op of spicy gochujang paste on it, dropped a piece of perfectly

shoved the entire t

wed. The explosion of fat,

b another piece of meat, the heavy glass

ice pierced throug

ap grease in here! My ha

opened

obnoxious pink fur coat. She was clutching a brand-ne

tkowski. Cassie'

who spent her life trying to pretend

a story from one of Cassie's few work friends, tagging the K-BBQ restaura

crowded room, looking for her target. Her gaze immed

it up with mali

six-inch Louboutins, ignoring the annoy

e corner of her eye. She let out a quiet sigh

the chair opposite Cassie, pulled it out with a lo

onto the table, making sure the in

to them could hear. "Is that really you? What is the esteemed Mrs. Harvey do

g tables turned their heads, the

dn't stop

and dabbed the corners of her mouth. Her movemen

Brenda's flush

aid, her voice flat and b

ngs and calmly flipped a piec

ook embarrassed or defensive. Cassie's t

table. She deliberately pushed her sleeve up to r

a massive oceanfront estate. It was exhausting, honestly. The staff w

r eyes on the

ied up in a massive Ponzi scheme that was going to collapse in exactl

he raised her hand and caught the waiter's eye.

d. Her bragging had bo

. She leaned in closer, lowering he

"They say Garrison is a total freak. A mute robot. You're sitting her

hand stop

ed the metal ton

and locked her gaz

d at Brenda with the cold, dead-eyed stare of s

ned slight

garbage," Cassie said. Her voice was quiet, but every syllable was sharp as

Cassie had just slappe

like a dying fish. Her face

She pointed a shaking finger at Cassie. "You think you're so untouchable! You're no

idn't ev

of ice water, took a s

d coldly. "Because you're r

sound of pure,

so hard she almost knocked over a plate

, Brenda forgot about

hit a slick patch of o

p, her arms flailing wildly. She barely managed to catch herse

aughter rippled thr

dn't look back. She practically ran toward the exit,

er go. She slowl

Cassie

vously placed the fresh bo

sie smiled warml

right back to eating. She felt fanta

he wasn't the only one watchi