Chapter 22:.
In his eyes, the staff sensed a warning. If she couldn’t do her job well, she could be fired. The man in front of her was capable of getting into the heads of others.
So he quickly pulled out the best dress they had and followed Charlotte into the fitting room.
“This is the most appreciated one here, so let me help you change.”
“No, I can do it myself.”
Of course, Charlotte didn’t like people looking at her when she was changing.
The staff complained, “What’s wrong with you? This dress is too baggy, if you tear it, can you pay for it?”
“I…”
“What, look at your own clothes, cheap stuff, how dare you shop here if not for that guy?” After Charlotte changed several times, the staff knew it was easy to mess with her, so they took their chance.
Charlotte didn’t speak up. She was embarrassed because the staff was right about her.
“Fine, do it yourself in case you tell on me later.” She threw the dress at Charlotte and stormed out slamming the door.
With the dress in her hand, Charlotte was stunned.
Afterwards, she put it on.
As the staff just said, the dress was the most precious one, completely different from the ‘old people’ ones.
She walked out holding the hem of the dress, then looked in Kennedy’s direction.
But no one was there. Charlotte felt an emptiness in her heart.
Where had she gone?
Had she abandoned her because she looked bad in those dresses? She returned to the fitting room quickly in the same position, however, she heard a familiar voice near one of the mirrors.
“Honey, how do I look in this?”
“Is that a real question? You look beautiful in everything, baby.”
She stopped her steps and turned to the voice helplessly. The large cloth hanger blocked her so she could get a better view of the two who were talking.
It was Aldrich and the other woman.
They were huddled together. But the woman was so pregnant that she clearly couldn’t fit in the cloth in her hand.
“Too bad I can’t wear this right now.”
“Buy it while you can if you like it. You can wear it after you give birth.”
“Honey, you’re so good to me.”
Charlotte squeezed her hands, had Aldrich ever said such sweet things to her before? She had no idea she was going to stumble over them.
The other woman looked in her direction. Charlotte ducked out of fear.
As she turned around, she accidentally hit herself with a cane. As she fell to the ground, she grabbed Charlotte’s dress, but not on purpose, then Charlotte fell with her. They heard the most depressing sound of their lives: the dress ripped.
The noise drew the attention of all the customers, including Aldrich and that woman.
The employee panicked when she discovered that the dress had been ruined. She stood up and pointed to Charlotte.
“Do you know how much this dress costs? You did that on purpose.”
Charlotte was still in shock. She tried to dodge the couple’s eyes because she didn’t want them to know she was here too. She never thought someone would be behind her and they would bump into each other. After hearing the staff’s accusation, she looked down and realized that an ornament, which should have covered her shoulder, had fallen off.
Seeing people gathered around, she quickly covered her shoulder and apologized, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to!”.
The staff scoffed, “Excuse me? This is the best product here, shipped yesterday from Italy. It costs more than 300 thousand. Saying sorry isn’t good enough, do you have a way to make amends?”
Charlotte bit her lips and said quietly, “I’ll fix it, I promise.”
“How, can you tell me?” shouted the staff as the crowd gathered.
Being singled out by the others, Charlotte was so embarrassed she felt a little dizzy.
“Not Charlotte?” The woman accompanying Aldrich laughed at her, “I thought you were just wearing cheap flea market clothes – what are you doing here, did you rip that dress on purpose?”
Hearing her, the staff shouted with wide eyes, “What the hell, are you doing this intentionally? This dress costs at least 300,000, and you’ll pay for it.”
The other woman let out a giggle, “How can you afford that? She only makes three thousand in salary. Now that she’s lost her job, she can’t even buy the cheap shit.” Charlotte bit her lips even harder.
Had Aldrich told this woman all about her?
“Charlotte, if you can’t afford the dress, beg Aldrich, maybe he’ll give you some money for old times’ sake.”
Charlotte’s hands trembled. Meanwhile, she looked in Aldrich’s direction.
When their eyes met, Aldrich looked surprised and felt a little uncomfortable. They had been married for some time, although their love had faded, they still saw each other as family.
Aldrich sympathized with Charlotte when she was pointed out.
But.
“Aldrich, are you going to help her?”
He ducked his head to see Milana’s lovely face. He coughed as he took her in his arms, “Baby, I won’t help any woman but you. And in your case, it’s not worth helping someone who tried to make a scene.”
Those words were like needles piercing her ears.
Charlotte bit her lips so hard the blood dripped.
“Honey, I know it’s a pain in the ass, but she looks so poor now. If she doesn’t pay for that dress, will they stop her here?”
Milana’s words were like a reminder. The clerk pulled out her phone and declared, “I’m going to call the police right now.”
Charlotte helped her head up – the police?
“What a vain bitch. When she can’t have something, she breaks it. Of course she has to call the police.”
Added some of the onlookers.
“Sure. Look at her messy hair, how can they let her in this place?”
“Women today really don’t have any self-awareness. Did she try on these clothes to feel rich? Now she ruined it, and she has no money to pay for it. Very funny. The police need to educate this woman so she doesn’t do the same shit again.”
Charlotte felt embarrassed by the derisive laughter and judgmental eyes around her. She’d been living on the down low for a long time, so when she walked into a fancy place, her confidence deserted her.
But Kennedy and Nathan suddenly disappeared.
She didn’t know why. Maybe they left her because she was desperate.
This negative feeling was killing her. Her eyes reddened little by little.
The cruel words of the onlookers prevented her from looking ahead. Her small body was trembling, and that feeling almost made her faint.
Charlotte felt dizzy whenever she was nervous or desperate.
Her visions became blurry, she could barely see the faces of others.
The darkness almost enveloped her.
As her body slumped to the side, someone’s large hand caught her in time.
