Chapter 143 *
Scarlett's POV
Viviana Romano was standing about ten feet away. She'd just stepped off the escalator, her arm linked through Zelda's. Both of them were dressed head-to-toe in designer everything—Viviana in a cream Chanel suit, Zelda in a powder-blue dress.
And behind them was Miranda. Viviana's bestie, but honestly? I got the feeling the friendship was pretty one-sided.
My stomach dropped straight through the floor.
Of all the stores in all of Manhattan, these three had to walk into mine.
Viviana's eyes locked onto me with the precision of a guided missile. Then they flicked to Lily. Then to the bracelets. Then back to me.
Her lip curled.
"Look at this." Her voice carried across the entire floor. She wasn't trying to be quiet. She never tried to be quiet. "My daughter can't be bothered to return a single phone call to her own mother, but she has plenty of time to go jewelry shopping with her little friends."
Every customer within earshot turned to look at us.
I felt Lily stiffen beside me. I put my hand on her arm. A signal to stay calm.
"Viviana." I kept my voice neutral. "What a surprise."
"Is it?" Viviana took three steps closer. "I've been calling you for weeks. Your brothers have been calling you. Your father has been calling you."
"I've been busy."
"Too busy for family?" Her eyes narrowed. "But not too busy for this?"
She waved her hand at the jewelry counter. At Lily. At the bracelets.
Zelda stepped forward. The picture of a wounded little sister trying so hard to be brave.
She let out a small sigh. "I wish I had a friend like that," Zelda said quietly. She was looking at the matching bracelets on Lily's wrist and in my hand. "Someone to share things with."
She turned to Viviana with a watery smile. "Actually, Mom... maybe you could buy the set for me and Scarlett? We're sisters, after all. It would mean so much to finally have something that connects us."
Oh, you have got to be kidding me. This manipulative little bitch was actually trying to hijack my bracelet and turn it into some heartwarming sisterhood moment for the audience.
Viviana's face softened instantly. She reached over and squeezed Zelda's hand. "What a beautiful idea, sweetheart."
Then she turned to the saleswoman. Snapped her fingers. Actually snapped them.
"We'll take the pair. Gift-wrap them." She was already pulling her card from her bag. Her eyes swept over me with the magnanimity of a queen tossing coins to beggars. "Consider it a gift, Scarlett. God knows you can't afford them yourself. At least this way you'll have something nice for once."
My blood pressure spiked so hard I could hear my own pulse.
"Excuse me." Lily stepped forward before I could respond. "Those bracelets are best-friend bracelets. For best friends. Which means one is mine and one is Scarlett's. We picked them out together and we were here first."
Viviana looked at Lily the way someone looked at gum stuck to the bottom of their shoe.
"I'm sorry, who are you?"
"I'm Scarlett's friend." Lily didn't flinch. "The person she's actually buying the other bracelet for. So no, your daughter doesn't get to swap in just because you've got a black card."
Viviana let out a short, brittle laugh. "You're turning down a gift worth more than your entire wardrobe so you can buy it yourself? With what money, exactly?"
She shook her head. The condescension was so thick. "This is what I'm talking about." Viviana gestured at Lily, then at me. "No manners. No gratitude. I offer to do something generous and this is the response I get."
I stepped up to the counter. Placed my bank card flat on the glass surface. "Ring them up," I said to the saleswoman. "Both bracelets. My card. Now."
"You ungrateful little—" Viviana's voice rose. "I try to be a mother to you. I offer to buy you something beautiful, something to bring you and your sister closer together, and you throw it back in my face."
She turned to the small audience that had started gathering nearby. Playing to the crowd now. Making sure everyone saw the wounded mother being rejected by her heartless daughter.
"This is what she's like." Viviana pressed a hand to her chest. "I've tried everything. Everything. And she treats me like a stranger."
"Ma'am." The saleswoman's voice was strained. "The other customers were already in the process of purchasing—"
"Do you know who I am?" Viviana's voice dropped to that particular register that meant someone was about to have a very bad day. "My family has a personal shopper account with this store. I spend more here in a month than most people spend in a year."
The saleswoman's smile turned brittle.
"We were here first." I met her eyes without blinking. "These are ours. There's nothing to discuss."
Viviana's jaw tightened. "Fine." She waved a hand. "Why don't we compromise? One bracelet for you and your friend, one for Zelda. Sisters sharing—isn't that what family is supposed to be?"
My skin crawled. "We're buying both."
"Oh, come on." Viviana's voice took on that reasonable, mother-knows-best tone that made me want to put my fist through the glass. "Zelda's been wanting something special. You could at least share."
Zelda chimed in on cue. "It's okay, Mom. Really. Scarlett should have them." She tucked a strand of blonde hair behind her ear. "I don't need anything."
Miranda stepped forward from her spot behind Zelda. "Being a big sister means looking after the younger one." She smiled at me. The kind of smile that had teeth behind it. "It's what families do, Scarlett. Bringing Zelda in—it would mean so much to her."
She tilted her head. Let her eyes drift over me. Down, then back up. "You know, Scarlett..." Her voice got softer. "You look a little thin. Pale, even."
She paused. Let the observation hang in the air.
"After everything you've been through recently, you really should be taking better care of yourself." Her hand drifted to her own stomach in a gesture so subtle most people wouldn't have caught it. "Maybe invest in some prenatal vitamins instead of jewelry, hmm? Your health should come first, sweetheart."
The implication detonated like a grenade in the middle of the store.
Viviana's eyes dropped to my stomach. "What happened with the baby? Did you get rid of it? Or is there some rich old man paying for all of this?" Her voice was loud enough that people three aisles over stopped to stare.
The words hit like bullets. Each one designed to wound. Each one landing exactly where she aimed.
Lily grabbed my arm. "Scar, let's just go—"
"I just want you to be safe, Scarlett," Zelda interrupted. "I've been so worried about you ever since you left home. Whatever's going on... you can tell us."
It was perfect. Surgical. Every word calibrated to reinforce the narrative that Miranda had just built—that I was some naive girl being kept by a wealthy man, making bad decisions, hiding a pregnancy, spiraling out of control.
I could feel the stares. The whispers. Someone behind me had their phone out. I was sure of it.
The public humiliation machine was running at full speed and all three of them were feeding it.
My hand was shaking. Not from fear. From the sheer effort of keeping my composure while every instinct in my body screamed at me to end this.
Viviana was still going. She'd worked herself into a full performance now, gesturing at me, at the store, at the bracelets. Her voice carrying across the entire floor.
"This is what happens when a child has no guidance. No discipline. No mother to—"
I moved.
No warning. No buildup. My hand came up and I slapped Zelda across the face.
The crack echoed through the jewelry department like a gunshot.