"What did you do?" Clarisse immediately asked when the call ended. This was the first time that her boyfriend scolded her! "You— " This woman really loved to ruin her plans! "How could you— "
"Clarisse? What happened?" Sasha already had an ugly look on her face. What could have made Clarisse act like this? The last time that Clarisse cried was actually when she got back with her grandmother after that short trip to the capital. Sasha didn't know what happened back then as Clarisse didn't tell her the reason why she was crying. And she didn't want to ask her friend either.
However, as someone who knew Clarisse for more than a year now, she knew that Clarisse doesn't really cry. She was a strong woman!
"He yelled at me."
"Huh? Why would he do that?"
"He said I was trying to steal Miss Gabi's dress. That is not true. I tried to explain but he wasn't listening."
"What?" Sasha's eyes widened. She squinted at Gabi, irritation laced her tone. "This is the reason why I hate rich people. They always think that we are here to steal their things! However, since it's already like this, we should just leave this store. I know a lot of people recommended this store and that is one of the reasons why you agreed to wear their dress, however, those people are clearly blind! How could they recommend a store like this? Did a donkey hit their heads? They said that they support us and love us and yet they actually dared to scheme against us!"
"Sasha… calm down. Let's not create any more trouble." Clarisse uttered. With Gabi around, her plans wouldn't work, no matter what it was. She could easily let go of this boutique, in fact, she could forget about that dress. The most important thing right now is Mr. Yu. Earlier, the man didn't actually call her a thief or anything like that. He just told her not to offend Gabi. And when she tried to reason out, he scolded her and called her stubborn.
Since this was the first time that he actually scolded her, Clarisse felt a little emotional. She felt it was unfair that he was scolding her when all she wanted was a dress. It was just a dress! Her boyfriend actually scolded her over a dress. This infuriated her to the point that she wanted to cry.
"Wait… let me record a video right now." Clarisse smiled inwardly when she heard Sasha's voice. Right, a live stream is always nice. It would gain sympathy and make people hate this damn store.
"Miss Sasha… video streaming inside the store is not allowed. So…"
"Who told you that I will do the streaming inside? I will do it outside of your store! Hmph!" Sasha uttered.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Gabi slowly held her hand towards Earl. In response, Earl gave her his phone. "My cousin… accidentally pressed the video button earlier. So… " Gabi played the video and forwarded it. She specifically chose the time when Sasha was ranting about their fans. "I am sure that your fans wouldn't like this video."
"You— "
"Don't take it personally Miss Sasha… I am just trying to protect my assets. After all, the dividends that I receive every year are enough to last me a month of luxury." Gabi smirked. People usually think that she was lucky because she was born into a rich family. This wasn't the first time that someone treated her like this. In fact, in her previous life, people usually sneer at her behind her back. They call her Miss Lucky.
She was lucky to have a rich maternal family.
She was lucky to have a smart father who became the prime minister.
She was lucky to have inherited billions from her mother.
She was lucky to have a brother like Alfons.
She was lucky to marry Harry.
She was just lucky.
No one actually knew the effort that she put in just to learn those languages, graduate early and support her brother. No one saw her collapse from her sickness. No one knew how walking to the second floor of the house would make her faint because her heart couldn't handle the stairs. No one knew how she would worry about dying early and leaving her son alone.
True, she was lucky. She was born privileged. However, all this money wasn't enough to heal her, keep her safe and bring back her mother. If someone would ask her, give her an option to choose between having all this money or having her mother and son, she would choose the latter without batting an eyelid. She would always choose them over this money!
"You— "
"One video from you could easily drop the sales of this boutique which would risk their position inside the mall. But if you release a video, anything that would damage the name of this mall, we would release this video in retaliation." Gabi added. "Obviously, many sponsors would see your true color. And if that happens…" She didn't continue her words.
Companies would never associate themselves with people who don't represent their brands. It would be an easy decision for them to drop Sasha and Clarisse just because of this small incident. And if Gabi would put a little pressure on them, they might even blacklist them. "Your choice," Gabi smirked.
"How evil." Sasha clenched her jaw. Right now, she understood why Clarisse told her that Gabi is the most vile woman that she encounter. She might be rich but she would do everything to win. "Clarisse… let's find that man of yours and let him explain why he did this to us. He was the one who wanted you to become his escort in that gala and now he didn't want you to get that dress. What kind of man is that."
Clarisse shook her head, downcasted. She immediately held her friend's hand and pulled her out of the boutique.
"These days, most influencer's feel like they can do whatever they want because they have a few fans backing them." Earl sighed behind her. "They are scary people.
Gabi nodded. A few years from now, influencers would grow big and bigger until they would have enough influence to actually make people boycott a company. Just as she thought about this, she recalled Aden's words about ending her enemies as early as possible. Or, she would have a hard time dealing with them later.
In Clarisse's case, Aden was right. There is a possibility that Clarisse would become big in the industry. If that happens, it would be a little inconvenient to deal with her. She lowered her gaze, hiding the little malevolent squint in her eyes. Aden was right. She needed to deal with Clarisse as soon as possible.
"Excuse me… are you Miss Sutton?"
The two of them stopped walking when a man wearing a black suit approached them.
"What's wrong?" Earl asked the man.
"Mr. Quigly… the Patriarch is inviting Miss Sutton for a tea on the third floor. I hope that Miss Sutton would spare a few minutes of her time for the old man."
Gabi's lips thinned. This is what she was talking about. She knew that this was because of Lyle's death!
Right now, the old man must be suspected of her involvement in his granddaughter's death.
"You are close with Mr. Quigly?" Earl couldn't help but ask.
She shrugged, "Not really."
"Then I would accompany you."
"Mr. Quigly said that he wanted to have a private conversation with Miss Sutton. However, you could always stay in the next tea room if you are not comfortable. We could even prepare a table and chair for you outside of the private room just to make you confident that he won't hurt Miss Sutton. Moreover, Mr. Quigly said that he would never hurt Miss Sutton."
"A private conversation? Why would he want to talk to someone he is not close to…"
"Earl it's fine. I will be quick. You should take the offer and enjoy a tea as well. I will see you once we were done talking." Since it's already like this, Gabi just decided to talk to the old man. If he would ask her about Lyle's death, she could just tell him the truth.
She wasn't the one who killed her or ordered her death.
Gabi told Earl to wait for Cyrus first as Cyrus is going to get her dress before he follow her to the tea house. While hesitant, Earl agreed.
Meanwhile, Gabi followed the man towards the third floor of the building and into a private teahouse.
"Mr. Quigly…" Gabi gave the old man a tight-lipped smile. She took the seat opposite him.
"Miss Sutton…" The old man stared at her. His face was still a little pale, the wrinkles in his face had become more apparent. Obviously, this was because of his granddaughter's death. Gabi already expected the old man to question her, and accuse her of Lyle's murder. To her surprise, the old man sighed and said, "I am here… because I wanted to apologize."
"What did you do?" Clarisse immediately asked when the call ended. This was the first time that her boyfriend scolded her! "You— " This woman really loved to ruin her plans! "How could you— "
"Clarisse? What happened?" Sasha already had an ugly look on her face. What could have made Clarisse act like this? The last time that Clarisse cried was actually when she got back with her grandmother after that short trip to the capital. Sasha didn't know what happened back then as Clarisse didn't tell her the reason why she was crying. And she didn't want to ask her friend either.
However, as someone who knew Clarisse for more than a year now, she knew that Clarisse doesn't really cry. She was a strong woman!
"He yelled at me."
"Huh? Why would he do that?"
"He said I was trying to steal Miss Gabi's dress. That is not true. I tried to explain but he wasn't listening."
"What?" Sasha's eyes widened. She squinted at Gabi, irritation laced her tone. "This is the reason why I hate rich people. They always think that we are here to steal their things! However, since it's already like this, we should just leave this store. I know a lot of people recommended this store and that is one of the reasons why you agreed to wear their dress, however, those people are clearly blind! How could they recommend a store like this? Did a donkey hit their heads? They said that they support us and love us and yet they actually dared to scheme against us!"
"Sasha… calm down. Let's not create any more trouble." Clarisse uttered. With Gabi around, her plans wouldn't work, no matter what it was. She could easily let go of this boutique, in fact, she could forget about that dress. The most important thing right now is Mr. Yu. Earlier, the man didn't actually call her a thief or anything like that. He just told her not to offend Gabi. And when she tried to reason out, he scolded her and called her stubborn.
Since this was the first time that he actually scolded her, Clarisse felt a little emotional. She felt it was unfair that he was scolding her when all she wanted was a dress. It was just a dress! Her boyfriend actually scolded her over a dress. This infuriated her to the point that she wanted to cry.
"Wait… let me record a video right now." Clarisse smiled inwardly when she heard Sasha's voice. Right, a live stream is always nice. It would gain sympathy and make people hate this damn store.
"Miss Sasha… video streaming inside the store is not allowed. So…"
"Who told you that I will do the streaming inside? I will do it outside of your store! Hmph!" Sasha uttered.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Gabi slowly held her hand towards Earl. In response, Earl gave her his phone. "My cousin… accidentally pressed the video button earlier. So… " Gabi played the video and forwarded it. She specifically chose the time when Sasha was ranting about their fans. "I am sure that your fans wouldn't like this video."
"You— "
"Don't take it personally Miss Sasha… I am just trying to protect my assets. After all, the dividends that I receive every year are enough to last me a month of luxury." Gabi smirked. People usually think that she was lucky because she was born into a rich family. This wasn't the first time that someone treated her like this. In fact, in her previous life, people usually sneer at her behind her back. They call her Miss Lucky.
She was lucky to have a rich maternal family.
She was lucky to have a smart father who became the prime minister.
She was lucky to have inherited billions from her mother.
She was lucky to have a brother like Alfons.
She was lucky to marry Harry.
She was just lucky.
No one actually knew the effort that she put in just to learn those languages, graduate early and support her brother. No one saw her collapse from her sickness. No one knew how walking to the second floor of the house would make her faint because her heart couldn't handle the stairs. No one knew how she would worry about dying early and leaving her son alone.
True, she was lucky. She was born privileged. However, all this money wasn't enough to heal her, keep her safe and bring back her mother. If someone would ask her, give her an option to choose between having all this money or having her mother and son, she would choose the latter without batting an eyelid. She would always choose them over this money!
"You— "
"One video from you could easily drop the sales of this boutique which would risk their position inside the mall. But if you release a video, anything that would damage the name of this mall, we would release this video in retaliation." Gabi added. "Obviously, many sponsors would see your true color. And if that happens…" She didn't continue her words.
Companies would never associate themselves with people who don't represent their brands. It would be an easy decision for them to drop Sasha and Clarisse just because of this small incident. And if Gabi would put a little pressure on them, they might even blacklist them. "Your choice," Gabi smirked.
"How evil." Sasha clenched her jaw. Right now, she understood why Clarisse told her that Gabi is the most vile woman that she encounter. She might be rich but she would do everything to win. "Clarisse… let's find that man of yours and let him explain why he did this to us. He was the one who wanted you to become his escort in that gala and now he didn't want you to get that dress. What kind of man is that."
Clarisse shook her head, downcasted. She immediately held her friend's hand and pulled her out of the boutique.
"These days, most influencer's feel like they can do whatever they want because they have a few fans backing them." Earl sighed behind her. "They are scary people.
Gabi nodded. A few years from now, influencers would grow big and bigger until they would have enough influence to actually make people boycott a company. Just as she thought about this, she recalled Aden's words about ending her enemies as early as possible. Or, she would have a hard time dealing with them later.
In Clarisse's case, Aden was right. There is a possibility that Clarisse would become big in the industry. If that happens, it would be a little inconvenient to deal with her. She lowered her gaze, hiding the little malevolent squint in her eyes. Aden was right. She needed to deal with Clarisse as soon as possible.
"Excuse me… are you Miss Sutton?"
The two of them stopped walking when a man wearing a black suit approached them.
"What's wrong?" Earl asked the man.
"Mr. Quigly… the Patriarch is inviting Miss Sutton for a tea on the third floor. I hope that Miss Sutton would spare a few minutes of her time for the old man."
Gabi's lips thinned. This is what she was talking about. She knew that this was because of Lyle's death!
Right now, the old man must be suspected of her involvement in his granddaughter's death.
"You are close with Mr. Quigly?" Earl couldn't help but ask.
She shrugged, "Not really."
"Then I would accompany you."
"Mr. Quigly said that he wanted to have a private conversation with Miss Sutton. However, you could always stay in the next tea room if you are not comfortable. We could even prepare a table and chair for you outside of the private room just to make you confident that he won't hurt Miss Sutton. Moreover, Mr. Quigly said that he would never hurt Miss Sutton."
"A private conversation? Why would he want to talk to someone he is not close to…"
"Earl it's fine. I will be quick. You should take the offer and enjoy a tea as well. I will see you once we were done talking." Since it's already like this, Gabi just decided to talk to the old man. If he would ask her about Lyle's death, she could just tell him the truth.
She wasn't the one who killed her or ordered her death.
Gabi told Earl to wait for Cyrus first as Cyrus is going to get her dress before he follow her to the tea house. While hesitant, Earl agreed.
Meanwhile, Gabi followed the man towards the third floor of the building and into a private teahouse.
"Mr. Quigly…" Gabi gave the old man a tight-lipped smile. She took the seat opposite him.
"Miss Sutton…" The old man stared at her. His face was still a little pale, the wrinkles in his face had become more apparent. Obviously, this was because of his granddaughter's death. Gabi already expected the old man to question her, and accuse her of Lyle's murder. To her surprise, the old man sighed and said, "I am here… because I wanted to apologize."
