Author's Note: Thank you to anonymous, splendeur, miyame-chan, guest, amazingxlivexlovexlaughx3, tammywammy9, and carlet for your reviews! I'm so glad to know that I still have some readers! Sorry for the late update! Thanks to the anon that messaged me on Tumblr. You got my ass moving. Pester me there or PM me anytime. Hope you enjoy this update. Sorry it's a bit short and late. More coming soon! Hopefully the drama will kick up again. I'm also still working on Wicked Games (I hit another snag tho, UGH) and another multi-chap that I'm still debating whether or not to post soon or in the summer when I can dedicate more time to it.

Anyway, thanks for reading and reviewing you guys. Also, I'm glad you guys liked Sammi! She's an invaluable ally to Claire. :3

Chapter Twelve: Housekeeping and Stars Aligning

##

Recoiling back in horror, Claire stumbled backwards towards her bedroom. Moving on autopilot, Claire picked up the villa phone sitting on her bedside table and did the only thing she could think of at the moment, she dialed room sixteen.

Sammi picked up instantly.

"Hello?"

There was a beat as Claire tried to regain her powers of speech. She had to be in shock. Her hand was shaking like she was in shock. She shook herself, forcing words out of her mouth. "It's Claire," she finally said into the phone. "…I—know it's late, but you said I could call you anytime and I just don't know—what—" She choked on the last syllable and couldn't continue.

"I'll be right there," Sammi told her right before she was greeted with the dial tone. Claire placed the phone back and sat down heavily on the bed.

In what only seemed like moments later, there was a knock in her door. Claire stood and pulled it open, still dazed. Sammi swept into the room instantly, surveying the room before turning back in satisfaction that there was no one in the room tormenting her. "What's wrong? Are you okay?" She paused to take in Claire and widened her eyes. "Oh my god, you're bleeding!"

Claire glanced down at her foot, splattered in blood and blinked. Finally, she managed to speak, "No, it's nothing." Claire's occasionally vegetarian heart cried out in protest at her dismissal. She shook her head roughly to clear it of the image in the bathroom. "I mean—it's not nothing. It's just, it's not me. I'm not bleeding."

"What happened?" Sammi demanded, stepping closer to her. "You're shaking, Claire. Are you cold?"

"No… Just…You need to see it for yourself." Claire wrapped her arms around herself and tilted her chin toward her bathroom. "My bathroom…"

"Okay, but at least keep warm," her new friend urged. She turned a grabbed a silk fleece throw blanket off the chaise and wrapped it around Claire's shivering body. "Take deep, calming breaths."

Claire accepted the blanket and sat heavily down on her bed while Sammi headed straight to the bathroom. A second later, Sammi turned back towards her, "I can't believe this. Those bitches!"

Claire could only nod. She took a deep breath and then everything just spilled out at once, "I—what do I do? Do I call the housekeeping? Does this island—well, I mean obviously they have housekeeping, but I mean, do I have to wait until morning? Can I call them now? Will they come? God, this is so—"

"Claire! What did I say? Deep breaths. Slowly…" Sammi waited until Claire had complied before continuing. "It's going to be okay. Yeah, this island has housekeeping. And if they can't get here right now, I'll clean it, okay? You don't have to worry; just… try to keep calm. It's okay. You're okay. Alright? It's going to be okay."

Sucking in a deep breath and blowing it out slowly at Sammi's urging, Claire nodded slowly and wrapped the fleece blanket tighter around herself. "Yeah… Yeah. I know. It's just—"

Sammi sat down next to her on the bed.

Claire inhaled another shaky breath, forcing her heart rate to slow. She didn't look at Sammi, hiding her face behind her long blonde hair. She stared down intently in her lap, forcing herself not to cry. She breathed out slowly. "I just never expected all this… all this hate. I mean, they don't even know me. I've barely said more than two words to most of these girls, I haven't done anything to them, and they hate me."

Sammi scooted up more onto the bed and crossed her long legs. The older girl stared at her intently, until Claire looked back at her. Sammi raised a brow. "You weren't prepared for any of this, were you?"

More confident that she wasn't going to start crying, Claire tucked her hair back behind her ears and shook her head slowly.

"Maybe I was wrong. Maybe Cam was right to be worried. It's a good thing he called me. He knows better than anyone how our world gets."

Claire crossed her own legs too and scooted to face Sammi on the bed. "He just… never told me about any of this. I would have never expected this. Not just…this." Claire waved her hand around her villa and also out behind her, where there was a connecting pier overlooking the natural coral reefs in the clear blue water. "But the hostility too. I mean, this… level of… viciousness." She cast a quick glance at her bathroom before averting her eyes quickly back to Sammi's calming hazel eyes.

Claire bit her lip, thinking about Massie's words about how she hadn't even experienced the thick of it yet, about Josh's words at the dinner party about her rival oppositions, about Layne's warning of Westchester and her demand that she and Cam have a talk. It was all building up. It was all too much. "I just don't understand. I think I get it… It's not about me, not really. This is all about Cam. But these girls… they're acting like he's the last guy on Earth or something!"

Sammi sighed, leaning forwards. She took Claire's hands in her own. "Claire, you're right. The reason these girls are doing this to you is because of Cam. It's obviously not your fault and it makes no sense, but that's what's happening. I'm going to be honest, okay?" Sammi paused and waited for Claire to nod before continuing, "Claire, you're an outsider. This isn't your world. They've never even heard of you before and to them, it looks like you've just waltzed in a taken something they thought of as theirs."

"But that doesn't even make sense!" she spluttered.

Sammi shrugged. She patted Claire's hand and released her. "Maybe… but that doesn't stop it from being true."

"Like… I get that his family is rich or something… and that he used to be a part of this lifestyle, so he's considered a good catch, but isn't Westchester supposed to be filled with rich people? Why are they—"

Sammi sighed sympathetically. "You're right. That's part of the reason. But you have to understand something else about Westchester. There's a clear divide on top of all that. There's money and then there's money." Sammi raised her eyebrows in emphasis, but Claire furrowed her own. She didn't get it.

The older girl sighed, pursing her pouty lips and trying to find a way to word all this. "Okay. Yeah, sure, everyone in Westchester is rich… but there are levels to that too, you know? Like, how long your family's been rich. If it isn't for generations, it doesn't even count. And it's not just money either. It's your estates on every continent, your private spa islands like this, your access to the latest places. It's legacies at the same county clubs and day schools and Ivy League colleges. It's families that have done business with each other for generations and generations. It's impeccable pedigrees that date back to the Founding Fathers. It's old money."

"Old money," Claire repeated, testing the worlds on her tongue.

Sammi nodded. "But it's not just that… These girls were raised alongside him. They attended sister schools' with him and Cam has always been good looking. These girls have probably had crushes on him since elementary school or something." Sammi rolled her eyes. "There's also a certain… fascination surrounding his family. His older brother, Harris, went above and beyond in leaving an impression on everyone's minds, but even the scandal couldn't bring the Fisher name down. And now Cam's the heir to his family fortune. To these girls, that's everything. It doesn't matter that they don't even know him. To them, that's all that matters."

Claire took it all in quietly. It felt like Sammi wasn't even talking about her boyfriend, but someone else entirely. Someone from a silly romance novel or someone from a period drama—someone entirely unreal. This world and this guy Sammi was talking about had no connection in her mind to the guy she had thought she knew and had fallen in love with.

Cam had always called her Sleeping Beauty, and now she was living the name. It was like waking up into a whole new world.

Except that she had never asked to be awakened by the prince.

Claire let out a bitter laugh. "You know, this is the most anyone's told me. Thanks for being so straightforward. I don't think I could have understood it any other way." Claire gave another sniff and glanced up at Sammi. "Can you believe that Cam hasn't told me anything about this? He hasn't even told me anything about his family…"

"That's just the way he was raised, Claire," Sammi comforted her. Her brash attitude was taking a back seat in light of Claire's self-deprecating attitude. She reached over and tucked Claire's hair behind her ears tenderly. "He was taught, like everyone else old money in Westchester, to never talk about things like that. It's just bad form for old money to brag about where they live or I guess, how they live. In these circles, it's tacky to even talk about where you summer vacationed or where you bought your latest handbag. All that, is for the masses to speculate. In old money circles, everyone already knows."

Claire uncrossed her legs and stared at the moon's reflection on the surface of what seemed endless dark ocean water outside her villa window. "You know what the most shocking part about all this is?"

"Tell me."

"I'm just here for a summer vacation. Everyone seems to think that Cam and I are a sealed deal, like we're going to getting married at the end of this summer or something, but that's not it at all. Cam and I have never talked about… after. About marriage."

Sammi raised her eyebrows in disbelief. She shook her head fondly at her.

"I think you know better than that, Claire."

Claire glanced back at her and allowed herself to nod. Sammi was right. Claire had always known that vacationing with Cam was always the next step.

"The way our world works, Claire, is that you don't bring a girl who isn't part of this world home, unless it's serious. Cam knows what he's doing. And everyone knows what this means for you two."

Claire couldn't fight the smile on her face. "Really?"

Sammi gave her another look. "This isn't Pinkberry, Claire. I don't sugarcoat. Besides, why do you think the girls are stepping up their game?" She gestured back towards the bathroom, and Claire, who had forgotten about the rodent, winced.

"We've just never talked about it."

"Well, don't you want to marry Cam?"

"Yes," Claire answered without hesitation. "To be honest, Sammi, Cam's the first guy I could imagine myself spending the rest of my life with. It's just—I wouldn't have to be married to Cam for my life to be complete, you know? I'd be happy just the way we are."

Sammi beamed at her. "That's beautiful, Claire. But sadly, not the case here. No matter how successful you are, how high your pedigree or education is, or how great your family fortune is, girls in this world are raised to believe that marriage is the ultimate goal. Marriage and a parade of little Turbuell & Asser, Stella McCartney modeled sons and daughters in a Paris interior-designer decorated mansion for the whole process to continue all over again. Your life isn't complete until you've managed that. Why do you think Massie is so eager to get married?"

Claire blinked in surprise. She hadn't thought about Massie, who seemed so self-assured, being grouped in with the other girls of Westchester. Though, all the big fanfare surrounding her wedding and Josh's comments did make more sense now that she thought about it. "You think Massie's rushing to get married then?"

With a tinkling laugh, Sammi brushed her off. "Well, that's hard to answer, Claire. Since, she is about to become my sister-in-law."

Claire started in surprise. "Wait… Derrick's… your brother?"

"Yeah." Sammi tilted her head, a teasing smile on her lips. "I thought you knew that all along."

Claire continued to stare at her in open-mouthed surprise. Sammi… Harrington. Now that she had realized, she was starting to see some of the similarities between them. "Don't take this the wrong way, Sammi," she finally said, still shaking her head in wonder. "But, I don't understand how you're so different from anyone I've ever met in Westchester if you grew up the way I think you did."

Sammi grinned at her, as if Claire had given her a compliment. "Thanks," she laughed. "But I told you, Claire. I got myself out of that environment a long time ago. It just wasn't for me. And luckily, my parents were largely okay with that since I was the eldest daughter. They kinda just let me find my own way."

Claire leaned forward. "What did you do?"

"I went to college in the UK, but now I'm med school in Australia. It was much more me."

"You're going to be doctor?" Claire asked, though she should have known better than to judge.

"Pediactic surgeon," Sammi affirmed, still grinning as if she knew exactly what Claire was thinking.

"Wow," she breathed. "That's amazing, Sammi."

"Not a big deal." Sammi brushed her off. "I'm still just training at the University's medical center. Anyway, I see more to life than Westchester too and maybe that's what sets me apart. I guess it makes me a little different."

Sammi reminded her of Cam, with the way she believed that there was more to what life had to offer in Westchester and Claire realized that that was kind of awesome. It must have been scary to leave everything you've ever known behind, knowing that you couldn't share that with anyone, because who would actually believe this wealthy lifestyle unless they had witnessed it firsthand? Claire started to understand a little bit about why Cam hadn't told her anything before he dropped her into this world.

She also thought about her new friend's complete candor, her brash and commanding attitude with the other girls, and most importantly, her complete lack of pretentiousness and raised her eyebrows to correct her, "A lot different."

Sammi laughed again, swinging her legs around and off the bed. She leaned over and reached for the phone on Claire's bedside table. "Again, thanks, but we should call someone now. Maybe even security. You can't tell me Massie doesn't have cameras on this island. We could see who did this."

"Wait!" Claire cried, tugging on the curly phone wire. "Don't."

"What?" Sammi lowered the receiver.

"Don't call security." Sammi was staring at her like she wasn't thinking clearly, so Claire rushed to continue. "I mean, what can they do really? We're on an island, and based on the message, I know it had to have been the girls I was in the sauna with yesterday. Maybe even the whole group of them. What would I even say to them if I knew who it was? They tried to scare me… and it worked, but the whole point is that they wanted me to go hysterical, burst into the dance party they're having, and accuse them in front of everyone and basically, cause a scene and ruin Massie's bachelorette party. Their whole goal was to start drama. Why would I give into that?"

Sammi stared at Claire in complete astonishment. "That's exactly what they wanted. These girls, and especially Alicia, let me tell you, are basically dying for drama. If you had done that, I think that would have sustained them for about ten years."

Claire nodded, unwrapping herself from her fleece throw. "Well, I just won't give them the satisfaction."

Sammi hung up the phone and turned to Claire with a look of pride in her eyes. "You're brilliant, Claire. And stronger than any of these girls know. Not to mention about twenty times classier. What they wanted was to scare you off, the best revenge is to not let them win."

Claire stood up and smiled. "I won't. I know exactly what I have to do to win."

Sammi grinned wickedly. "Marry Cam?"

"What?" Claire spluttered with a laugh. "No. Keep going. Act like it didn't scare me. Act like everything is amazing, because aside from this, it really has been. And keep on dating Cam." The older girl rolled her eyes playfully at that, as if she knew something Claire didn't know, but Claire pretended she didn't see. She shook her head fondly at her friend. "But first, I should call housekeeping."

##

All the way across the Atlantic, Tessa Hurley sighed loudly, luxuriating under a practiced masseuse. "Oh, Ella. Don't you feel so much better already?"

Nadia, who was next to her buried under hot rocks, moaned before Ella could respond. "I know I do. I don't know why we didn't schedule our spa day beforehand. It's almost been a week. I needed this."

"Same…" Grace agreed softly from her corner where she was getting a neck massage.

Ella hummed in agreement, too tired and too busy trying to relax under her own tension release treatment to agree verbally. Agent Senibel was the best luxury spa they could find in such short notice. It wasn't anywhere close their usual league of comfort, but the four of them were so stressed from jet-setting that anything remotely relaxing felt like 5 star status.

Though she would never admit it out loud, Tessa had been right. Ella had no idea she was holding all her tension in her neck. She had needed to relax before she strained herself. Taking a spa day was for the best.

"Yes…well, I just wanted to be sure," she finally said.

"Alvaro is reputable. He's never been wrong in all the time I've known him," Nadia piped up, much to Ella's annoyance.

"I believe you, Nadia." Since she was laying down and out of sight, Ella didn't have to contain herself. She rolled her eyes in exasperation. "But who knows if my husband will? I needed to confirm everything."

"Yes, well, it's all done with now, Ella." Grace snickered in delight. She waved away her masseuse and stood up on the teak floors to stretch. "It's real. You have your ammunition. What's your next step?"

Before Ella could answer though, her cell phone blared, disrupting the spa's tranquil atmosphere. Grace headed over to their purses and handed Ella's phone over to her.

"Um," her masseuse argued. "I'm sorry, but there are no phones allowed in—"

Ella rolled her eyes. She was so used to private rooms and service; she had forgotten what it was like to have a handler. She picked up anyway. "Hello?"

"Hello, Ella," the dreaded voice of Jacklyn Ryan greeted her. Ella scowled in response, but Nadia perked up. "Who is it, Ella?" she asked, waving her own masseuse over to remove the rocks so she could eavesdrop. Grace was already hovering over her. Ella scowled harder, her friends were insatiable.

"Ma'am! You can't use your phone in here!" her masseuse reprimanded again and Ella took the opportunity to get away from the other ladies.

She padded over to the wooden door that led to the hallway and slammed it behind her. "Why are you calling me?" Ella asked. She and Jacklyn had a… history, one that had always colored their interactions. Ella could count on one hand the amount of times Jacklyn had ever actually called her. "I'm at a spa weekend, Jackie, you know this. I'm in the middle of a massage. I need to de-stress."

"Of course," Jacklyn purred. "I just thought you would want to hear all about Anna's little dinner party on Friday. She ended up having to invite most of Westchester. Everyone was just dying to meet… the girl."

"Well?" Ella demanded impatiently, clutching her phone. "What was she like?"

"Typical penurious. Clueless, but appallingly overfamiliar. Abysmal taste in fashion and absolutely no sense of etiquette. I would never have thought that Cammy would ever go for a girl like that."

"Well, you know they're just dating, Jacklyn," Ella bit out. And not for long, if Ella had anything to say about it.

Jacklyn continued like she hadn't heard her, "Oh, Ella, you should have just seen the way she was staring openmouthed at everything around the house. Her eyeballs were practically bugging from her head from just imagining the Harrington net worth," Jacklyn lied through her teeth. She was internally cackling just imaging the expression on Ella's face through the phone.

Jacklyn fought to contain herself and hummed happily. "I'm just saying, Ella. I wouldn't be so sure that they're just dating. You haven't seen them together yet. Cam couldn't help doting on her, bringing her all her dinner dishes and picking out her desert. He couldn't keep his hands off her at the party at all. He even took her on a tour of Anna's house. Plus, this girl is already best friends with Massie and Josh. "

Ella was horrified; as it suddenly dawned on her how deep her son was in. Squeezing her cell phone to the point of pain, Ella forced herself not to scream. She removed the phone from her ear and took a deep calming breath. Just like her yoga coach taught her. She reminded herself of her card. She hadn't even played her card yet. She hadn't even arrived at the table yet. Feeling the weight lifting off her chest slowly, Ella also realized that relating to this… maybe Jacklyn was on her side.

Jacklyn would pull her own hair out before history could repeat itself.

Ella grinned at the thought. "How's Olivia doing, Jackie? I haven't heard about her in so long. Is she still dating that surfer?"

Now it was Jacklyn's turn to stutter. "Oh, you know those gossip rags. They're obsessed with Livia, they'll write anything to sell papers. She's not seeing anybody now. You can see for yourself when you get back—she's back in Westchester for the Harrington wedding."

Ella blinked in surprise. Everyone knew Olivia and Massie were basically rivals after that mini-scandal. She was surprised that Olivia was even still invited. Still, if Olivia Ryan was back… As much as Ella hated Jacklyn, she had to admit that Olivia, with her Hollywood insider connections and impeccable old money lineage, would be the perfect match for her baby Cammy. It seems the stars were aligning; Fate was working in her and her baby's favor.

The wooden door to the spa room opened and Nadia stuck her head out, "Ella? Is everything alright?"

"Yes. I'm just wrapping up actually," Ella told her, her hand over the phone. She quickly turned away and said, "Well, it's been fun, Jackie. We should catch up more when I get back. You and Livia should come over for dinner. We can do a small dinner party with Cammy and the girl too, an intimate gathering."

"Sounds lovely, Ella. I can't wait. See you soon," Jacklyn thrilled.

Satisfied, Ella hung up and turned back towards the spa, but it was no good, Nadia had heard her last words.

"You're throwing a dinner party, Ella?" Nadia asked, with no tact at all.

Ella nodded slowly. "Well, I have to meet the girl sometime, don't I? What better time and place than on my own terms in my own house?"

"Sounds intimate," Nadia agreed with a sly smile. "I can't wait to meet her. Alicia too, I bet. She hasn't seen Cammy in years. It'll be so nice to have something to look forward to for when we arrive back, especially since we've missed one of Anna's infamous dinner parties to help you uncover dirt on the girl."

Ella clenched her teeth, but smile sweetly in agreement after a moment of thought. Nadia had done her multiple favors after all. She had provided invaluable help in her investigation of the girl. And it wouldn't hurt to have more people at the party to serve as buffers. Ella nodded in concession. She tilted her head back towards the spa room. "Shall we head in?"

"Of course," Nadia agreed, pulling open the door and stepping in.

Ella stepped in a moment after her. She definitely needed another massage.

##

Author's Note: Obviously, I agree with Sammi. The best revenge for Claire here would be to do exactly what she recommended. Marry Cam. LOL

Thanks for reading!

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