Chapter 534 - 130 Fistful of Proof

Chapter 534: Chapter 130 Fistful of Proof

Beckett’s POV

The drama was already unfolding before we even pulled through the gates of our family compound. A small crowd of onlookers had gathered along the street, drawn by the spectacle of my father standing rigidly outside while Claire put on her most theatrical performance yet. Watching her carry on like some wronged mafia widow made my stomach turn. Beside me, Katarina was practically vibrating with anticipation, clapping her hands and bouncing in her seat with an energy I rarely saw from her.

"It’s today!" Katarina chirped with genuine excitement, quickly twisting her long hair into a tight bun and securing it. I turned to study her profile, completely baffled by her sudden enthusiasm.

"What exactly is today, Lucinda?" I asked, but she was already climbing out of the car with the determination of a woman on a mission, leaving me no choice but to follow her lead into whatever chaos awaited us.

Claire’s voice rang across the courtyard, shrill and calculated for maximum dramatic effect. "Come on, Nathaniel, tell me who this woman is! This whore you’re running around with behind my back? You must be completely bewitched to file for divorce so suddenly! What kind of woman has gotten her claws into you?" She alternated between shrieking accusations and fake sobbing, clearly relishing the audience she had attracted for her performance as the betrayed mafia wife.

"Claire, enough of this madness!" My father’s voice was tight with the kind of barely restrained fury that made lesser men in our world disappear permanently.

"I wanted to discuss this privately, Nathaniel, in our own home," Claire continued her calculated tirade, "but you slipped away while I was visiting our daughter. You ran here to hide behind Beckett like some coward - he’s always resented our marriage, always wanted to see our family destroyed. He’s obviously helping you cover up this affair!"

The accusation was beyond outrageous, and Claire was playing to her audience, ensuring every passerby caught every dramatic word of her manufactured betrayal.

"Claire, you don’t need any help destroying families - you’re a natural expert at it!" Katarina called out the moment her feet touched the ground, matching Claire’s volume with surgical precision.

Claire spun toward my wife like a viper ready to strike. "Shut your mouth, you little tramp! You left home playing dress-up as some model, but everyone knows you were just whoring around the city. Then you came crawling back and trapped this fool into marriage. You’re poison - I guarantee you filled Lila’s head with all these rebellious ideas about defying family obligations."

Claire had always attacked Katarina with vicious personal insults, and my wife typically brushed them off with aristocratic indifference. But something was fundamentally different today.

"You evil witch, you don’t speak to me like that!" Katarina lunged forward with lightning speed and seized Claire by her perfectly styled hair, yanking it with the violent intensity of someone shaking out a filthy carpet.

"Help me! Someone get this psychotic woman off me!" Claire screamed, thrashing desperately to free herself while Katarina maintained her iron grip, shaking Claire’s head back and forth like a predator with cornered prey.

I rushed forward and wrapped my arms around Katarina’s waist, attempting to pull her back from the fray. "Lucinda, let go of her!" She ignored me completely, continuing to shake Claire’s head with disturbing vigor. I pulled harder, stepping backward, but Katarina simply dragged Claire along with us across the courtyard stones.

"For God’s sake, Lucinda, release her before you actually tear her head from her shoulders!" I pleaded, and finally my wife gave one last, devastatingly powerful yank before opening her clenched fists.

When Katarina uncurled her fingers, they were filled with Claire’s torn hair. She stared at her own hands with a smile of pure triumph. Claire, witnessing this trophy collection, transformed into an enraged animal. Her expensive clothes were completely disheveled, her hair resembling a disaster zone. She charged toward Katarina with murderous intent, and I barely managed to position myself between them as a human shield. Claire slammed into me with her full weight as I grabbed her wrists to restrain her.

"You’re leaving this property immediately," I said in the low, controlled voice that commanded respect in our circles. "And the next time you encounter my wife anywhere in this city, you’d better cross to the opposite side of the street."

"Get out of my way, Beckett, or I’ll claw that handsome face of yours to ribbons," Claire threatened, her eyes wild with rage.

Her words triggered a vivid memory from the past. Claire had once tried to strike Lila over some trivial family matter. When I had stepped in to defend my sister, Claire had raked her nails across my face, leaving deep, bloody scratches. Then she had run to my father claiming I had attempted to assault her and she was merely protecting herself. That incident was the final straw that drove me to move in with my grandparents. Despite my desire to shield Lila from Claire’s toxicity, I couldn’t remain in that poisonous household any longer.

The memory ignited a white-hot fury in my chest.

"Try it, Claire," I challenged, my voice carrying the deadly calm that made men in our world very nervous. "I’m not a defenseless child anymore. Touch me, and you’ll discover exactly how much I’ve learned about consequences." I stared her down with eyes blazing, and I felt her wrists trembling slightly in my grip.

"Get out of here, Claire," my father commanded with the authority of a man accustomed to absolute obedience. "From this point forward, we communicate exclusively through our attorneys."

Claire gave a contemptuous snort and glanced over her shoulder at my father. "I’m going to take everything you have, Nathaniel," she threatened before turning back to face me directly. "And that includes your precious territory, Beckett. I’ll walk into that organization as the rightful owner, and you’ll regret the day you banned me and threw me out like some street trash."

Claire wrenched her wrists free from my grasp, bent down to retrieve her fallen designer shoe, and limped toward her car parked carelessly on the sidewalk. Her hair stuck out in chaotic directions as she drove off with screaming tires.

I grasped Katarina’s shoulders firmly and looked directly into her eyes; she was smiling with unmistakable satisfaction.

"Katarina, what was that performance really about?" I asked quietly. "You never let Claire provoke you like that. What changed?"

"DNA," Katarina whispered, displaying the hair clutched in her palm. Only then did understanding dawn - she had wanted Claire’s hair for the paternity test we had discussed in private.

My father hadn’t overheard our exchange; he was staring thoughtfully into the distance, dismissing the remaining spectators with subtle gestures. I guided Katarina inside and moved our car into the secured garage. My father waited by the entrance; I decided the boxes in our trunk could wait until later.

"What happened with Lucinda out there?" my father asked as I approached. "She never pays attention to Claire’s theatrical nonsense, but today she fought like a woman possessed."

"Dad, honestly I’m not entirely certain," I lied smoothly. "I think she’s finally tired of watching how Claire treats Lila and lost her composure seeing this scene unfold. Or perhaps it’s just hormonal changes." I tried to sound convincing, though internally I wanted to laugh at the chaotic but strangely satisfying situation.

"It was quite the spectacle," my father admitted, scratching his head thoughtfully. "I should apologize to Lucinda later."

"Dad, absolutely none of this mess is your fault," I reassured him, placing my hand on his shoulder as we walked inside together.

Katarina came downstairs wearing a serene smile, looking nothing like someone who had just confronted the family’s most dangerous enemy and successfully extracted a handful of her hair as evidence.