Francesca had enough. She turned to Christina and snapped, "Christina, are you seriously going to stand there and let your mother humiliate herself like this?"

Christina's face burned with shame. She was beyond embarrassed, but Andrew's attitude toward her was something she could not accept.

So instead, she steeled her voice. "Andrew, there's no denying that my mother was hit. You probably don't want this to escalate, so here's the deal—come back with me to the Stevens mansion, and I won't pursue this any further."

Andrew let out a short laugh. "Go ahead. Let her make a scene all she wants. In fact, I have a pretty good relationship with Donald over at Jayrodale's law enforcement division. I'm sure he'd love to look into a case where a crazy old woman is harassing my business."

The second Andrew reached for his phone, Irene instantly panicked. She scrambled to her feet so fast it was almost comical—no trace of the poor, battered old lady was left.

She shrieked, "Andrew, you b