Abby had all but given up hope—until she saw who had just walked in. Her eyes went wide with sudden delight.


    She rushed over. "Star, are you alright?"


    "I''m fine. Just ran into a little trouble," Ste replied, stepping forward. "Sorry I''mte... Did I mess up the show?"


    "No, no, you''re right on time!" Abby said quickly, relief washing over her. "Antoney, Candida, and Marvin are ying together now. I''ll give them a heads-up through the earpiece in a minute.


    Star, you get ready-you''re up soon."


    Ste nodded.


    Abby led her into the dressing room. As she helped Ste into her evening gown, she filled her in on what had happened out front.


    "Antoney just finished his solo. He said tonight''s concert isn''t the charity performance we thought it was. It''s not just a room full of sweet old folks.


    He spotted a lot of unfamiliar faces-even some from the Williams family. Your father and older brother are out there. And... that half-sister of yours."


    A shadow flickered across Ste''s eyes.


    Thinking back to Sherman, what Candida had said about her ex, and the way Jasper Haynes and the others had acted, Ste started to piece things together.


    She''d heard of the Burtons back when she was with the Williams family, of course. But she''d never connected Mr. Burton-the quiet man who ran a shabby old clinic with a faded sign and spent his days surrounded by herbal medicine- with the powerful Burton family at the very top of society.


    After his wife died, Mr. Burton had practically disappeared. Even Aurora had only met him a handful of times.


    Someone from a family like that... Ste simply couldn''t reconcile the two images.


    But time was short, and Abby could only share the essentials, just enough to prepare Ste for what she''d face.


    Ste listened intently, nodding as she took it all in.


    Once she was dressed, Abby nced at the clock-there was still a little time. She couldn''t help but ask, "Star, what happened out there? You vanished for ages."


    "I ran into Sherman. He''s Mr. Burton''s grandson," Ste said.


    Abby let out a shocked gasp. "Sherman? He''s... Mr. Burton''s grandson?!"


    The realization hit her almost instantly.


    "Did he give you trouble again after he saw you?"


    Ste gave a small nod. "Yeah, but don''t worry. I took care of it. Mr. Connolly is handling the rest now."


    Abby blinked. "Handling the rest? What''s left to deal with?"


    "With Sherman''s personality, there''s no way he''d let our concert go off


    without a hitch," Ste sai


    "Instead of waiting for him to


    sabotage us, I figured it was better to make sure he couldn''t cause any more problems."


    Make sure he couldn''t cause any more problems?


    Abby hesitated, lowering her voice. "Star... you didn''t... ''silence'' him, did you?”


    Ste thought about it for a moment. "More or less."


    Abby swallowed, her eyes wide, just about to ask more-when the music from the


    stage signaled the others'' performance was about to end.


    Ste picked up her violin. "I''ll exin everything after the show."


    With that, she strode toward the stage.


    ...


    Out in the audience, Keen watched


    as


    and Mr. Watson


    l.ne


    ed, surprise coloring his face "Wait... so Mom''s really performing tonight?"


    Rachel smiled. "Maybe she wants Mr. Walden to see how much she''s improved."


    Jasper gave a derisive snort. "Her? Perform? Even Marvin''s better than Ste. Has she even been on stage once tonight?"