Chapter 39

"Sorry, I can't do dinner with you. I need to find Xander ASAP. He has to know what's going on." Vanessa was feeling the pressure. She didn't know a thing about jewelry design, much less diamond cutting. Joining that jewelry design competition? Forget it. Even putting together a basic piece was a stretch. Worse yet, from what she knew, Xander had been living a pretty reckless life these past few years. He spent his days hanging around with sketchy friends, getting into fights, skipping school, and chasing girls-basically doing everything except anything useful. Word was, he was always dead last in his class. A guy like that... how on earth would he know jewelry design? If neither of them had a clue, weren't they just walking right into the trap the others had laid? No wonder John and Grace were being so generous with him, throwing money his way and encouraging his mess of a lifestyle. Even the original Vanessa almost didn't survive-she nearly got killed, pushed into the water like tras