Filed to story: Mia Bowen and Timothy Barrett Novel
The skirt Luna was wearing had been borrowed from a fashion director she knew, all thanks to Sharon’s connections. Now that the skirt was soiled, how would Luna explain it to them?
Mia calmly washed her hands and remarked, “Apologies, my leg slipped.”
She detested being manipulated; if there were a grievance, she’d address it. then and there.
As Mia exited the restroom, Luna hurriedly followed, shouting, “Hold on! You’ve ruined my skirt. Do you think you can just walk away from this?”
Mia gave a meaningful smile. “Why the overreaction, Ms. Maynard? Didn’t you say you don’t care about the brand? It’s just a dress.”
Luna was exasperated. She did say that, but she borrowed the dress from someone else. Should the dress become ruined, she wouldn’t have the means to compensate for it.
“You ruined the dress, so you should compensate for it,” she barked, couldn’t care less about her image anymore.
“But you splashed water at me on purpose.” Mia spun and left, not wanting to waste time with Luna.
Luna thought that she could play tricks now that they were in Bern City. However, if the other party didn’t uphold moral values, moral values couldn’t guilt trip Mia either.
Mia headed outside. The crowd had dispersed.
Excitement carried Shelly to her. “Ms. Monalize, I managed to buy the latest outfit and bag!”
“That bag doesn’t suit you. It’s for elderly rich women.”
“You don’t get it. I’m going to be a purchasing agent. I’m going to sell it and rake money from it.” Realizing that she had put her foot in her mouth, she added, “We can split the profit in half.”
“No, keep it. This is a gift for you.”
Shelly interlocked her arms with Mia’s. “That’s so nice of you, Ms. Monalize! Timothy will be so lucky if he becomes your husband!”
There was an awkward shift on Mia’s face as she withdrew her arm. “As long as you’re happy. This is not a huge sum of money to me.”
Once everything was over, she wouldn’t need to keep up with this act with Shelly anymore.
“Ms. Monalize, are you going to walk away just like that after ruining someone’s dress?”
Mia looked back. Luma lifted her dress, striding over. The people around her retreated to save their outfits from getting dirty.
Luna looked awful from head to toe. Still, she was determined to demand compensation from Monalize. Otherwise, she wouldn’t be able to handle the consequences!
Mia looked up and down at Luna, whose guts were beyond Mia’s.
expectations.
Shelly stepped forward first. “Think before you speak, Luna Maynard. You dirtied your own dress, and what does Monalize have to do with this? Are you trying to find a scapegoat because you can’t compensate for it? You borrowed the dress to stoke your ego in the first place.”
Luna gulped. “It was an accident. Besides, tap water is clean. It’s a hundred times cleaner than the water from a mop bucket!”
“Sorry, but as a neat freak, I think neither makes any difference; they’re equally dirty.”
“Nonsense! Anyway, everyone heard it. You admitted that you’ve ruined my dress. Pay for it. I don’t need an apology,” Luna boldly demanded.
Pride wasn’t the problem right now. She would be doomed if Mia didn’t pay her.
Shelly mocked, “You’re blinded by money, Luna Maynard. No one here. would demand compensation because of such a trivial matter. How embarrassing.”
Luna chewed her lips. “Rich people like you wouldn’t, but this is important to people like me.”
“If the dress is over your budget, you shouldn’t have worn it. Look at you. Now that there’s trouble, you can’t pay for it. What’s the use of being materialistic and egoistic when you can’t even handle the consequences?”
Shelly’s words were cutting and venomous, hitting Luna’s sore spot with precision. The latter was rendered speechless. She raised her head, and when she noticed Sharon, her eyes lit up. “Aunt Sharon.”
Sharon, who was planning to leave the scene unobtrusively, didn’t expect
Luna to call out to her.
Biting the bullet, Sharon stepped forward. “Luna, don’t be petty. It’s just a dress.”
People who attended the event were rich. Minor disputes occasionally broke out, but no one had ever caused a scene to demand compensation. It was a petty act.
Only then did Luna notice the kind of look people were giving her. Almost instantly, she wore her typical fragile expression.
A man couldn’t take it anymore. “Jeez, this pretty lady is on the verge of crying. It’s not like it’s a huge sum of money. Just give her the money.”
“Well, it’s not like I cannot pay for it,” Mia finally spoke up.
“Monalize, you don’t have to entertain her.”
Ignoring Shelly, Mia stared at Luna. “If I pay for your dress, you have to pay for my outfit too because you dirtied mine as well. Only this would be fair.”
Luna’s head snapped upward, and she nodded. “Sure.”
A white T¨Cshirt and a pair of jeans? One could easily tell that those were cheap clothes. No matter how expensive those were, the price wouldn’t be as exorbitant as Luna’s dress, would they? Hence, she figured that it was a win for her.
Mia gazed at the manager. “How much is Ms. Maynard’s dress?”
TA
The manager answered, “38,000 dollars.”
“Okay. I’m wearing Vior too. Please estimate its worth.”
The manager inspected Mia’s clothes before exclaiming, “Is this Mr. Vafayette White’s 10th¨C anniversary collection?”
Shelly’s jaw almost fell onto the ground when she heard that. That was a limited edition collection.
Her eyes turned to Mia in disbelief. “Don’t people usually keep it as a personal collection? Why did you wear it, Monalize? What a waste!”
It was a classic set. It might appear simple, but the story behind it says otherwise.
The spectators were surprised. All eyes were on Mia because they didn’t expect her outfit to be from that collection.
“Ms. Monalize, its worth is too much for me to estimate a price.” The manager sounded more respectful.
Shelly quickly said, “I remember it was sold at a million dollars at an auction last month.”
The figure shocked Luna. “This simple outfit costs one million dollars? Aren’t they just a simple cotton tee and a pair of jeans?”
The people surrounding chuckled.
“How did she manage to enter the fashion show? She doesn’t know fashion at all.”
“She doesn’t even know Mr. White’s classic design. How dare she attend this personal show?”
Sharon failed to manage her expression when she heard that. She didn’t know Luna could be such a disgrace!
Mia looked at Luna with a smile. “Indeed, it is a simple tee and a pair of jeans to me. That was why I didn’t argue when you splashed water at me. But since you want to pay for it so desperately, it’ll be unbecoming of me to turn the offer down.”
Luna’s soul almost left her body.
In order to get that 38,000 dollars, she would need to pay a staggering amount of one million!
The situation turned awkward again.
Mia wanted to see how Luna would clean up the mess.
“Say something, Luna Maynard. Through cash or Apple Pay?” Shelly added fuel to the fire.
Luna’s fists clenched tightly. One million dollars? She couldn’t even cough up 38,000 dollars!
People began judging in whispers, “Why is she silent? Didn’t she say that she’s going to pay for it? Well, she has finally realized she can’t afford it.”
“I know, right? This lady looks familiar. Who brought her over?”
“I think it’s Mrs. Barrett. They sat together at the beginning.”
Many of them looked at Sharon. A rich lady commented on purpose, “Mrs. Barrett, did you bring her along? She’s kinda embarrassing, though.”
Sharon was equally embarrassed as well.
She strode to Luna’s front and lowered her voice, chiding, “Look at what you’ve done. You’re humiliating!”
Luna didn’t have the nerve to say anything back.
Sharon raised her voice, saying, “Luna, be forgiving. It’s not a big deal. Go and get changed. Let’s keep you warm before you catch a cold.”
That was Luna’s cue to take the opportunity to make herself scarce. No matter how reluctant she was, she had to stomach it and turn to leave the scene.
She was so angry at the rich that her nails left markings on her palms.
When her son inherited Barrett Group, she would become rich and take her revenge for what had happened today.
After Luna left, the people began leaving in droves since the spectacle was over.
Sharon could barely manage her expression.