Cold.
The kind of cold that made her teeth chatter and her whole body lock up.
Stifling, too.
Like a stone was pressed on her chest, crushing the breath out of her.
She moved on instinct, reaching out to shove that “stone” away, but her fingers closed around a slender ankle instead.
What a shameless bitch. Acting this wild over her head.
In that instant, Serena Ashford blew up. Her five fingers clamped down hard.
Crack.
The sharp sound of bone breaking split the white, empty lakeshore, followed by a woman’s shrill scream.
Vivian Ashford stumbled back two steps without thinking. Fear flashed in her eyes as she stared at Blossom Crane, who had already fainted from pain.
Then she pointed at Serena Ashford, whose face was pale as paper as she struggled to her feet, and screamed, “Serena Ashford, you idiot! What did you do to her?”
Serena Ashford cut her a slanting look and gave a cold laugh. “Vivian Ashford, is it? Who the hell are you calling an idiot?”
Vivian Ashford flew into a rage. She swung her hand and slapped at Serena Ashford’s face. “You stupid thing, born by a father and left untaught, and you dare call me by name? Tired of living, are you?”
Vivian Ashford had always relied on her family’s favor to throw her weight around. Bullying people was nothing new to her. Beating Serena Ashford was an everyday thing.
Only this time, her slap never landed.
Her wrist was caught first, gripped so hard it felt like it had been locked in a freezing iron vise.
“Bitch, let go!”
Vivian Ashford shrieked and struggled, then met Serena Ashford’s eyes.
Those eyes were cold. Dead cold.
Where was that dazed, half-witted look Serena Ashford used to have? It was gone clean. What stood here now was all killing intent, thick and brutal, like some blood-drunk fiend clawing its way out of hell.
Vivian Ashford’s arrogance faltered on the spot. Even her voice lost some force.
“Serena Ashford, let go. If you do, I can forget about you knocking Tuanrong into the water.”
Serena Ashford sneered. “Did you ask whether I’d let this go?”
With one casual fling, she threw Vivian Ashford aside.
Vivian Ashford hit the ground like a torn sack of rags.
“Second Miss!”
Ruby Sinclair rushed over at once and helped Vivian Ashford up. Then she turned and shouted at Serena Ashford, “Third Miss, how can you bully Second Miss like this?”
“Bullying her?”
Serena Ashford was so angry she laughed. She pointed at the dog nearby, the one wrapped in a padded coat and trembling, and said with a cold sneer, “She stripped off my padded coat and forced me to jump into an ice hole to save this little beast. And now I’m the one bullying her?”
Ruby Sinclair shielded Vivian Ashford like a loyal servant putting on a show. “You were the one who made Tuanrong fall into the water. Of course you had to save it.”
“Oh? Is that so?”
Serena Ashford lifted a brow. Mockery curled at her lips. She grabbed the dog by the loose fur at the back of its neck and flung it straight at Ruby Sinclair.
“Ah!”
The dog was freezing cold. When it slammed into her, the shock and cold made Ruby Sinclair forget to catch it. Instead she yelped and flailed an arm, batting it away.
Splash!
The little white dog flew in a clean arc and dropped right back into the ice hole not far away, where it began yelping and thrashing.
Ruby Sinclair dropped to her knees at once and kowtowed to Vivian Ashford. “Miss, this servant didn’t do it on purpose!”
What answered her was not Vivian Ashford’s voice.
It was Serena Ashford’s cold, hard tone.
“You knocked that beast into the water. Naturally, you should be the one to save it.”
Vivian Ashford stared in terror as Serena Ashford grabbed Ruby Sinclair by the collar and, with one lift of her arm, hurled her straight into the ice hole.
Her face turned white in a flash. Her whole body shook as she stammered, “Serena Ashford, what are you doing? Don’t come over here!”
A mocking smile sat on Serena Ashford’s lips as her hand reached for Vivian Ashford’s collar.
“You said it yourself. If you’re going into the water to save a dog, your padded coat will get soaked. What will you wear after you come back up?” Serena Ashford’s smile went colder. “So I’ll help you take it off.”
The moment the words fell, she ripped Vivian Ashford’s padded coat right off her, then raised a leg and kicked her down into the ice hole.
Only then did Serena Ashford bend down and pick up her own padded coat from the ground. It was torn open, yellowed cotton stuffing poking out. She wrapped it back around herself.
Then she turned and looked once at the two women and the dog struggling in the ice hole.
She let out a cold laugh and walked away.
The wind and snow grew fiercer. Before long, all traces by the lake were buried clean.
Only the cries for help and the cursing were left, thin and ragged in the storm.