Right after Abigail seated herself, she heard a familiar voice not far away. “What’s wrong with you?”
Turning her head toward the voice, she saw Joan standing before a young woman in a decorative velvet dress, holding her wet and dripping hem with obvious wine stain.
“I’m sorry, Miss Palmer. It wasn’t intentional.” The young woman hurriedly put down the wine glass and grabbed some tissues to wipe down Joan’s dress.
However, Joan stepped back and complained, “Don’t move. It’s already dirty.”
The young woman’s hand was left awkwardly in midair. “I’m so sorry. I have a clean dress in my caravan. Would you like to change?”
“Who wants to change into your clothes?” Joan was furious.
The young woman was at a loss after being reprimanded, and the commotion they were causing had attracted quite a lot of attention. Therefore, the young woman straightened her back and asked carefully, “Then, what would you like me to do?”
“Compensate for it.” Joan was growing impatient. “Sean had L.Moon custom-made this dress for me. You know Alana has stopped receiving custom-made orders because her husband passed away, right? It was difficult for Sean to get her to make me this dress.”
The young woman’s eyes widened. “H-How much is this dress?”
“120 thousand.”
The young woman was dumbfounded. Though Alana’s designs were expensive, she did not expect them to be so costly. Her face instantly flushed.
Meanwhile, Abigail had no intention of minding other people’s business, but when the name ‘Alana’ was involved, she could not stand it anymore and got up from the couch to approach the woman. “Miss Palmer, there are many guests at this banquet, so why don’t you change into something new before continuing this?”
She did not remember designing Joan’s dress, but the gown on the young woman was her design. The butterflies on the hem of the dress were a laborious task, but she had only sold it for 45 thousand. Joan asked for 120 thousand for her dress – simply wishful thinking!
“It’s you?” Joan looked at Abigail and immediately recognized her as the assistant who helped her try on the wedding dress at L.Moon Studio. Also, she was one of the two women Sean was looking at when they were at the venue’s entrance. Feeling guilty and frustrated, she frowned. “Do you know where we are? How can they let just anyone enter this place?”
East Joy Talent’s banquets were private and usually held to pave the way for major entertainment programs. There were known directors, sponsors, producers, and several fashion design teams attending this banquet. All celebrities and influencers would try their best to show up to this event because getting support from any of those resources meant they had found the road to fame.
Joan could only rely on Sean to enter this banquet, so she dismissed the idea that a mere store employee could attend such an event fully dressed and still receive so many gazes. With that thought in mind, her expression became serious as she beckoned a waiter making his rounds over and ordered, “This woman came in uninvited. Aren’t you going to deal with her?”
When the waiter saw the situation, he immediately stopped in his tracks and approached Abigail. “Miss, please show me your invitation.”
“Since I managed to come in, it means I’m invited.” Abigail gave him a cold stare and furrowed her eyebrows. “It’s just that the invitation is not with me.”
She had given hers to Luna to keep in her bag.
The waiter showed a short moment of hesitation while Joan had a sneer on her face. “Is the invitation not with you, or did you barge in uninvited? Just several simple pictures of tonight’s event are enough for an assistant like you to make a fortune.”
Her words were not only intended to ridicule Abigail but also to imply to the waiter. As if suddenly enlightened, the waiter pressured Abigail even more. “Miss, please show me your invitation, or we’ll have to escort you out.”
Abigail did not intend to cause any commotion at Kevin’s event, so she took out her phone to call Luna. However, she appeared busy as she did not pick up her phone after several calls.
The young woman in the blue dress seemed to notice Abigail’s awkwardness and spoke up apologetically, “It’s my fault. It has nothing to do with anyone else. Miss, thank you for your help.”
At that moment, Joan scoffed. “You’re not only ignorant but also hungry for attention. You embarrassed me and said everything’s fine? Who do you think you are? Do you think anyone can just step on me?”
The waiter also seemed frustrated. “Miss, if you keep this up, I’ll have no choice but to call for security.” Despite saying so, he did not give Abigail any time to react before waving his hand at the security guard, ordering, “Take this woman away and search her. Do not let her bring any information related to this event outside, and make sure to check her phone, just in case she has taken any pictures she shouldn’t have!”
The security guards strode over to Abigail, and the one in the lead snatched away her phone, cutting off her contact with the outside world. He even unlocked her phone and tried to look at her photo gallery. They were still trying to get an explanation before, but now, they were trying to invade her privacy.
“How can you do that? You’re invading her privacy. It’s illegal!” Before Abigail could say anything, the young woman spoke up for her and went over to grab the phone. Sadly, she was pushed away.
Consequently, she lost her balance and almost fell as she was wearing high heels. Abigail reached out to catch the young woman, whose face turned gloomy. She looked at the men before her and ordered, “Bring me to see Kevin. He will tell you the answer.”
Since he was the one who gave her and Luna their invitation, meeting him would be easier than looking for Luna. However, the waiter smiled. “Miss, everyone who tries to sneak in here is after Mr. Stewart. What do you think a man like him does if he were to meet everyone?”
It was clear that they had experienced many cases of such tricks. As such, the waiter waved his hand and urged the security guards, “Take her away, quick.”
The security guards were no longer polite and started tugging Abigail and the young woman in the blue dress out of the venue. The latter became anxious and began screaming at Joan in a choked voice, “Miss Palmer, I’ll pay you the money! I’ll compensate for the cost of the dress, so don’t implicate others in this matter.” While pulling on Abigail, she whispered, “I can’t let you get kicked out with me. Also, it was difficult for me to get this chance, and if I got kicked out, it would cost me more than 120 thousand.”
Initially, Abigail felt nothing for Joan. Since Sean had no feelings for her, she did not care if he got involved with Joan. However, that woman had undoubtedly overstepped her boundaries, and she felt rage surging inside her as she threw away the security guard’s hand. “What is there to compensate? This dress doesn’t even cost that much. She’s trying to scam you with your money.”
Hearing that, Joan suddenly turned grim and chastised, “Whom are you calling a scammer? I can afford a wedding dress that costs over a million at your store. This is a dress Alana custom-made for me. 120 thousand is already a low price.”
A sneer appeared on Abigail’s face. “Alana custom-made it for you? Why don’t I know about it?”
“Of course, you wouldn’t know. That’s because Alana and Sean are close.” Since everyone knew Sean’s name, they could not help but believe her even more.
At the mention of the wedding dress, Abigail felt a pang in her heart, and her eyes were filled with sarcasm. She wondered if Joan knew she and Sean shared an even more ‘intimate’ relationship. Not only were they legally married, but they also slept together. However, she was curious about why he would make up such a lie to please
Joan. Did he not think that they might clash with her?
There was one moment when Abigail wanted to expose the truth and prove Joan wrong, but her reasoning told her she could not do so. That was because Luna had taken up the identity of Alana when signing the cooperation with East Joy Talent.
If she exposed the truth, they would be the only ones in trouble. Just as Abigail was feeling aggrieved, she heard an angry voice from behind. “Why don’t I know I’m close with someone named Sean?”
Turning around, Abigail saw Luna arrogantly approaching them while holding the hem of her dress. She felt relieved as her savior had finally arrived. Subsequently, Luna came over and pulled Abigail behind her. “How could all of you gang up on a woman?”
Since the waiter could not figure out Luna’s identity, he quickly blamed Joan. “This lady says your friend doesn’t have an invitation, which is why this happened.”
Sending a cold glance toward Joan, the troublemaker, Luna took two invitations from her bag. “See for yourself!”
When the waiter saw the invitation, his complexion suddenly turned ghastly.
Meanwhile, Joan suddenly had a bad feeling and wanted to peek at the name on the invitation, but the waiter closed the invitation before she could do so and respectfully returned it. “I’m sorry, Miss Smith. It was our negligence.”
Alana was Kevin’s special guest, whom he had announced to them beforehand. It was also because Alana was so mysterious that no one had seen her before that they neglected this matter.
At the same time, Joan felt like she had been struck by lightning as she looked at the person before her in disbelief. They’re… Alana and her assistant? Did I just…
Luna was usually easygoing, but having experienced all sorts of situations, she had grown to hide her feelings. After retrieving the invitations, she shot Joan a cold look with her made-up eyes. “The next time you frame someone, please look carefully and do not just pick any victim. Are you that desperate for money?”
Feeling like she had just gotten slapped, Joan flushed bright red.
Meanwhile, the frantic young woman was afraid both sides would start arguing. In the end, the one getting implicated would be a nobody like her. Therefore, she piped up to mediate the situation. “It’s all a misunderstanding. Everything’s fine now that we’re in the clear.” She then gave Abigail a pleading look, indicating that she should not offend Joan.
To be more precise, they could not afford to offend the person behind Joan.
Although Abigail knew Luna was trying to stand up for her, the situation had now involved innocent people. The young woman might suffer if they could not settle this matter peacefully and leave just like that. “Forget it,” she said. “The dress is indeed dirty. Miss Smith, how about we take care of this?”
While gritting her teeth, Luna rebuked, “That depends on this lady here. Does she want to deal with her dress, or does she insist on getting that 120 thousand?”
Joan knew in her heart that Alana did not design the dress she was wearing. Since the other was standing before her, she would humiliate herself sooner or later if she did not take advantage of this favor. “I’ll get changed.”
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.