Can’t Win Me Back by Ginger Sue

Chapter 1229
Meanwhile, Zoe experienced dizziness in the aftermath of the slap. The taste of blood lingered in her mouth. She grimaced from the excruciating pain in her ear. Due to the pain, she abandoned her attempts at maintaining composure in the public eye.

"Ouch! My ear! It hurts!" After being slapped twice on the right cheek, her ears rang, causing her to yelp in pain.

"Zoe! My dear Zoe!" Cornelius wailed and rushed toward his granddaughter without carrying his walking stick. His eyes widened in shock as he tried to help her up from the floor, but she was too weak to get up after Landon's powerful slaps.

Sitting on the ground and looking frail, she sobbed. "Grandpa, my ears hurt. I can't hear anything in my right ear."

"What did you say, Zoe?" Cornelius was frightened. Despite raising his voice by her ear, she couldn't hear him very well. Unfurling a trembling hand from her right ear, she gasped at the sight of blood on her palm.

She cried out, "My ear! I'm going deaf!"

All the Harpers' bodyguards and assistants rushed up to her, calling the doctors and the ambulance in a frenzy. Landon, standing aside, observed the chaos emotionlessly, as if an invisible barrier separated him from his family.

Once proud of being Cornelius' grandson, he now felt nothing but shame.

"Landon, are you insane?" Cornelius glowered at him in disbelief, momentarily disoriented by the shock. "Zoe is your only sister and the sole daughter of your parents! How could you hurt her?"

Landon sneered. "Dad's not around anymore. As her brother, don't you think I should be the one to instill some morals into her?"

The guests were surprised by Landon's declaration, which sounded pretty convincing.

"Y-You brat!" Cornelius cussed him out, "Zoe is my granddaughter! I'm still in power in the Harper Group. Do you have any respect for me when you hit your sibling in front of my eyes?"

"Of course I respect you," Landon replied with a chilling look." That's why I stopped after slapping her. Otherwise, I would have done worse."

The guests fell into a hushed silence.

Jonah stared silently at Landon. Before this, he had regarded Landon as a playboy and a loyal friend of Jasper's. However, he now saw Landon in a new light.

He was grateful that Landon courageously went against his family to teach Zoe a lesson for Alyssa's sake. At the same time, he felt guilty for having looked down on Landon in the past.

Hearing Landon's threat, Zoe trembled and clung tighter to her grandpa. Cornelius choked with anger, stammered, "Y-You-"

Javier, who reveled in the unfolding events, hated it when Landon intervened. He reluctantly assumed the role of peacemaker. "Landon, Zoe is your sister, after all. You shouldn't have said that. It reflects poorly on you and damages your relationship with your family. It's a lose-lose situation."