Shannon Beador and Alexis Bellino are coming face-to-face and squaring off.

On the season 18 premiere episode of The Real Housewives of Orange County on July 11, Alexis made her return to the Bravo reality show and wasn’t afraid to ruffle any feathers as she met Heather Dubrow and Emily Simpson for dinner.

 ALEXIS BELLINO/INSTAGRAM

There, Alexis answered the question on everyone’s minds: was she nervous about confronting Shannon, the ex-girlfriend of her current boyfriend, John Janssen?

“Here’s the thing,” she began. “I have no ill will. I just want to squash the elephant in the room. I’m just not going to play into her spiraling.”

In November 2022, John pulled the plug on his romance with Shannon, a week after filming wrapped on season 17 of the hit Bravo series. The two were together for more than three years and remained friends but stopped speaking in late September, not long after she was arrested for a DUI.

Shortly after, news about John’s new relationship with Alexis broke. While Shannon and Alexis have never crossed paths during their times on RHOC, the two have a history. Alexis’ ex-husband Jim Bellino sued Shannon and Tamra Judge for defamation in 2018.

As PEOPLE reported in October 2020, Shannon won the case, but has since said she lost hundreds of thousands of dollars in the process of defending herself.

When the two finally confronted each other on the season premiere at Heather’s party, Shannon began the conversation by claiming that Alexis was involved in her ex’s defamation lawsuit and shared how the arduous legal process had affected her and her children.

“I’ve been upset that you were involved in the lawsuit where your husband sued me as a single mom for three years,” she explained. “But for three years, I went through such emotional and financial difficulty.”

“I lost $300,000 defending myself for something that I didn’t even do, and you started the lawsuit by sending a cease and desist letter,” she continued. “So in my eyes, you’re part of it, Alexis.”

Shannon added that she had no intentions of being “best buddies” with Alexis but could “be in a room with you.”

Alexis responded to Shannon’s claims by denying any part in the lawsuit. Instead, she said that their issues didn’t lie in their legal history but with her ongoing relationship with John.

“I know this is uncomfortable for both of us, when you’re the ex and I’m the new,” she replied. “If you go back to any court documents and anything else, show me the proof of my name being on anything, because Jim and I had been divorced for six months when he sued you.”

In a conversation with cameras, Alexis said she felt “baffled” by Shannon’s new claims.

“None of it is the root of the problem,” she said, gesturing with a finger. “The root of the problem is you’re mad that I have a boyfriend and you’re not going to win the battle with him. You will not.”

Shannon said she could “dig up” the original cease and desist to prove her point when Alexis refused to “rehash” their legal drama. The mom of three doubled down on her claims that she lost $300,000 and the betrayal she felt when John witnessed the “anguish that I went through” during that time.

“I think what the real issue is here is that I have your ex boyfriend,” Alexis interrupted. “That’s what the real issue is. So guess what? Move on. We’re moving forward in this relationship.”

Before walking away, Alexis declared that she was “done” with talks of money and court cases, and wouldn’t be paying a dollar to Shannon for her distress.

As she left the conversation, Shannon yelled out, “I thank you for taking him from me, Alexis,” to which she replied, “And I’m thankful that he left you.”