The Story of Victoria Strife

Chapter 19: Breaking Point

The air felt thick with tension, the weight of revelations still hanging heavy over the group. Victoria's heart pounded, her emotions a storm she could no longer contain. Her gaze locked onto her father—Edowin Strife—who stood there, his expression full of regret and conflicting emotions. Every word he had spoken felt like a dagger to her chest, a reminder of the years of torture, manipulation, and lies. Years she could never get back.

Without warning, Victoria stepped forward, her fists clenched tightly at her sides. "You think you can justify all of this?!" she yelled, her voice trembling with rage and heartbreak.

Edowin's face remained stoic, his eyes pleading for understanding, but Victoria was beyond reasoning. She felt her body moving before her mind even registered the action. With a swift motion, her fist collided with his face. The sound of the impact echoed through the quiet yard as her knuckles connected with his jaw.

Edowin staggered backward, caught off guard by the force of her punch. He fell to the ground, one hand clutching his face while the other braced him against the dirt. His expression twisted in a mixture of pain and shock.

The Turks immediately sprang into action, their weapons drawn in a heartbeat. Reno had his electro-mag rod poised and crackling with energy, while Rude, Tseng, and Elena aimed their pistols at Victoria without hesitation.

"You don't wanna do this, sweetheart," Reno warned, his usual laid-back demeanour replaced with cold calculation.

In response, Jesse, Biggs, and Wedge moved forward, their weapons aimed directly at the Turks. The once-peaceful moment had erupted into a stand-off, and all it would take was one wrong move to spark an all-out battle.

"I swear, if any of you touch her—" Biggs began, his voice low and filled with threat.

"Stand down," Edowin groaned from the ground, still clutching his face. He slowly rose to his feet, wiping blood from the corner of his mouth. "All of you."

Victoria stood there, her chest heaving as tears welled in her eyes. The sight of her father—the man who had allowed her to endure such horror—crumpled before her only fuelled her anger. The years of anguish, pain, and confusion surged to the surface all at once.

"You abandoned me," she spat, her voice cracking under the weight of her emotions. "You left me to rot in that lab, to suffer. You let them experiment on me like I was nothing. You let them break me!"

Edowin's face contorted with regret, but his words were hollow, useless now. "Victoria—"

"Don't say my name!" she screamed, her body trembling as tears streamed down her cheeks. "You knew what they were doing, and you did nothing! You watched it happen! How could you?!"

Her voice broke as she tried to catch her breath, the overwhelming surge of pain and betrayal too much to hold inside any longer. The façade she had kept up for so long was crumbling.

The Turks watched silently, guns still drawn, but now hesitant. Even they could feel the raw, overwhelming emotion in the air.

"Let's go," Victoria choked out, turning away from the man she once called her father. She couldn't stand to look at him any longer. As she stormed off, the remnants—Kadaj, Yazoo, and Loz—moved silently behind her, their faces unreadable as they followed her back to the safe haven.

As Victoria walked away, Cloud, Vincent, and the rest of AVALANCHE remained behind, weapons still drawn as they watched the Shinra group carefully.