A Reborn Bride Pearl Emerging from Dust by Sally Garcia

After returning to the hotel, Calliope and her group headed straight upstairs.

Monty and the others wanted to follow, but there was nothing they could do. They just stood there, fuming as the elevator doors slid shut.

"She won't even give me a chance to apologize!" Zelda snapped, arms folded tight. "Did you see that attitude? She's completely out of line! I tried talking to her! How can she just ignore me like that? What gives her the right to treat me this way?"

Monty glanced at Zelda, trying to keep the peace. "Just hang in there, okay? This isn't just about her. It's about all of us. We need her to come around."

"Come around for what?" Zelda shot back, rolling her eyes. "She doesn't have a heart. If she did, she'd have helped our company ages ago. Now that she's got some new powerful friends, she just up and ditches us. Unbelievable!"

"Mom, just try to hold it together," Ulysses said quietly, avoiding her gaze. "Let's be real, we weren't exactly nice to her before."

He thought about the way Calliope's eyes had turned so cold, and his stomach twisted with anxiety. He couldn't explain it. When she used to try so hard to please him, he found her annoying, almost pathetic. But now, he regretted every cold shoulder he ever gave her.

tell she truly didn't care about them anymore. No matter what they did now, it wouldn't matter to her. And

company went under, the whole Jewell

he was no Hollywood superstar. There was

money. Seeing Calliope like this, he felt a pang, like a kid who'd lost his favorite toy. It wasn't that he needed it all the time, but the second someone else took it

She

precious when

had

hesitation. "Callie

those guys with

If she could get them to help us, the

stake. She took a shaky breath, trying to calm herself down. "Fine. I get it. I find a chance

nodded, and they all drifted off to their