Irina's POV
Ashley spotted her chance and struck. "What are you doing here?" she hissed, moving toward me like a hunter closing in on prey. "Trying to worm your way back to Theo? Leave now before I call security to drag you out."
Her palm flew toward my face, but I caught her wrist mid-strike.
I barely applied pressure, yet Ashley's agonized scream and the way she collapsed suggested otherwise.
"My wrist... You bitch, you shattered my wrist," Ashley whimpered, clutching her arm like it was broken glass. "Somebody get security. She's attacking me."
Murmurs of disapproval rippled through the gathered crowd. The power dynamic was obvious—Ashley Bernard, beloved charity princess, against some nobody. The story practically told itself.
"Isn't that the scholarship girl the Bernard family helped out? She's desperate and trying to get close to Mr. Cross?"
"She struck first, then bullied Ms. Bernard. How disgusting."
