Marlene recoiled as if he’d hit her. “How dare you?”
“How dare I?” he retorted, getting to his feet. “You organized this dinner. You insisted on inviting Mom, and now I know why. You wanted to humiliate her. You wanted to put her in her place like you said. This was planned from the beginning.”
Marlene’s face turned red. “I did not. That’s not—”
“It’s exactly that,” I interrupted. “This was never a reconciliation dinner. It was an execution. A way to make it clear to me that I’m no longer welcome in your lives. That my place is outside in the dark where I can’t embarrass you.”
Julian cleared his throat. “Mrs. Helen, there are clients waiting for this table. Would you like me to escort them to the exit?”
Marleene glared at him. “You can’t kick us out. We were paying customers.”
“Actually,” Julian said with a cold smile, “the check was processed half an hour ago. You are no longer customers. You are people who are disturbing the atmosphere of this establishment. And Mrs. Helen has every right to ask you to leave.”
Marlene’s father puffed out his chest. “This is ridiculous. We’re going to sue for—”