"Excuse me?" She shouldered past me. "Who asked you to speak?"
She positioned herself in front of Chester, chin lifted.
"The owner obviously did this for my husband's sake. Francis Pruitt? You've heard of him." She tossed her hair. "So stop acting like you matter here."
She snatched a glass from the table and raised it toward Chester.
"I'll thank Mr. Cross on my husband's behalf. This one's for him."
She drained the glass in one go.
"Once Francis finishes up his business this week, we'll personally pay Mr. Cross a visit to express our gratitude."
As Alberta set down the empty glass, a strange expression crept across Chester Bell's face.
Confusion. Then something close to pity.
He opened his mouth to say something, but a single look from me shut him down.
I grabbed my jacket from the back of the chair and turned to face the room.
"Something came up. I'm heading out. Enjoy the rest of your evening."
I paused at the door, glancing back at Brett. "Oh, and class rep? Don't bother inviting me to these little gatherings anymore."
I couldn't stomach another second of this.
Alberta's insufferable posturing made my skin crawl. But I wasn't about to waste my breath calling her out. This dinner—the social niceties, the face I'd saved for her—consider it my parting gift.
But as I passed her, she grabbed my arm.
"Mike." Her voice was saccharine. "Forgetting something?"
"What?"
"Your bill."
I stuck a finger in my ear, certain I'd misheard. "Alberta, did you hit your head on the way here?"
"They just said the whole tab is comped. What exactly am I paying for?"
She let out a cold, brittle laugh, her eyes dripping with contempt.
"It's comped because my husband has pull here. What does that have to do with you?"
She released my arm and sauntered toward the door, ripping the itemized receipt off the wall with a theatrical flourish.
"Tonight's total? Eight hundred thousand dollars. Twenty classmates. That's forty thousand each."
She turned, waving the paper at me like a verdict.
"I've covered everyone's share. Except yours."
"Forty thousand. Cash or card?"
Chester stepped forward quickly, clearing his throat. "Miss, about tonight's bill—"
I raised a hand, gently pulling him behind me, and leaned in close to Alberta.
"You're really set on making this difficult, aren't you?"
She tilted her chin up, eyes glittering with malice. "Absolutely."