Chapter 32 Let Your Daddy Pay
As the nanny spoke, she cast a disdainful glance at Max's clothes.
It was impressive how Max managed to carry himself with such an aristocratic air despite wearing such cheap clothing.
This proved that beautiful, naturally refined children could make anything look expensive.
Grace asked, "Where does Liam usually shop for clothes?"
The nanny replied, "Fifth Avenue."
Fifth Avenue was the elite shopping destination where high society preferred to shop, consisting of Galaxy Mall, Emerald Plaza, and Starlight City Mall—three massive shopping centers housing over a thousand global brands.
Rumor had it that even the children's clothing there started at tens of thousands of dollars during end-of-season sales.
Grace gritted her teeth. If Liam dressed so well, Max should too.
She didn't want Max to be looked down upon at Windsor Academy for wearing cheap clothes.
She had three hundred thousand dollars in her account—surely she wouldn't spend it all, would she?
Grace said, "Then I'll take them to Fifth Avenue to shop for clothes."
The nanny asked skeptically, "Can you even afford it? You're wearing cheap clothes yourself."
Max said, "Mommy doesn't like to spend money on herself, but she'll definitely spend money to buy me nice things! She likes Liam so much, she'll buy him beautiful clothes too!"
Liam nodded.
The nanny said, "I still need to come along."
Grace said incredulously, "Don't you trust me? Are you afraid I'll kidnap Liam?"
The nanny's eyelid twitched nervously as she said guiltily, "Mrs. Hayes specifically instructed me to!"
Grace said, "Fine, you can come along and carry our shopping bags."
...
Fifth Avenue.
Grace held Liam's hand on one side and Max's on the other, with the nanny trailing behind, boasting proudly, "This Galaxy Mall is one of the Hayes family's investment properties!"
Grace remained silent.
The nanny continued bragging, "I heard Mr. Hayes invested over a billion dollars and is a major shareholder of Galaxy Mall! I came here with him once, and all the general managers treated him with the utmost respect!"
"The Hayes family's business empire spans the globe. This plaza is just a small part of the Hayes family's investments. Our Liam was born into a multi-billion-dollar fortune!"
Grace couldn't stand it anymore. "That's the Hayes family's business empire, not yours."
Listening to her boasting made Grace feel like her ears were going to develop calluses.
Liam also glared at the nanny impatiently.
Only then did the nanny sheepishly fall silent.
Grace took Liam and Max to luxury boutiques and bought several children's outfits.
Perhaps having money in her bank account gave her confidence. Grace continued shopping with Liam and Max at several boutiques, buying multiple outfits plus several pairs of dress shoes and sneakers. In just one hour, she had spent over a hundred thousand dollars.
But spending money on Max and Liam didn't pain her at all. Especially seeing how happy Max was and how much he loved his new clothes made her happy too.
As long as she didn't look at the receipts, spending money was indeed joyful!
Passing by the Hermès boutique, Grace couldn't help but steal several glances inside.
So this was the legendary Hermès?
She'd heard that Hermès sales associates were particularly aloof. They said luxury goods were divided into Hermès and everything else. Hermès had high consumption thresholds, and Hermès bags were the ultimate dream for many women, but getting the bag you wanted came at no small price.
Grace remembered the Hermès bag Mia carried that day at the sales center. The boutique price was one hundred twenty thousand dollars, but to purchase that bag, you needed to spend two hundred thousand dollars at Hermès first to qualify for allocation.
Seeing Grace staring at the Hermès boutique, Max tugged at her hand. "Mommy, buy yourself a Hermès bag!"
Grace shook her head. "Too expensive!"
Although she still had money in her account, she needed to budget carefully for the future.
Max said, "Don't worry about it!"
If money wasn't enough, he still had more. He could swipe his card to buy Mommy a bag.
With that, he pulled Grace into the boutique.
Liam followed closely behind.
The nanny, however, lingered at the entrance, not daring to enter.
From her understanding of Grace, she definitely couldn't afford a Hermès bag. Going in with her would only be embarrassing. They'd inevitably be kicked out by the boutique staff, and she couldn't afford to lose face like that.
At this moment, there weren't many people in the Hermès boutique. The luxurious décor was divided into several areas, with the bag section cordoned off by velvet ropes. The display cases showcased Hermès classics: Kelly bags, Birkin bags, and a Himalaya.
"Well, well! If it isn't Grace!"
A sales associate walked over.
Grace looked up and was somewhat stunned.
This sales associate was none other than her college classmate, Jane Carter.
Grace had a deep impression of Jane because she wasn't exactly easy to get along with.
Grace's college years were brief. Before her sophomore year even began, David had forcibly arranged for her to withdraw and marry into the Hayes family.
The whole college spread rumors about her dropping out to get married. Some gossip claimed she was kept by someone off-campus and was forced to withdraw when the school found out. These wild rumors spread like wildfire.
Grace never expected to run into Jane here. She was working as a Hermès consultant?
Hermès consultants were supposedly chosen from thousands of applicants, with excellent salary and benefits, and quite respectable status in their circles. After all, many socialites had to curry favor with consultants to get the bags they wanted.
Grace said, "Jane, what a coincidence."
Jane said, "How nice that you still remember my name! You were quite the campus celebrity back then, but you never attended any of our college reunions afterward! We've all been wondering—how exactly did you end up dropping out of college?"
Grace smiled but didn't answer.
She felt there was nothing worth mentioning.
Jane became even more convinced of her suspicions. If there was nothing shameful to hide, it must really have been true about being someone's mistress and getting discovered by the school.
The store manager approached and asked, "Jane, is this your classmate?"
Jane said, "Manager, this is the campus beauty I mentioned before, Grace."
Grace immediately knew Jane had been gossiping about her behind her back, and certainly not saying anything good.
Jane looked at Max and Liam and asked, "Are these your sons?"
Grace answered without hesitation, "Yes."
Hearing this, Liam's eyes flickered. Grace really did consider him her own son, and his heart was moved.
Jane said, "Did you really get married?" Judging by the children's ages, they must be around seven years old.
She didn't believe Grace was actually married. These two children were probably illegitimate!
"Mommy!" Max suddenly pointed at a Himalaya bag. "This bag is beautiful."
Grace looked and her eyelid twitched violently.
She had to admit, Max had quite good taste for such a young age. The bag he'd chosen was extremely rare, with a boutique price of several hundred thousand dollars, but you'd need to spend over a million dollars at Hermès first to qualify for allocation.
The store manager said, "This bag currently has no allocation available."
Jane crouched down in front of Max and said sarcastically, "This bag is very expensive, you know. If your mommy likes it, why don't you have your daddy come swipe his card to buy it for her?"