“Well then I suppose you’ll just have to trust that they will this time.”

“So you’re really not going to go over to the Portman?”

“I just don’t see the point.”

Colette’s eyes narrowed for a moment. “Oh, I get it. You don’t want me to get back with Carlton, do you?”

“That’s not true.”

“Yes, I see now. You want to punish me, don’t you?”

“I don’t understand—”

“You’re still angry about what happened to you.”

Rachel gave Colette a look of frustration. “I’m not angry at you. I felt sad for you, maybe, but I was never truly angry.”

“You felt sad for me?”

“Yes, I felt sad about the whole situation, that things would ever get to a point where Roxanne would feel the need—”

Colette suddenly slammed her fist onto the table. “How dare you feel sad for me! Who do you think you are?”

Rachel jerked back in alarm. “Um, I didn’t mean it as an insult, Colette, I just meant—”

“I took pity on you, Rachel Chu! I thought, here is this poor, pathetic orphan girl from America. I paid for your meals, I invited you to my house, you flew on my plane, I paid for the whole damn Paris trip. I gave you special access to the most exclusive places in the world and introduced you to all my important friends, and you can’t even do one small favor for me?”

My God, she’s losing it. Rachel tried to remain calm. “Colette, I think you are being unreasonable here. I am grateful for all the generosity you have shown Nick and me, but I just don’t think it’s my place to tell Carlton to do anything, especially if it concerns his relationship with you.”

“You’ve never really been my friend, have you? I see you clearly now, in your cheap American clothes and your cheap little jewelry!” Colette spat contemptuously.

Rachel stared at her in shock. Was this really happening? She could see that all the other well-manicured women in the dining room were gawking at them now. The two security guards rushed up behind Rachel’s chair. “Is everything okay, miss?”

“You brought security? Who do you think you are? Oh this is funny, are you trying to imitate me now? Well, I have double the security detail that you do! Roxanne was right about you all along—you’ve been envious of me from day one, and you’ve been plotting to get Carlton away from me and away from his family. This works out perfectly for you, doesn’t it? You want their money all to yourself. Well you can have their pathetic one-point-five billion dollars for all I care—that’s nothing compared to what my family has. You’re never in your life going to come close to touching me! All the money in the world is never going to buy you my style or my taste because you’ll always be common. You’re nothing but a common little bastard!”