed directly at Paula. His face was red—veins bulging, mouth bloodied from the punches he’d taken earlier, eyes blazing with the kind of fury that felt unhinged. “I do not want to see her, nor you, anywhere near my property ever again!” “She’s not going anywhere.” Jace’s voice was calm. Too calm. The kind of calm that came right before something sna