Chapter 33 Deliberate Humiliation
Max asked, "How expensive?"
Jane replied, "Very, very expensive."
Have daddy come swipe his card?
Upon hearing this, Liam immediately walked aside, took out his phone, and called Alexander.
The phone connected, and Alexander's gentle voice came through, "What's wrong, Liam?"
Liam said, "Liam misses Daddy! Daddy, come!"
Alexander asked, "Where are you?"
Liam gave Alexander their location, then hung up and returned to Grace's side.
Grace asked, "Liam, who did you call?"
Liam said, "Daddy!"
Jane sneered inwardly.
This child didn't understand—he'd actually called his father over. The problem was, this was Hermès! What ordinary man would dare set foot in here?
Only someone as presumptuous as Grace would dare enter.
Jane had been a luxury goods consultant for years and could tell at a glance that Grace was wearing cheap clothes while pretending to be wealthy.
She could already imagine how awkward Grace's husband would look when he arrived and saw the bags cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Seeing Jane's expression, Grace knew exactly what she was thinking—she was waiting to watch her make a fool of herself.
Grace was about to leave when Liam and Max each grabbed one of her hands.
Max said, "Mommy, buy the bag!"
Liam chimed in, "Buy!"
Max could tell Jane wasn't a good person—she looked down on Mommy. Today, he was going to swipe his card for Mommy!
Jane said, "Grace, we have new spring scarves in. You absolutely must try one! I think this scarf would be perfect for you!"
She enthusiastically pulled Grace aside, carefully took out a scarf, draped it around her neck, casually tied a knot, and pushed her toward the mirror.
Grace tried to remove the scarf. "I don't like it."
She suspected Jane was trying to pressure her into buying it, and knew this seemingly ordinary scarf probably wasn't cheap.
"Don't take it off!" Jane stopped her, placing hands on her shoulders as they faced the mirror. "Look, doesn't this scarf look wonderful on you?"
Grace thought it looked terrible.
Jane was clearly trying to embarrass her.
Just then, the other consultants in the boutique couldn't help themselves and burst out laughing.
"This styling looks so weird!"
"Jane, your styling for this customer is absolutely awful! It doesn't match her outfit at all!"
"Ew, look at what she's wearing—isn't that cheap street vendor clothing? I've seen the mall janitors wear that. She said those clothes are terrible quality—they fade after one wash."
"Seriously? Someone wearing cheap clothes can walk into Hermès? Our usual customers wear Chanel or Givenchy."
"Jane, what were you thinking? She's obviously not our clientele, not someone who can afford Hermès."
Jane said, "How could that be? Our Grace was the campus beauty of our class. Her husband must be very wealthy—he'll come pay for everything."
"If her husband is rich, why is she dressed like that?"
"That's being thrifty. Many elite wives dress simply," Jane said. "Grace, listen to me—a husband's money is meant for his wife to spend. Women need to be more refined, treat themselves better. Don't be reluctant to spend your husband's money, or he'll spend it on other women."
As she spoke, she placed a collar around Grace's neck and looked in the mirror. "Is this better?"
The store manager's expression stiffened, wanting to intervene.
The other consultants were already laughing out loud.
"Jane, that's a dog collar."
"This styling is hilarious!"
Anyone with eyes could see Jane was deliberately tormenting Grace.
Usually, Jane often gossiped with her colleagues.
During college, the person Jane resented most was Grace.
With her naturally beautiful face and excellent grades, she'd become the campus star while everyone else in their class became mere background characters.
Therefore, badmouthing Grace had become politically correct among the female students. Jane had heard that Grace dropped out to get married, then divorced and lived miserably—evident from her cheap clothing.
At the boutique, she frequently gossiped about Grace with colleagues. A former campus beauty reduced to a divorced, abandoned woman naturally became Jane's favorite topic.
So the consultants all knew this was the Grace Jane talked about.
Jane said somewhat embarrassedly, "Oops, sorry, I grabbed the wrong thing—I put a dog collar on you by mistake. It's just that this collar matches you so perfectly!"
The blatant mockery and humiliation made Liam suddenly charge at Jane, shoving her hard to the side.
Jane was caught off guard and fell to the ground.
"What are you doing?"
Grace cried out, "Liam!"
She removed the collar and grabbed Liam.
But Liam still wanted to lunge at Jane.
Max was also furious, his face grim with anger. He grabbed the collar Grace had removed and threw it hard at Jane. "You wear this dog collar yourself!"
The collar hit Jane and broke upon impact.
Jane scrambled up from the floor, pointing at Liam. "Grace, how do you discipline your son? How dare he push people!"
"Rude child! No manners whatsoever! How did your parents raise you? You have no courtesy at all!"
"When he grows up, he'll definitely be a criminal!"
"Oh no... the collar is broken!" One of Jane's colleagues picked up the collar, looking distressed. "This collar costs over five thousand dollars!"
"He broke it!" Jane pointed at Liam. "Grace, your son broke it—you have to pay!"
Grace said, "I can pay, but you need to apologize."
Jane looked baffled. "Apologize? For what?"
Grace's face flushed red with anger. "You put a dog collar on me! Weren't you deliberately humiliating me?"
Jane said, "It wasn't on purpose! Besides, don't underestimate this dog collar—most people can't even afford it!"
Jane was still short on her monthly sales quota. Running into Grace so coincidentally, she naturally treated her like a fool—not only humiliating her but also boosting her own sales numbers.
"And this scarf!" Jane pointed to the scarf around her neck. "Since you tried it on, you should buy it too!"
Grace said, "You put it on me—why should I have to buy it?"
Jane said, "This scarf is dirty now from you wearing it. I had no idea you were so filthy—worse than a street cleaner."
Grace said, "You!"
Her eyes welled up with tears of frustration.
She didn't know what she had done wrong to deserve such humiliation.
At the entrance, the nanny heard the commotion inside and hesitated about whether to enter. In the distance, she suddenly saw Alexander approaching like a star surrounded by his entourage, and froze in shock.