Chapter 123: The Price of a Name

“How dare you command me,” Miriam hissed.

The words tasted like bile in her mouth. She stood there, dripping with cold, sticky coffee, her expensive coat ruined, her hair plastered to her skull, and this woman, this nobody in a grease-stained apron, was giving her orders. It was a violation of the natural order of things. Miriam was a Dubois. She was born to give commands, not to take them from women who scrubbed counters for a living.

She stared at Vanessa. Her hands were shaking, not just from the cold liquid soaking into her skin, but from a rage so pure and hot it felt like it was melting her insides.

“What makes you think you can be ordering me around?” Miriam asked, her voice rising to a shriek that cracked at the end. “You are nothing but a low life! You are a servant! You exist to serve people like me! I offer you a fortune, a fortune that could change your miserable life, and you dare to stand there and tell me what to do?”

Miriam’s chest heaved. She wanted to reach across the counter and slap the smug look off Vanessa’s face. She wanted to hurt her. She wanted to remind her of her place.

“I am Miriam Dubois!” she screamed, the sound tearing at her throat. “Do you know what that means? It means I can buy and sell you ten times over before breakfast! It means I don't take orders from trash!”

Vanessa just watched her. She didn't flinch. She didn't look scared. She looked bored.

Then, Vanessa laughed.

It started as a low rumble in her chest and exploded into a loud, cackling sound that echoed off the tiled walls of the empty diner. It was a laugh full of genuine amusement, as if Miriam was the funniest clown she had ever seen.

“Oh, honey,” Vanessa gasped, wiping a tear from her eye. “You really don't get it, do you?”

Vanessa leaned over the counter, her face hardening. The laughter died as quickly as it had started, replaced by a cold, dead stare.

“You think your name matters here?” Vanessa asked softly. “You think the rats outside care if you are a Dubois? You think the bullet that killed Freddie cared about his bank account? You are in my world now, princess. And in my world, you are just a girl with a wet coat and a loud mouth.”

Vanessa picked up the rag again and started wiping a spot on the counter that was already clean. She didn't look at Miriam anymore.

“If you are done screaming, you can leave,” Vanessa said dismissively. “Because I won't say a word again. You have my terms. Money first. Then talk. If you don't like it, there is the door. Don't let it hit you on the way out.”

Miriam stood frozen. She couldn't believe it. She was being dismissed. She was being treated like a nuisance.

She looked at the door. She could leave. She could walk out right now and save her money. She could go home, take a hot shower, and forget this nightmare happened.

But if she left, she lost.

If she left, she would never know who Norah was. She would never have the weapon she needed to destroy her. She would have to watch Ethan marry the acclaimed innocent Norah while she stood on the sidelines, a failure.

The thought was unbearable. Losing Ethan was not an option. Being humiliated by Norah was not an option.

Miriam looked back at Vanessa. The waitress was humming to herself, ignoring Miriam completely. It was infuriating. It was maddening.

“You are stupid,” Miriam spat out. “You are so stupid. You are throwing away twenty thousand dollars because of your pride.”

Vanessa didn't answer. She just kept wiping.

Miriam’s hand tightened around her phone. She hated this. She hated giving in. But she had no choice. She was trapped.

With a growl of frustration, Miriam looked down at her screen. The banking app was still open. The numbers were still there.

20,000.00

It was a lot of money. It was more than some people made in a year. It was a new car. It was a down payment on a house. And she was about to give it to a woman who had thrown coffee on her.

“Fine!” Miriam shouted. “Fine! You want the money? Take it! I hope you choke on it!”

She pressed the button.

Send.

The screen buffered for a second. Then a green checkmark appeared. Transfer Successful.

Miriam felt a physical pain in her chest. It wasn't just the money. It was the surrender. She had just paid a ransom to a nobody.

Inside the diner, a phone chimed.

It was a loud, cheerful sound coming from Vanessa’s pocket. Ding-ding!

Vanessa stopped wiping. She reached into her apron pocket and pulled out a cracked smartphone. She looked at the screen.

Her eyes widened. Just for a fraction of a second, the mask slipped. She saw the number.

Credit Alert: $20,000.00

Vanessa’s heart beat so fast. It hammered against her ribs. She had never seen that many zeros in her account at one time. It was real. The crazy rich girl had actually done it.

She looked up at Miriam. She tried to keep her face neutral, but her hands were trembling slightly. She shoved the phone back into her pocket.

Miriam was watching her like a hawk. She saw the look. She saw the confirmation.

“You got it,” Miriam said, her voice dripping with venom. “I saw your face. The money is there. Twenty thousand dollars. You are rich now, trash. Now talk.”

Miriam stepped closer to the counter. She was filled with the anger of spending such cash on an almost aged lady in her late thirties. She felt robbed. She felt used.

“Give me reasonable information!” Miriam shouted. “I paid your price! Now tell me! Who is she! What is her name! Where does she come from!”

Miriam slammed her hand on the counter.

“Talk!”

Vanessa looked at Miriam. She looked at the desperate, wet, angry woman standing in front of her. And she felt a surge of power.

This woman was weak. She was broken. She was willing to pay anything.

Vanessa smiled. It was a slow, cruel smile that didn't reach her eyes.

She started to laugh again.

“You think twenty thousand is enough?” Vanessa asked, her voice light and teasing.

Miriam’s jaw dropped. “What?”

“I said,” Vanessa chuckled, leaning back against the shelves of coffee mugs. “You think twenty thousand is enough to buy a secret that kills people? You think my life is that cheap?”

“We had a deal!” Miriam shrieked. “I paid you! You said money first!”

“I said pay the toll,” Vanessa corrected her. “That was just the entry fee. That was the price to get me to listen to you.”

Vanessa’s face hardened.

“Double it.”

The words hung in the air like smoke.

Miriam stared at her. She couldn't process it. Double it?

“You want… forty thousand dollars?” Miriam whispered.

“That’s right,” Vanessa said calmly. “Forty thousand. Total. You sent twenty. Now send twenty more.”

Miriam flared in anger. The rage was blinding. It was a white-hot explosion in her brain. She had been scammed. She had been played.

“No!” Miriam screamed. “No! You thief! You liar! I am not giving you another cent!”

She stood up, kicking the stool over. It clattered loudly on the floor.

“Refund me!” Miriam demanded. “Send it back! Right now! I want my money back! If you don't send it back, I will call the police! I will tell them you stole from me! I will have you arrested!”

Vanessa didn't flinch at the threat of the police. She just laughed harder.

“Call them,” Vanessa said. “Go ahead. Tell them you came to the slums to buy illegal information and you got hustled. Tell them you bribed a witness. See who they believe. The crying rich girl or the hardworking waitress?”

“I want my money!” Miriam screeched. She reached over the counter, trying to grab Vanessa.

Vanessa moved fast.

She grabbed a steak knife that was sitting on the cutting board. She didn't raise it to strike. She just held it. She held it casually, letting the light catch the sharp, serrated edge.

But it wasn't the knife that was scary. It was Vanessa’s voice.

“Refund?” Vanessa asked. Her tone was cold. Deadly. “You think this is a department store? There are no refunds here, princess.”

Miriam froze. She looked at the knife. Then she looked at Vanessa’s eyes.

Vanessa looked at her with a look that said she had nothing to lose.

“Maybe you don't want to leave with your beautiful legs,” Vanessa said softly.

She let her gaze drop down to Miriam’s expensive shoes, then back up to her face.

“Especially her eyes,” Vanessa whispered. “Those pretty, expensive eyes. It would be a shame if something happened to them. It would be a shame if you never saw Ethan Malcovich again because you couldn't see anything at all.”

Vanessa scared Miriam to death.

The threat was real. It wasn't a social threat. It wasn't a lawsuit. It was physical. It was violent.

Miriam realized where she was. She was alone in a diner in the middle of the night with a woman who hated her. A woman who had watched a man die and didn't blink.

The fight went out of Miriam. The anger drained away, leaving only cold, shaking fear.

She slowly lowered her hands. She stepped back from the counter. Her legs felt weak.

Miriam sat down in fear. She righted the stool and collapsed onto it. She felt small. She felt helpless.

“You… you wouldn't,” Miriam stammered.

“Try me,” Vanessa said. She put the knife down, but she didn't move away. “Send the money. Or leave. But if you leave, you leave with nothing. And if you stay and scream, well… accidents happen in the kitchen.”

Miriam looked at her phone. Her hands were shaking so bad she could barely hold it.

Twenty thousand more.

It was extortion. It was a robbery.

But she had already paid twenty. If she walked away now, she lost that money for nothing. She had to finish it. She was in too deep.

“Okay,” Miriam whispered. Her voice was broken. “Okay. I will send it.”

She told Vanessa that she will send it in a soft tone. A defeated tone.

She opened the app again. She typed in the numbers. Her tears dripped onto the screen.

20,000.00

She pressed send.

And Miriam sent the money immediately which made Vanessa smile.

The phone in Vanessa’s pocket chimed again.

Vanessa didn't check it this time. She knew it was there. She smiled. It was a real smile this time. A smile of victory. She had just made forty thousand dollars in ten minutes. She could leave this town. She could start over.

She looked at Miriam. The girl was a wreck. She was destroyed.

Miriam looked up. She didn't have the energy to shout anymore. She just looked at Vanessa with pleading eyes.

She didn't speak. She just waited. She had paid the toll. She had paid double the toll.

Vanessa got it. She nodded slowly. She was a woman of her word, in her own twisted way. She had squeezed the lemon dry. Now she would give the girl what she wanted. It didn't matter anyway. If Miriam knew the name, it wouldn't change anything. The woman in the photo was dangerous. Miriam was just walking into a bigger fire.

Vanessa leaned over the counter. She lowered her voice to a whisper.

“You want to get reasonable information from me," Vanessa asked.

Miriam nodded. She held her breath.

Vanessa looked around the empty diner, as if the walls had ears. Then she looked back at Miriam.

Vanessa paused for effect. She wanted this to hurt.

“Aria Delaney.”

The name hung in the air.

Miriam blinked. She repeated the name in her head. Aria Delaney.

Miriam looked at her in confusion.

“Whose Aria Delaney?”