Mr. Winston Senior walked toward me with trembling steps, wiping sweat off his brow. "Ms. Lane, please don't be angry with my grandson. He was blind and foolish. I'll discipline him properly when we get home."

Did he think a few empty words could make up for what they did to me?

"An eye for an eye. That's the Lane family motto."

The two Winston elders were so frightened that they hardly dared to breathe. The fact that the Lane family was the most powerful in Silverlake was a secret almost no one knew. It seemed the time had come to make it public.

"Diane, don't believe a word she says. She's a fraud. There's no such thing as the Lane family. In all of Silverlake, your family is the one that matters.

"She kept saying today was her mother's birthday and got into a fight with me over some cheap cake. If she really was the heiress of the Lane family, wouldn't they have sent people to pick her up already?"

With every word Nora spoke, Diane's face grew paler. "You said today is her mother's birthday? And you deliberately destroyed her cake?"

Nora lifted her chin proudly, completely unconcerned.

"It's over. Everything is over."

Diane and Mr. Winston Senior exchanged horrified glances, each seeing the panic in the other's eyes.

Diane tried to apologize again, but I pulled my hand away coldly and stepped back. Just then, the roar of engines echoed from beyond the crowd.

50 red stretch limousines lined up in formation, their custom plates unmistakable. The sight alone was enough to inspire fear.

In all of Silverlake, there was probably no one else who possessed this kind of power.

"That kind of display doesn't match the Winstons' or Cullens' style at all. Could it be that the legendary, most powerful family in Silverlake really is the Lane family they mentioned?"

"Then they really screwed up, didn't they?"

Kylo's chest tightened. He looked at his mother's ashen face, his fingers trembling uncontrollably.

When he looked at me again, doubt flickered in his eyes. But it was already too late.

The passenger door of the central vehicle slowly opened. High heels clicked sharply against the pavement, each step deliberate and commanding.

A woman emerged in a perfectly tailored suit, her short hair sharp and professional.

Someone in the crowd muttered, "Crap. The Lane family's here."