Edward's Point Of View
"You deserved it," I said gently.
The words emerged not as a roar but as something softer, almost a whisper. Yet in the cavernous silence of the Moore living room, they carried the weight of a falling guillotine. I watched Sarah's face transform into a frantic map of shifting emotions… confusion bleeding into disbelief, then hardening into something darker. The rage froze mid-expression, replaced by a shock so profound her jaw actually clicked as it dropped open.
"What?" Sarah gasped, her hand flying to her reddened cheek as though the touch might somehow erase what had just happened. Her fingers trembled against the inflamed skin. "Why would you say that, Edward? I'm your sister! Your own flesh and blood!"
Her voice climbed higher with each word, teetering on the edge of hysteria, that familiar pitch she'd always used when things didn't go her way. "How can you stand there and justify a common mercenary striking me? I am a Moore!"
