Yvonne Miller knew, of course, that the comment was meant for her. Choking with rage, she said, "Ryan Linton, say that again!"
"Idiot."
Ryan Linton sneered, ignored her, and headed upstairs.
Just as he reached the landing, he saw Joy Chapman coming down the stairs, looking cheerful.
When he saw the dress she was wearing, his relatively relaxed expression instantly hardened.
"Who told you you could wear this dress?" Ryan Linton asked, his face grim.
Joy Chapman was going to a party at a classmate's house today. She had coveted this dress from Annabelle Linton's room for a long time, so she'd taken the opportunity to sneak it out and wear it while no one was home.
'The person I wanted to see it didn't, but of all people, Ryan Linton did!'
'Everyone knows Ryan Linton has a massive sister complex!'
Seeing the murderous look on Ryan Linton's face, Joy Chapman was so scared her legs went weak. "Ryan Linton, what are you doing? Let go of me, let me go! Mom, help me!"
When Yvonne Miller saw her precious daughter in Ryan Linton's grasp, looking as if he wanted to grind her bones to dust, she panicked. "Ryan Linton, I dare you to lay a finger on Joy!"
Ryan Linton's eyes flashed with a piercing light as he ordered coldly, "Take it off!"
As Ryan Linton closed in, Joy Chapman shouted frantically, "Ryan Linton, what do you think you're doing! I'm warning you, don't you dare touch me, or you'll be sorry!"
...
Ryan Linton's lip twitched. "With a face that could ward off evil spirits by day and works as birth control by night, you really think I'm interested in touching you?"
...
In the midst of their argument, William Chapman came downstairs in his pajamas. Seeing the three of them shoving each other, he frowned. "What's all this shouting about? You're giving me a headache!"
"Dad, help me! Ryan Linton is going to hit me!" Joy Chapman cried out, looking at William Chapman as if he were her savior.
William Chapman glanced at Joy Chapman's pale face, then, without bothering to find out what happened, he rounded on Ryan Linton and let him have it. "You little bastard! I punished you for ganging up on Joy just a few days ago, but clearly you didn't learn your lesson, did you? How dare you try to hit her again! You test my patience time and time again. Do you have any respect for me as your father?!"
As he spoke, William Chapman shoved Ryan Linton away.
"She's just a bastard. So what if I hit her? What are you going to do about it?" Ryan Linton sneered, looking at them with utter contempt.
'Bastard!'
Joy Chapman hated nothing more than when people called her that. She threw herself into William Chapman's arms, crying pitifully. "Dad, I've told you before, they can't stand the sight of me! I've put up with so much over the years, I endured it all, but just listen to him now! A bastard? I have a father and a mother, how can I be a bastard! Sob... He hits me and bullies me all the time! I've had enough! I'm moving out with Mom, and we're never coming back!"
At these words, William Chapman saw red and roared at Ryan Linton, "Apologize!"
Ryan Linton viciously kicked the staircase banister, his entire being radiating malice. "Why the fuck should I apologize! The spawn of a married man's affair—if that's not a bastard, what is? She's older than me! If she's not a bastard, did she just spring from a rock?"
Ryan Linton clenched his fists.
'Having a father who betrayed his wife was the shame of his entire life.'
'His heart ached for his mother and sister; they deserved so much better.'
"You unfilial son!" William Chapman raised his hand high to strike Ryan Linton, but Ryan, refusing to show weakness, didn't even blink.
Just as William Chapman's hand was about to come down, Annabelle Linton suddenly grabbed his wrist.