Find me in your labyrinth (Stella and Jonathan) novel Chapter 3072

Xavier had been talking with the Donovans for barely half an hour when a shrill voice echoed from outside. "Mrs. Donovan! Come out here and tell me if this is one of your guests!"

Xavier's brows furrowed. Having a bad feeling about this, he stood up and headed for the door.

Mr. and Mrs. Donovan hurried out right behind him.

A woman in her fifties, wearing a loud floral dress and sporting tightly curled hair, stood in the yard. The moment she saw the Donovans, she pointed an accusing finger at Norah, who was standing awkwardly nearby. "Is this your guest?"

Norah's face was flushed a deep, mortified red. "Please stop yelling! I already told you I'd pay for them!"

Xavier stepped forward, his tone measured. "What happened?"

The curly-haired woman fired off like a machine gun. "Who is this girl to you? She pulled up my orchids to feed the rabbits! Those were incredibly expensive orchid seedlings! Does she have no decency? Does she know how much those cost? If I had shown up a minute later, she would have ripped out the whole patch! What kind of behavior is this? This is blatant theft!"

Norah was so embarrassed she wished the ground would swallow her whole. Covering her face with one hand, she whispered to Xavier, "I didn't know they were orchids. I swear I thought they were weeds."

She looked exactly like a kid who had been caught red-handed and was nervously waiting for her parents to scold her.

The woman scoffed. "Don't give me your excuses! You pulled up my flowers, end of story."

Mrs. Donovan quickly tried to smooth things over. "We grow orchids here too. I'll replace them for you. Why are you screaming at the poor girl? She obviously didn't do it on purpose."

The woman refused to back down. "Mrs. Donovan, my orchids are a completely different breed from yours! I don't want your replacements!"

"They're exactly the same!" Mrs. Donovan argued, her temper flaring. "You're just being completely unreasonable!"

"I spent a fortune cultivating these! They were already reserved for clients. How am I supposed to explain this to them?" the woman shot back.

Xavier took a deep breath, cutting through the bickering. He looked directly at the woman. "How many seedlings did she pull?"

The woman held up a hand, spreading her fingers wide. "Five of them!"

Xavier gave a curt nod. "A thousand dollars a plant. That's five thousand in total. I'll wire you the money right now."

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