I stood up, my voice trembling with suppressed rage. "Jasmine Maxwell, watch your mouth. Do you have any idea who these people are?"
She scoffed. "Please. Aren't they just your deadbeat parents?"
She looked me up and down with a sneer. "It's bad enough you rely on being 'Tony darling's' wife to survive, but now you're dragging these two old leeches here to mooch off him on New Year's? Not a chance."
Before I could retort, she slapped a receipt against my chest.
"Tony darling opened this restaurant for me," she hissed. "You broke dogs better not think about getting a free ride today."
I snatched the bill from the air. A bitter laugh escaped me.
Eighty-eight thousand dollars.
For a table of frozen slop.
I didn't waste another second with her. I pulled out my phone and dialed Anthony Sanchez.
"The lapdog you keep is currently extorting your parents at the restaurant," I said the moment the line connected. "How do you intend to handle this?"
——
A pause. Then Anthony's voice came through, dripping with ice.
"Jasmine already briefed me. You have some nerve, Violet Henson. You brought your parents to Bay City without telling me, and now you're trying to scam a free meal?"