Stella squinted, sure Jewel had combined send the ladder back down with pass the torch but didn’t care to correct her.

In return, Jewel smiled softly. “You know what I mean. Really, I woke up and I had an idea.”

Stella laughed. “Look at us: a pair of simpletons with simple answers.”

“The simplest solution is usually the correct one,” Jewel said, laughing too. “We’re quite the pair, Stella At All Times.”

“Don’t tell my parents that,” she joked. “What will you do now that you’ve given away a sizable chunk of your empire?”

“Disappear again. Give school a second chance. Prepare for the future.”

“By doing what?”

Jewel grinned. “I’ve always found it interesting how actors somehow manage to make the seamless transition to becoming politicians. The world isn’t going to change itself.”

“How noble. I’ll look forward to your scandalous headlines once your past comes back to haunt you.”

“I’ll be ready.”

“Oh, but before you pull a Houdini? I will absolutely make sure Nicole’s and Harlow’s therapy bills are forwarded directly to you for putting black bags over their heads and marching them through your house at paintball gunpoint. Among other things.”

Harlow needed therapy and lots of it. The second she agreed to go in that coffin, her happily ever after vanished. The story was never going to end well for her, no matter which path she took.

When she had told Harlow the plan to include using the livestreams against Ethan and Olive as “evidence” she didn’t object, saying, “If we can’t destroy them for real, might as well do what we can.” Jewel had been right—they knew they would be disqualified. Thank God for Luna and Alex’s kindness. At least Harlow would be going home with some money instead of just trauma and bad memories.

“Go away,” Nicole said. She and Luna had appeared on the other side of the table.

Jewel laughed at her. “This is still my house. Watch yourself.”

“We need to tell Stella something. In private,” Luna said. “Please?”

“For you? Sure,” Jewel said, standing to leave. “Goodbye for now, Stella At All Times. I’ve changed my mind about that rain check.”

Stella nodded in acknowledgment. Rain checks could be leveraged for more time. Her goal had been lofty at best, she knew that now. A puzzle like Jewel could never be solved with a single sit-down interview, or even an exclusive series that lasted three days.

Her essay about Golden Weekend would be everything, told in a way only Stella could. But the small snippets of Jewel Van Hanen she’d managed to capture would never paint a full picture. Because Jewel was ever unknowable by design.

Jewel said, “Luna? Come find me when you’re done.”

“Okay,” she agreed brightly. After sitting, she asked Stella, “How come you look so tired?”

Nicole answered for her, “Because scheming is hard work.”