In her panic and rage, she hadn't been able to quite place it.
But across the store, Ashley Chen had gone white as a sheet.
She had been frantically scrolling through something on her phone, her eyes getting wider and wider with each second that passed.
Suddenly, she had gasped so loudly that several customers had turned to look at her.
Kevin had been watching Diana carefully throughout this entire confrontation, and something about her bearing, her confidence, her knowledge of jewelry had been nagging at him.
When he had heard the name Diana Mitchell and had seen Ashley's reaction, the pieces had finally clicked into place.
The color had drained from his face as he had realized exactly who they were dealing with.
Diana had continued her phone conversation, her voice carrying clearly through the now-silent store.
"Yes, I'm at the Beverly Hills location. We have a serious problem."
The way she had said Beverly Hills location, not the Beverly Hills store or a store in Beverly Hills, but the Beverly Hills location, had implied ownership.
Had implied authority.
Had implied that she had the right to call emergency board meetings about what happened in that store.
Patricia had still been standing there, mouth open, trying to process what she was hearing.
The name Diana Mitchell had been circling around in her brain like a word on the tip of her tongue that she couldn't quite remember.
"I need you to conference with the entire board," Diana had continued into her phone. "Yes, all of them. This can't wait until Monday."
Other customers had been recording everything on their phones by then.
The Blackstones had moved closer, clearly fascinated by the drama unfolding in front of them.
Ashley had been showing Kevin something on her phone, and Kevin's face had kept getting paler and paler.
"There's been a serious violation of company policy," Diana had said into her phone, her eyes never leaving Patricia's face. "Discrimination, harassment, complete abandonment of our core values."
Each word had hit Patricia like a physical blow.
Company policy.
Core values.
Who had this woman been, and why had she been talking like she had authority over store policies?
"I'll hold while you get everyone on the line," Diana had said.
Then she had lowered her phone and looked directly at Patricia.
The store had been so quiet you could have heard a pin drop.
Customers, employees, everyone had been frozen, waiting to see what would happen next.
Even the classical music had seemed to have stopped, though that might have just been because everyone had been holding their breath.
Diana had stood there with her phone in her hand, looking at Patricia with an expression that had been part disappointment, part rage, and part something else.
Something that had looked almost like sadness.
The sadness of someone who had built something beautiful only to watch it be damaged by the very people she had trusted to protect it.
Patricia had finally found her voice, though it had come out as barely a whisper.
"Who? Who are you calling?"