For two full seconds, the whole place went silent.
Leonora's pupils blew wide.
"You... you actually dared to lay a hand on my people?!"
I dusted off my hands and finally looked her straight in the eye.
"Relax. I don't have the time to fight you over some big brothers."
"I'm the one who gave Connor Harding and the rest of them their nicknames. When they see me, they'd better behave and call me big sister."
"You're nothing but a kept pet who's been spoiled rotten. Today I just can't be bothered to deal with you."
I figured that spelled it out clearly enough.
But Leonora didn't back down. If anything, she stamped her foot and shrieked louder.
"Same old line! Just like every other woman who's ever tried to get close to my big brothers! Quit playing queen bee!"
"Let me tell you something, sweetheart: the only person my big brothers see is me!"
"Even if you swore you were their own mother, they wouldn't spare you a second glance!"
She flung out her hand.
"Security! Stop her!"
At the mall entrance, several private guards in black uniforms closed in at once.
Identical buzz cuts, earpieces, black shades. One look told you these weren't your average mall rent-a-cops.
Someone nearby gasped under their breath.
"Those are the private security Asher Perry assigned to Leonora! I heard they're all ex-special forces!"
"Last time some influencer bumped into Leonora by accident, these guys dragged him straight down to the parking garage. Scared him so bad he wet himself on the spot!"
"Girl, take my advice and back down quick. Nobody who goes toe-to-toe with Leonora ends well!"
I swept a glance over the guards.
My eyes went cold.
"Who gave you the authority to deploy private security to corner a citizen in a public place?"
"Leonora, never mind you. Even if Asher Perry himself were standing right here, he'd have no right to put hands on an ordinary person in a public space."
Leonora only treated it like the funniest joke in the world.
"Lecturing me about the law?"
She dabbed at the corner of her eye, her smile sweet and vicious all at once.
"Is there anyone in the whole elite circle who doesn't know who's standing behind me?"
"Forget a few guards. Even if I made you crawl out of this mall on your hands and knees, who would dare breathe a word against it?"
"Today I'm going to teach you a lesson: making me unhappy is the biggest mistake you can ever make!"
"Hold this fake down for me!!"
The words had barely left her mouth before the guards rushed me.
I slipped past the first and elbowed the second aside.
But the third hooked my shoulder from the side, and an instant later two pairs of hands clamped down on my arms.
They wrenched both arms behind my back, and someone kicked the back of my knee.
I dropped to one knee.
Only then did Leonora come strolling over on her heels, satisfied.
She crouched down, pinched my chin, and tilted her head to study me.
"Bare-faced, you actually look a lot like me."
"But still..."
She straightened up and held out her hand to her assistant.
"Bring me my makeup-remover wipes."
"Since she wants to be just like me so badly, let's help her take her makeup off. Show everyone what she's got left once that face is gone."
Her assistant handed over the wipes at once.
Leonora pulled one out and dragged it carelessly across my face.
The gesture was flippant, like she was wiping down something dirty.
I jerked my head aside, teeth clenched.
"You'd better remember what you did today."
Leonora let out a soft little "oh," her smile honeyed.
"I'll remember, all right."
"I'll remember that today I taught another disobedient bad woman her place."
And just as she was winding up to make it worse...
At the mall entrance, several black celebrity vans screeched to a stop.
The doors flew open almost in unison.
First out was a young man in a baseball cap, jogging over at a quick clip.
