Is this destiny?

Earlier that evening…

The four ladies who bullied Emma returned inside ballroom.

They stopped at the spot from where they can see the doors which are leading toward the terrace, and at the same time they have a good view of Charlie who is engaged in a chat with several men.

"What do you think she will do? Run to Charles for help?", Miss Sparks asked timidly.

"No way. Did you see her face?", Chelsea sneered. "She will run away and never come back."

"But what if she tells Charles what we did?", Miss Thompson asked while pursing her lips.

Chelsea rolled her eyes. "It\'s four of us against a no-name nurse. What do you think, whose story is more believable?"

Miss Lenihan nodded in agreement. "We can say that we didn\'t even talk to her. She made it all up."

Other three ladies agreed immediately.

After some time, Miss Sparks told Chelsea: "I think you are right. If she didn\'t come inside by now, she left the party."

Chelsea smiled victoriously. "Good. As soon as Charles is out of that group of men, I will approach him."

"Why you?", Miss Lenihan complained.

"I am the one who made that nurse disappear. Right? So, I get the first turn.", Chelsea responded smugly.

Chelsea\'s body tensed when she saw Charlie walk away from those people. But she saw her brother follow him… well, her brother is not much of an obstacle. "Wish me luck, ladies…", she announced while making her way toward Charlie.

Chelsea was few steps away from him when she realized that he approached JoAnna. She wondered, why is he talking to Mrs. White? She overheard when Charlie asked JoAnna to check the ladies\' room for Emma. She snorted. Yeah, right… like he will find her there. They left that nurse outside, and she didn\'t come in. There is no way that she is in the restroom.

She observed Charlie and JoAnna walk that way, but she didn\'t want to follow them closely. Chelsea kept her distance and observed the situation. Soon Charlie will realize that the nurse is gone, and everything will be back to normal. That\'s what she thought.

Chelsea saw that Charlie\'s concern is evident. And that JoAnna is concerned as well. What\'s with all the urgency?

"Did you do something?", Dylan\'s voice startled Chelsea.

"What do you mean?", she responded while patting her chest dramatically.

"Charlie\'s date is missing, and I see how you are looking at him. What did you do?", Dylan persisted.

"What makes you think I did anything?"

"Because I know you. Stop playing games."

Dylan saw that Chelsea\'s eyes shifted nervously, but she has no intention to admit to anything.

Dylan sneered. "You fool. If you wanted to get rid of her, you should not do it in our home. Didn\'t you see that Mrs. White is close to her?"

"So, what if they are close? They are acquaintances at best."

"It does not matter how close they are… Mrs. White approached her first, showing everyone that they are connected. By acting against Emma, you insulted Whites." Dylan looked at his sister scornfully before turning away.

Chelsea grabbed his arm. "Where are you going?"

Dylan jerked his arm out of her hold. "To find father. I need to warn him that we offended Whites."

Chelsea pursed her lips while thinking how her brother is exaggerating. She just spilled wine on a dress of an unknown nurse who was in her way. Why is Dylan so melodramatic?

She turned her gaze to Charlie just in time to see him nod toward JoAnna and rush outside.

JoAnna approached Jeff and two of them walked to the side after calling Jarred to join them.

…

JoAnna sat with Jarred and Jeff and told them about the situation.

"What do you want to do?", Jeff asked JoAnna. He knows that Emma is her close friend, and he can see that his wife is on a mission (and upset). He will let her take the lead.

"Four families: Sparks, Lenihan, Thompson and Davis. I want them to feel the consequences for ignoring us.", JoAnna responded.

Jeff nodded in agreement. This is more than just getting revenge for Emma. JoAnna and he discussed previously more than once that now they are in the process of taking over the family and it\'s very important to maintain their image. They can\'t allow others to see them as weak or forgiving… that will lead to more people acting against them.

Tonight, two of them showed their support for Emma and Charlie. Those who hurt Emma are openly ignoring the power that Whites have.

"Let me handle this.", Jarred offered. "They offended a girl of Charlie\'s choice. Which means that they offended Charlie, and in extension… me."

"I don\'t object of you taking any action, but we will not back down.", JoAnna responded. "Those women were aware that Emma is associated with me. Their action offended me, and I want to make an example out of them." JoAnna paused and smiled when her sight fell on a small stage where band was playing soft music. "And make it loud and big…"

Jarred can see that JoAnna has something on her mind and that Jeff is supporting her. "Alright. But don\'t keep me out of it. I want in."

JoAnna approved. "They humiliated Emma, so we start by returning the favor…"

…

Mr. Davis entered the ballroom with his son, Dylan.

He was in the back room playing poker with his three friends. He does not like these parties much, but he does not mind hosting them. It\'s good for his son to network and he does not need to attend them in person, anyway.

Mr. Davis didn\'t understand much what Dylan said other than Chelsea offended Whites. He wants to talk to his daughter to ask her what exactly happened.

"Chelsea, I hear that we have a situation.", Mr. Davis told his daughter when he approached her.

Miss Sparks, Miss Lenihan and Miss Thompson greeted Chelsea\'s father and stepped away when they saw his stern expression.

Chelsea swallowed hard while thinking how to respond.

Mr. Davis was about to say something, but he was interrupted by a female voice which came from the speakers: "Can I have your attention, please?"

After few seconds of shuffling, everyone was facing the small stage where the band is located, and they could see JoAnna in her sparkly black gown with the microphone in her hand. Jarred and Jeff are standing behind her.

"Good evening, everyone…", JoAnna started with a sweet voice and a faint smile. "I apologize for taking your time, but I promise it will only be a minute. I want to thank our hosts, the Davis family for organizing this gathering. It\'s a lovely party where we can meet people and strengthen our network. As you know, my husband and I are not big on attending these parties, but tonight is special because our dear friend was here. Notice the tense… I said that she WAS here, because she left. I don\'t want to go into details why she left, but it appears that four individuals with a superiority complex decided to ruin her evening. You should all know that Whites take care of their people, and my friend is one of them. I will not name those four despicable people who ganged up on one woman, I\'m confident that they know who they are, but I want to use this opportunity to send a message to them and to their families that they need to apologize properly or suffer the consequences." JoAnna smiled while surveying the people who stared her way before adding: "Apologies can be delivered in person at the villa owned by Charles Smith. Thank you."

JoAnna left the stage with Jeff and Jarred following close behind her.

The room was so silent that everyone heard JoAnna say to Jarred: "We will be in touch."

Her high heels rhythmically hit the marble flooring as she walked out of the ballroom like a Queen while holding Jeff under his arm.

PAK!

A crisp slap resounded through the hall.

People who were nearby the slap-event could see that Mr. Davis slapped his daughter.

"In my study. Now!", he squeezed through his teeth.

Everyone made way for furious Mr. Davis who was followed by Chelsea. Dylan was few steps behind.

Miss Sparks, Miss Lenihan and Miss Thompson were petrified. The color from their faces drained, and no amount of makeup could hide that. They exchanged fearful gazes. All three of them had the same thoughts: they need to tell their parents what they did. They offended Whites.

It took a while for people to start whispering about what happened. Everyone knew that Davis family is in trouble, but who are the other three? It didn\'t take long for people close to Chelsea to spread the information who her closest friends are… and they noticed that Miss Sparks, Miss Lenihan and Miss Thompson are not present at the party anymore.

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