The people who had been mocking Ste just moments before now looked thoroughly embarrassed, their faces flushing and paling by turns. The awkward mix of emotions on disy almost would have been amusing under other circumstances.


    "Ms. Cameron."


    A gentle voice suddenly broke the tense silence that had settled over the room. Rachel had appeared at some point behind the crowd, her presence calm yetmanding.


    "If there''s something to discuss, perhaps it can wait until after the event," she said smoothly. "It''s rare for Mr. Walden to visit Neo-Vespera and join us for a music exchange. Let''s not waste valuable time on personal arguments."


    She nced around, her tone lightly admonishing. "We''re all guests here. Let''s not make a scene and ruin our host''s event. After all, it was just a bit of teasing, nothing more."


    People quickly seized the opportunity to agree, eager to deflect the me.


    "Right, it was just a joke. No need to take things so seriously."


    "This is a music event, not a ce to air out personal grudges. If there are issues, take them outside-you''re disrupting everyone else."


    "Let''s be gracious, shall we? Blowing this out of proportion helps no one."


    After all, they''d all gone along with Jasper in mocking Ste earlier. If apologies were demanded, they''d have to be included as well, and who wanted to make a public spectacle of themselves like that?


    As Rachel watched the crowd rally behind her, a barely perceptible smile tugged at the corners of her lips. Ste really was hopelessly na?ve. Hadn''t she heard of the saying, "You can''t punish everyone for the same crime"? If Ste had just demanded apologies from Jasper and those two foreigners, the rest would have stayed silent. But she wanted everyone involved to apologize-what foolishness. Ste turned to Rachel, her voice cold and clear. "They say birds of a feather flock together. With Jasper''s warped sense of right and wrong, it''s no surprise he''s friends with homewreckers like Ms. Pearce."


    Rachel''s eyes went wide in shock. "You-you''re making things up!"


    "I''m not," Ste''s voice rose,


    unwavering. "Shall we ask Haynes


    himself if he divorced me because of you? I still have our signed I


    agreement. I can show it to


    everyone here if you''d like.


    She paused, then added with a pointed smile, "Oh, and I''m sure everyone knows Haynes from Neo-Vespera, CEO of The O''Brien Group. Hard to find anyone who doesn''t."


    Ste met Rachel''s shrinking gaze, her expression unflinching. "Of course, if you think I''m ndering you, you''re wee to call the police."


    Rachel went pale as cold sweat broke out along her hairline. She''d only meant to throw a few barbs while Ste was down; who would''ve thought the tables would turn so quickly? Worse, Ste clearly had evidence. With so many acimed musicians from all over the world gathered for today''s event, she couldn''t afford to let Ste ruin her reputation.


    Now, Rachel regretted ever opening her mouth. Ste had seized the perfect


    moment and was refusing to let go.


    "Ste, what''s going on?"


    Noah, who had just stepped into the


    room, immediately noticed the


    crowd gathered around Ste. He frowned, concern etched across his face, and made his way over. Mr. Walden and Haynes followed close behind, drawing even more attention from onlookers.


    Without hesitation, Ste nced at the group, then pressed y on a recording on her phone. The conversation from earlier yed out clearly for everyone to


    hear.


    Words alone were never enough-Jasper was slippery and always had an excuse. So Ste decided to let the recording speak for itself, leaving no room for denial.


    As the voices echoed through the room, Haynes''s eyes flickered in surprise when


    he heard Ste responding in wless German. He raised his eyebrows, ncing at her with new interest.


    She speaks German too? And so fluently?