Chapter 381 381 The War Under The Table
Clara, who had been enjoying Diana's flustered expression, was immediately caught off guard as well and shook her head in a similar manner to Diana's stutters.
Zach shook his head slightly thinking that he couldn't understand women even after he had already been with three of them. Their thoughts were still too far away from him.
As such, he turned all his attention towards his plate that was still brimming with food, thanks to the caring consideration of Diana who was more focused on him than her own plate.
Even though Diana had somehow managed to steer Zach's attention away from her, she was far from done with Clara who had chosen to use violence first.
In retaliation for Clara's kick that left her leg in stinging pain, she decided to return one with all the strength in her body.
Unlike Clara, whose physical reach was constrained by her limited stature, Diana had the advantage of wielding her body's full strength without such limitations.
In the moment of retaliation, she harnessed the entirety of her physical power, utilizing her complete range and might to deliver a forceful response.
Determination and a surge of intense emotions fueled her action as she reciprocated with a swift and powerful kick, propelled by the strength born from a mix of pain and resolve.
Even as Diana threw her entire force behind the retaliation, she harbored the realization that her strength might not be adequate to make Clara flinch given her inhuman physical body. She clearly understood the stark contrast between their physical strengths; after all, she had seen Clara punch a hole in the ground with a single punch before.
But she also knew that her kick, though possibly insufficient to physically affect Clara, carried a very different weight in Clara's eyes. She was acutely aware that it possessed the potential to stir up Clara's emotions and aggravate her in a significant way; and that it was more than enough to royally piss Clara off.
And Diana was betting on a violent outburst from an impulsive woman like her.
Clara was physically strong but that didn't mean she didn't feel any pain at all from the kick. Still pain was just an excuse to cover up the frustration welling up inside her.
She couldn't bring herself to accept the fact that Diana had gotten ahead of her as well even though just a few days ago, she had given Diana an earful about it and had dissed her for not being able to gather up courage to confess her love for Zach.
Diana's retaliation had come too early and had hit her hard. She couldn't take it sitting back as Diana rubbed her victory in her face. She needed to fight back somehow but the only way she knew was a violent one. She couldn't be further from the dirty politics, or the mind games other women excelled in. She was the type to display her feelings on her face after all.
As such, she reached under the table with her leg and struck Diana's calf once again with the bottom of her heel, sending a bout of agonizing pain coursing through the latter's nerves.
Diana whelped in pain. The pain was so agonizing that she even forgot that she was sitting beside Zach and screamed unconsciously as she rubbed the portion of her leg that was struck in an extremely unladylike manner.
Zach was startled to hear her scream and hurriedly held her hand and inquired, "What happened?"
Diana gripped his hand hard to stifle the pain in her leg before returning the favor to Clara in an even more exaggerated manner.
Diana directed her heel to stomp on Clara's right foot with intense force, a calculated action aimed at causing considerable pain. The impact was so forceful that it felt like her heel was drilling into Clara's foot, inflicting an excruciating sensation that elicited a sharp, piercing wail of pain from Clara.
Confused and bewildered, Zach found himself at a loss, unable to comprehend the sudden turn of events. The cacophony of screams from both girls beside him left him utterly perplexed, his mind reeling in an attempt to grasp the abrupt chaos that unfolded before him.
His bewildered thoughts grappled to find a plausible explanation; the only scenario he could fathom where two women would scream simultaneously was if they had come across some kind of insect.
No sooner had the thought come to his mind before he pushed that thought out of his head as Clara wasn't the kind of woman who would scream at the sight of some bug, no matter how nasty. The mental image of Clara swiftly crushing the insect under her foot using her inhuman strength further bolstered his reasoning.
"What happened? Why are you both screaming?" Zach's concern was palpable, etched on his face in evident worry. His genuine worry mirrored in his expression, a reflection of his unease at witnessing the distress of the two women. He found it difficult to meet their pained expressions, the distress evident in their faces, as it added to his own growing anxiety.
"I-I'm sorry, Zach. It's just... a sudden pain. Caught me off guard. I'm alright, really." Diana gritted her teeth and replied, her expression a blend of discomfort and pain, in an effort to play down the situation in front of Zach.
Zach's bewilderment grew as Diana's explanation didn't align with Clara's simultaneous screams.
Thoughts raced through his mind, pondering if there was something wrong with the food or if they had caught a similar disease at the same time that was causing them pain.
However, his doubts cleared once he saw the clear animosity that shone in the eyes of the two girls. Despite Zach watching, they were unwilling to stop trying to kick each other.
The escalation of their conflict continued to intensify, and its impact grew palpable, even to Zach. The table trembled and shifted visibly, a physical manifestation of the growing intensity of their dispute.
In the midst of Zach's attempts to intervene, the mounting tension between the two women reached a breaking point. Clara, overwhelmed by the intensity of the situation, reached a tipping point. With a sudden, unrestrained action, she raised her leg high, disrupting the stability of the table beyond its limit. The resulting imbalance led to a chaotic overturning, sending silverware and food cascading from the tabletop to the floor in a disordered flurry.
Even more shocked than Zach were the two women who thought that their actions had been hidden from Zach's eyes. They were trying to gather their wits about them as they noticed the changing expression on Zach's face.
Previously he had been genuinely concerned about their well-being but the worry and concern was no longer there. Instead, his eyes had grown cold like doused charcoal. Even though they appeared calm, they could catch fire in the blink of an eye. It frightened them somewhat and reminded them of the time when they did something wrong and were afraid of being scolded by their parents.
Zach glanced around, an air of exasperation evident as he brushed off the food that had landed on him, surveying the scene before him.
The scattered and wasted food, once neatly arranged on the table, now lay haphazardly across the floor. The weight of the situation bore heavily on Zach as he processed the mess and the squandered meal. His eyes shifted from the chaos, a mix of frustration and disappointment flickering in his gaze.
Dusting off the remnants of the meal from his clothes, he drew in a deep, measured breath, his exhalation marked by a heavy sigh that conveyed a blend of annoyance and resignation.
With deliberate focus, he redirected his attention toward the two women who appeared visibly guilt-ridden, their expressions belying any attempt to hide their remorse and their minds racing in an attempt to find a suitable excuse for their conflict. They couldn't exactly tell Zach that he was the reason for their conflict.
Zach couldn't help but feel angry at the highly immature and reckless display of conflict without any concern for anything around them.
Clara's impulsivity, while not entirely surprising, was amplified by the stark contrast to Diana's usual rationality. The deviation from their typical behaviors that culminated in a highly immature and reckless conflict left Zach not just frustrated but also disappointed in the two women.
Noticing how Zach's face had hardened, Clara's inner turmoil surged with a mix of regret and frustration. Even though she had promised herself to always keep her impulsive nature in check, she had failed to do so at this moment, which further compounded the guilt she was experiencing.
Regret washed over her for as she berated herself for allowing her emotions to spiral out of control, resulting in a situation that was not her intent at all. She never wanted to cause a scene. She just wanted to teach that smug woman a lesson but resorting to violence had never been her original intention. On the contrary, it had never even crossed her mind while she had still been thinking rationally.
Diana wasn't feeling any different from Clara. Her rational mind struggled to comprehend her involvement in the chaotic display as she couldn't imagine how she had become a part of such a childish dispute.
Both women were wrestling with a wave of emotions, laden with regret and dismay at their unexpected roles in the tumultuous situation but Zach was not intending on letting them get away with it so easily.
He stared at them inquisitively for a few seconds each as if non-verbally telling them that he was still waiting for an explanation.
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