"Wow, that''s amazing! I knew you could do it. You''re the best, Callie!"


    Calliope hung up the phone after chatting with Portia for a bit. As she looked up, she saw Valerian and Zelda storming through the door, looking as if they were on a mission.


    Zelda, especially, wore an expression of disdain and disapproval that could sour milk.


    "Calliope, why are you still working in this ce?" Zelda huffed, her voice dripping with irritation. "Hanging around with this bunch of misfits as a waitress makes you happy?


    How could you let yourself fall to this level? Lisette is doing so well at thepany, and you can''t even find a decent job?


    I bet you wouldn''t have made it this far without the Jewell family."


    Zelda nced disdainfully around the bustling diner, her eyesnding on a group ying card in the corner. Her gaze was filled with prejudice, looking like she was staring at something far beneath her. The burly men and the bald guy paused their game, instinctively looking over at Zelda. In an almost choreographed move, they all stood up.


    Rafferty strolled over, too.


    Everyone gathered behind Calliope, their eyes warily fixed on Zelda. They knew who Zelda was- Calliope''s mother-and though they wouldn''t dare cross her, they wouldn''t stand by and let her push Calliope around.


    Calliope was important to them. Each owed her a debt of gratitude they could never fully repay.


    These folks each had a past, a story from the wrong side of the tracks. Their presence alone was enough to change the atmosphere.


    As they stood behind Calliope, her presence seemed to grow stronger, more formidable.


    Calliope remained calm, lounging in her chair, her head slightly tilted back as she looked at Zelda. Her gaze waszy, and she asked coldly, "If you dislike this diner so much, why''d youe here?"


    "Calliope, do you seriously not know why we''re here?" Zelda barked, barely containing her anger. "What did you do to Lisette? She was humiliated today because of you!


    She was like a little princess, and now, thanks to you, she''s been dragged through the mud. How is she supposed to go on?"


    Zelda took an aggressive step forward, her hand twitching as if she wanted to p Calliope.


    "What kind of spell did you cast on her? Calliope, you better tell me what you did!" Calliope blinked, nonplussed. "Spell? Seriously?"


    "You expect me to believe anything you say? You''re nothing but a liar How dare you tarnish Lisette''s reputation? You''re wicked, and how you''re dragging Lisette downwith you!"


    en


    "Having you was the biggest mistake of my life! You should never have been born. I should''ve ended it before you came into this world."


    Zelda red at Calliope, her words like daggers.


    Calliope felt a sharp pain in her heart as if a needle had pricked it.


    Her birth mother had spoken such words to her, her flesh and blood. All for the sake of an adopted daughter, Zelda was willing to wish her own dead.


    It was almostughable.


    Calliope looked at Zelda with a bitter


    smile. "To you, I''m a liar, the most wicked person alive? Zelda, I''m your biological daughter. Yet you''d father believe an adopted daughter over anything I say?"