Maurice was the first to notice Elodie. He arched an eyebrow but still offered a greeting. “What a coincidence.”

Elodie spared him only a fleeting glance before taking Esmeralda by the arm and steering her away.

Clearly, she had no intention of engaging.

Maurice had never liked her much-his past attitude toward her had always been tinged with contempt. Out of respect for Jarrod, she used to swallow her pride, but now, there was no reason for her to keep up the pretense.

As for Esmeralda, she had even less interest in acknowledging Grady. The two of them ignored the men completely, not even pretending to be polite.

Maurice was a little surprised by this, though not offended.

Elodie’s temperament had grown sharper lately.

Was this her new tactic for winning Jarrod over?

On New Year’s Eve, she hadn’t even bothered bringing them the usual hangover remedy. Jarrod had guessed right after all.

“Don’t you think Elodie’s gotten a bit arrogant?” Grady muttered, frowning in confusion. “It’s like she doesn’t even see us anymore.”

Maurice found himself at a loss.

Was Elodie just trying a different approach to get attention, or was something else going on?

She really had started treating them as if they didn’t matter.

“I don’t think so,” Maurice said, shaking his head. “She’s always been devoted to Jarrod-she wouldn’t be stupid enough to deliberately get on our bad side. She’s probably just trying some new way to catch his eye.”

He waved it off, deciding it wasn’t worth dwelling on.

Maybe it was the morning’s radiation treatment, but Elodie was already starting to feel drained after only a short time in heels.

Esmeralda quickly noticed something was off and steered her to the lounge area. “Sit here and rest for a bit. I’ll go find Fergus for you.”

Elodie nodded in agreement.

She really wasn’t feeling up to much tonight.

Esmeralda drifted off to mingle on her own, while Elodie glanced at her watch, mentally calculating when she needed to take her medication. She reached into her purse just as someone stepped in front of her.

“What are you doing over here?” Ivan’s voice was sharp, his frown making it clear she wasn’t exactly welcome.

Elodie paused, snapping her purse shut before meeting his deep-set gaze. “I don’t recall needing your permission for anything I do.”

Ivan gave a short laugh, running his tongue along his teeth. “Well, look at you, Elodie. Got a bit of backbone now, huh?”

She lowered her eyes, making it obvious she had no interest in explaining herself.

But Ivan was already leaning down, grabbing her wrist. “Come on. I’ll have someone take you home.”

His grip tightened painfully, and Elodie’s expression shifted as she instinctively tried to pull away. “Let go! You have no right to interfere—I’m not leaving.”

She couldn’t understand why Ivan was so worked up about her being here. It was just a charity gala-what was the big deal?

“Elodie, don’t start with me.” Ivan’s tone grew dark, edged with warning-his usual mode of control.

Elodie suddenly stopped struggling and looked him square in the eyes. “Ivan, I’m not the little sister who needs your protection and control anymore. I don’t need you worrying over me or bossing me around. I hope you get that.”

They’d gone their separate ways a long time ago.

Ivan had no right to tell her what to do.

He understood her perfectly. For a second, a flicker of hurt crossed his face, but

he quickly recovered, his expression smoothing out.

Just a tantrum, he told himself.

He’d found someone else, so of course she was angry.

But what could he do? He wasn’t about to break up with Queenie.

Elodie, for her part, didn’t care what Ivan was thinking. She tried to pry his hand off her wrist.

A sudden commotion from across the room caught her attention.

She looked up, almost out of habit.

Her gaze collided with Jarrod’s cool, detached eyes. He stood beside the

impeccably dressed Sylvie, and he’d immediately noticed Elodie and Ivan’s little tug-of-war. But after only the briefest hesitation, he looked away, his face unreadable.

He clearly had no interest in whatever drama they were caught up in.

And Elodie, too, calmly looked away, as if they really were nothing but strangers

now.

“Ivan, what’s going on here?”

Queenie approached, gathering her gown in one hand. She glanced curiously at Ivan’s hold on Elodie’s wrist, her eyes sharp with interest.