"Hello? How is this all my fault? Excuse me, you were right there with me, saying the same stuff!"


    "Oh, please, you started it! My dad was right-you should never get too close to someone like you. You''re just trouble waiting to happen!"


    The argument blew up in seconds. The two women were yelling so loudly the security team came rushing over and hustled them straight out the door before they could actually start swinging.


    ...


    Meanwhile, Ronald was leading Ste out, looking like he''d just swallowed a lemon.


    Old Mr. Norton, worried things might spiral, quickly pulled Ronald aside and started whispering exnations, trying to smooth things over.


    Yvonne tugged Ste to the side and grumbled, "Those two witches-if this wasn''t the Norton family estate, I''d have given them a piece of my mind. Maybe even more."


    Ste smirked. "Honestly? You basically did. You just about tore them to pieces back there."


    Yvonne shot her a look. "Not bad, Star. I guess my lessons haven''t gone to waste, huh?"


    She''d seen everything-Yvonne''s wild kick, the ss of punch thrown right in that woman''s face. Back when Idris told her how Ste had clocked Jaxon and Yorick back in Portis City, she barely believed it. She couldn''t even picture Ste throwing a punch.


    But now? She''d seen it with her own eyes.


    "That was badass," Yvonne said, beaming. "Not like the sweet, soft Star I remember."


    Bzzz, bzzz. Yvonne''s phone started vibrating just as she was gearing up to shower Ste with morepliments.


    "Hang on, gotta take this," she said, stepping aside but not too far-she''d only gone to grab some snacks before those two drama queens showed up.


    As Yvonne answered her call, Ste spotted L making her way over. That guy L was with earlier-Dandy-was nowhere in sight. Ste knew him, but she had no idea why L would know a guy like Dandy.


    ...


    Five minutester, Ste and L stood in the garden by the mansion''s grand entrance. L turned to her, voice low.


    "I took all of Jaxon''s money."


    Ste just shrugged. "Okay."


    She couldn''t care less. None of that had anything to do with her.


    "Want a cut of it?"


    Ste blinked. "Wait, what?"


    Was L seriously offering her a share?


    L met Ste''s stunned gaze. "Rx, I know your family''s treated you like crap."


    "Those two years you went back, they didn''t even bother to send you grocery money. Gave it all to Urs instead."


    Ste looked away, not really feeling anything about it. Maybe she''d never cared to begin with. To her, they''d always been outsiders. What did it matter what outsiders did?


    "How do you know they treated me badly?" Ste finally asked.


    "Jaxon," L replied, rolling her eyes. "Every time he came to The Blue Raven, he''d run his mouth with his idiot friends, whining about how you were so difficult and how your family had to punish you, h h."


    The way L said Jaxon''s name, full of contempt you could tell she never liked


    him. No wonder she''d dumped him so fast.


    Ste cleared her throat. "So, um, the baby-is it really Jaxon''s?"


    "Of course it is! Why else would I squeeze that much money out of him? I might


    be many things, but I have standards, okay?"


    Ste went silent. "Uh... standards?"


    She felt a little lost. Maybe it was the pregnancy brain, but her thoughts were all scrambledtely. Especially with L going on about


    standards-Ste could barely keep up.  s?novel