Chapter 51

After a while.

Once she had calmed down a little, Mara dialed Ethan’s number. He picked up almost immediately, his voice warm and gentle, “Mara, what’s wrong?”

“Ethan, can you come over today?” Mara’s voice trembled with a hint of tears. “That Cassandra is here again. I have no idea what she’s up to.

And she even…”

“What did she do to you?” Ethan’s tone sharpened with concern.

“She… she called me a… a bastard,” Mara sobbed softly, her voice filled with misery. “And now she’s staying for lunch.”

Ethan muttered a curse under his breath, then quickly shifted his tone to something comforting. “Babe, I’ve got something on right now, but I’ll get there as soon as I can. Don’t cry, okay?”

After hanging up, Mara stared at her phone, her fingers clenched tightly around it, her expression cold and twisted with hate.

By noon.

Linda and her husband had just gotten back from the office when they were told Cassandra would be staying for lunch—