Shattered Vows: Call Me Auntie Now novel Chapter 59

"Wait here for a second. Let me run to the restroom, and I'll jump in line right after."

Tara waved her off. "Go ahead. I'll hold your spot in line. The first person who tries to cut gets a fist to the face."

Raymond gave a slight nod, his intense gaze unconsciously lingering on the elegant curve of her waist.

She was dressed in a stunning, pale-green vintage gown, her graceful silhouette naturally drawing the attention of numerous onlookers in the lobby.

"Go on," he told her in a low voice. "I'll keep an eye on Leo."

Quinn nodded and headed straight down the corridor toward the restroom.

She had barely locked her stall door when the shrill chatter of several women drifted in clearly from the sinks.

"Vivienne! You dropped off your portfolio so early! Honestly, with you competing, the rest of us are feeling insane pressure," a young, sycophantic voice chirped.

Another woman quickly agreed. "Seriously! We're practically just background extras at this point. The gold medal is already in the bag for you!"

Then came Vivienne's flawlessly modest and gentle reply.

"Oh, please don't say that. We're all just competing fairly, showcasing our skills and relying on our own merit."

"By the way, Vivienne, I heard Quinn Yates actually registered for the awards too? After she blatantly plagiarized your designs back in college, she seriously has the nerve to show her face at a premier event like this?"

"It's absolutely absurd. Letting trash like her compete just drags down the prestige of the entire competition."

"She's a sewer rat who managed to lay low for years, only to crawl back out to disgust everyone!"

Vivienne laughed lightly. "Oh, come on, that was ages ago. If you hadn't brought it up, I would have completely forgotten about it."

She added magnanimously, "Honestly, speaking objectively, Quinn is quite talented at design. She just put her energy into the wrong things."

"Vivienne, you are way too kind and forgiving!"

"If it were me and someone stole my work, I'd hold a grudge until the day I died. There's no way I could just let bygones be bygones like you."

The three women crowded around the mirror, touching up their lipstick and fixing their hair.

All the while, they happily traded insults, dragging Quinn's name through the mud.

Flattering the elite while crushing the underdogs—it was standard high-society protocol.

Just as their vicious gossip hit its peak, the lock on the farthest stall clicked open loudly.

Quinn stepped out gracefully.

"Ah!"

Vivienne shrieked, stumbling directly into Quinn's waiting grip.

Seeing Quinn was about to launch another attack, the other two girls panicked and bolted out the door to find security.

Vivienne's terrified face reflected clearly in the icy depths of Quinn's eyes.

"Vivienne, after all these years, you still love fabricating garbage and spreading malicious rumors. Why haven't you learned your lesson yet?"

Quinn had grown up physically fighting off Quentin and Yasmine on a regular basis. Years of pent-up aggression meant Vivienne never stood a chance against her sheer strength.

"Quinn, they were the ones talking nonsense! I swear, I didn't say anything bad about you!"

"Vivienne, I have tolerated you for a very long time. Did you forget how close you came to having a broken rib at graduation?"

Quinn's voice was deathly cold and menacing, sounding as if it crept straight from hell. Vivienne immediately burst into terrified tears.

Right at that moment, a man's voice echoed from outside the restroom.

"Quinn, are you in there? Stop acting like a lunatic and come out."