Chapter 455
Grace let out a cold laugh. She turned to Isabel and sneered, “Isabel, you mess things up and then try to pin the blame on me. Isn’t that a bit ridiculous?”
“You…” Isabel bristled, but as much as she hated to admit it, Grace had a point.
She just didn’t want to acknowledge it.
Grace continued, “Honestly, I’ve never met anyone as clueless as you. If you went through all the trouble to lure Fidelia out, you should’ve washed your hands of it afterward. You could’ve played the innocent victim-just another casualty-rather than hovering around, terrified someone else would botch things.”
“If something really happened to Fidelia and you kept your nose clean, Effie would be the one in trouble right now. Think about that for a second.”
Every word landed like a knife, and Isabel found herself almost speechless from the sting.
“Grace, do you really think you’re blameless in all this? Aren’t you afraid I’ll expose what you’ve done online?”
Grace just laughed a low, dismissive sound that made Isabel’s skin crawl.
“What exactly have I done? If you’ve got evidence, by all means, show it to me,” Grace replied coolly.
Isabel had nothing. She knew it. She hated herself for it.
Grace had dug this hole for her from the start, and she’d been foolish enough to walk right into it.
“Maybe you should try to keep a lower profile these days, Isabel,” Grace advised, her voice icy.
Isabel bit back her frustration. “Shut up! Mind your own business-and go take care of your crippled husband.”
That hit a nerve. Without warning, Grace hung up.
For a split second, Isabel savored what felt like a small victory, a sly smile tugging at her lips.
But the satisfaction faded fast; her smile looked more like a grimace.
Effie’s phone buzzed with yet another message from Fidelia:
*Effie, want to go shopping with me?*
Several similar texts had already piled up.
Effie was growing more and more irritated by Fidelia’s relentless “friendly” messages.
Shirley, sitting nearby, offered, “Why don’t you just block her?”
Effie shook her head. “Can’t do that.”
She knew from experience that even ignoring people could get her accused of who-knows-what. Last time, Marcia had gotten chewed out by Bancroft Etheridge, but who could say Marcia wouldn’t snap again?
“Effie.”
She thought she was imagining things, but there was Fidelia’s voice-right there
in the café near her office.
Effie looked up. Sure enough, Fidelia was standing in front of her.
Effie was speechless.
She set her fork down and eyed Fidelia. “Don’t you have class? Or are you just that bored?”
Fidelia shrugged. “Nope, no class this afternoon. I want to go shopping, and you’re coming with me.”
Effie sighed. “No, I have to work.”
Fidelia pouted. “Why work? Can’t your brother take care of you?”
In Fidelia’s mind, her own mother had been supported by her father for years, and
no one ever complained.
Effie replied, “I work because I get paid.”
“Your brother’s money could last you a lifetime,” Fidelia pointed out.
Effie raised an eyebrow. Of course Fidelia thought that way-she’d grown up with
a silver spoon in her mouth.
But Effie was different. She’d learned the value of money early on.
“It’s his money, not mine,” Effie said, “What
only at
Learn myself is real. Money els real when it’s in your own hands.”
Fidelia pouted again. “So you really can’t come shopping with me?”
Effie shook her head. “Listen, princess, I already told you I have to work.”
Fidelia sighed dramatically. “Fine.
Come shopping with me now, andet
Wt’s time for your shift, )
gab
swoo Korvet
can
to work.”