Chapter Six

"Look what the cat dragged in. The infamous Thea Balmero, now serving coffee? How the mighty have fallen." Yolanda's friends snickered, their eyes raking over Thea's simple uniform and apron.

Thea gripped the counter, her knuckles turning white. She refused to give them the satisfaction of seeing her flinch.

"Can I help you?" she asked, her voice steady in contract to the turmoil in her head. Her gaze, though wary, met Yolanda's directly.

One of Yolanda's friends pulled out a phone, recording the scene.

"Oh, you certainly can," Yolanda sneered, stepping closer, her tone dripping with sarcasm. "You can tell me how it feels to be a commoner. To be disowned by your family, replaced by your own sister, and branded a cheat.”

Thea chuckled, a pained look in her eyes. Nobody cared about her side of the story as long as the gossip was hot and juicy.

“Would…would you like to place an order?” Thea said, each word broken into syllables.

“I always knew you were trash, Thea. Now everyone else does too." Yolanda's friends dissolved into giggles, some covering their mouths with perfectly manicured hands, others simply staring with open amusement.

A knot of shame and fury tightened in Thea's chest. Customers who had been enjoying their coffee and pastries now turned their heads, their conversations dying down, their eyes darting between Yolanda and Thea.

The whispers began, soft at first, then growing louder.

"Is that really Thea Balmero?"

"She looks so... different."

"I heard she cheated on Rune Sterling, right before their engagement party."

"Please, Yolanda," Thea murmured, her voice barely audible, a desperate plea. "Don't do this here. This is Daisy's business."

"Oh, I'm doing it here." Yolanda retorted, leaning in, her voice, dropping to a harsh whisper that was still loud enough for many to hear. "And I'm going to make sure everyone knows what a pathetic, desperate liar you are. My brother deserves so much better than a slut like you.”

The word hung in the air, a stinging, public slap. Thea's vision blurred with tears, but she blinked them back furiously. She wouldn't cry, not here, not now.

Not in front of these vultures.

“What do you stand to achieve with this? Like you said, I have nothing of value.”

Yolanda smirked. “Learning your place I see. That's great. But I won't hold back to call you out for what you are and what you did!”

"That's enough!" Daisy emerged from the back, her face flushed with anger, a dish towel still clutched in her hand. She marched over, pulling Thea behind her as she faces Yolanda.

"You have no right to come into my establishment and harass my employee, especially not with such vulgar language!"

Yolanda's eyes narrowed. "And who are you, exactly? Some low-class cafe owner trying to protect her disgraced friend?" Her gaze swept over Daisy with disdain. "Do you even know who I am? My father could buy and sell this little shack of yours before lunchtime."

"I know exactly who you are, Yolanda Sterling," Daisy shot back, unafraid. "You're a spoiled, entitled brat who thinks money gives her the right to stomp all over people. This 'shack' is my livelihood, and I won't have you disrupting my business or insulting my staff. Get out!"

Yolanda let out a mocking laugh.

"Oh, you want me out? Or what? You'll call the police?”

She covers the distance between them, dropping her voice in a whisper that only Daisy and Thea couldn't hear.

“My father sits on the board of half the businesses in this city. A single phone call, and your little cafe could be facing 'health code violations' or 'zoning issues.' It would be a shame for your little cafe to go up in smoke, wouldn't it?"

Thea's blood ran cold. Daisy's cafe was her passion, her entire life savings. The thought of it being destroyed because of her….

Thea stepped forward, gently pulling Daisy back. "Daisy, no. Please."

She turned to Yolanda, her voice pleading despite the tremor in it. "Yolanda. This has nothing to do with Daisy. Just... leave her out of it. If you have an issue with me, deal with me directly."

Yolanda's smirk returned, even more malicious now. "Oh, so you do care about others, after all? How touching." She glanced at her friends, a wicked idea sparking in her eyes. "Alright. I'll consider letting your little friend keep her cafe. On one condition."

She walked over to the display case, pulling out a small, pre-packaged cup of strawberry ice cream. With a deliberate, slow motion, she peeled off the lid and turned it upside down, splattering the pink, sticky contents onto the clean, polished floor right in front of Thea.

"Lick it," Yolanda commanded, her voice soft but laced with mischief.

"Lick it off the ground. And maybe, just maybe, I'll let your friend's little business survive."

A collective gasp went through the cafe. Even Yolanda's friends seemed momentarily stunned.

Daisy let out a cry of protest, "Yolanda, you're a sick-" but Thea's hand shot out, grabbing her arm, silencing her.

Thea stared at the sticky mess on the floor, her mind reeling. Her stomach churned, bile rising in her throat.

Her eyes met Daisy's, who was shaking her head vehemently, tears welling up in her eyes. "Don't, Thea. Don't you dare."

But Thea had already made her decision. Her pride was a small price to pay for Daisy's cafe. Taking a deep, shuddering breath, Thea knelt down slowly, her movements stiff and reluctant. The cold, sticky ice cream smells sickeningly sweet.

She hesitated for a fraction of a second, her amber eyes burning with a mix of shame and defiance. Then, she lowered her head.

Just as her tongue grazed the cold floor, Yolanda's foot shot out, connecting with Thea's shoulder.

"Not like that, you common tramp!" she snarled, shoving Thea's face roughly into the sticky puddle. "Like you mean it! You wanted to be a dog? Act like one!"

Thea gasped, the cold ice cream smearing across her cheek, getting into her hair.

Thea could hear the shocked murmurs from the few customers along aside the evil laughter of Yolanda's goons.

Her body trembled, Yolanda, Rune, and Posy would pay for this.

Dearly.

Yolanda cackled, satisfied. "There. That's more like it. Now everyone truly knows what you are." She pulled out her phone, snapping another photo of Thea's face, smeared with ice cream, pressed against the cafe floor.

"Come on, girls. We've seen enough of this pathetic show."

With one last disdainful glance at Thea, Yolanda and her friends swept out of the cafe, their laughter haunting Thea.