Chapter 35 Striking Gold!
Jane's face went pale.
Was she really expected to grovel for Grace's forgiveness?
Jane hesitated, but the store manager's resolute attitude left her with no escape route.
So she walked toward Grace. "Grace, I was wrong earlier. I didn't mean to humiliate you."
Grace turned her face away.
"Grace, please forgive me? Can you clarify that this was all a misunderstanding? We're classmates after all. I wasn't deliberately targeting you. I just listened to gossip, so..."
Grace suddenly interrupted, pointing toward a display case. "Those shoes look lovely. Could you help me try them on?"
Jane followed her pointing finger.
A pair of mules with that distinctive Hermès style, priced at twenty thousand dollars.
Jane's face turned grim.
Hermès was known for its kneeling service protocol.
Especially when helping customers try on shoes or authenticate bags, staff would kneel beside the clients.
But kneeling to serve Grace now, under these circumstances, carried completely different implications.
She was clearly seeking revenge.
The store manager said, "Jane, please help this lady try on the shoes."
Grace settled onto the sofa.
To keep her job, Jane reluctantly brought the shoes to Grace's side, half-bending awkwardly, neither standing nor kneeling properly.
The store manager said, "Jane, what are you doing? Have you forgotten our customer service standards?"
Jane bit her lip and unwillingly knelt beside Grace, carefully removing her sneakers and gently slipping the heels onto her feet.
Grace elegantly pressed the high heel lightly against Jane's knee, raising an eyebrow. "Do you think these shoes look good on me?"
Jane's expression was awkward, but she forced a smile. "Beautiful."
Grace suddenly leaned down toward Jane. "I want that Himalaya bag."
Jane said, "That bag..."
"I want the one in the window display."
Normally, Hermès boutiques had a purchase quota system—that limited-edition Himalaya required over a million dollars in accompanying purchases. But the store manager, not wanting to offend customers or damage Hermès' reputation, reluctantly said, "Jane, bring the Himalaya bag for this lady."
"Store manager..." Jane protested, "That bag is reserved for someone else."
The store manager glared at Jane.
...
In the end, Grace spent eight hundred and fifty thousand dollars, purchasing a Himalaya bag, a Kelly bag, two outfits, and a pair of mules before leaving the boutique.
Alexander had intended to pay, but Grace pulled out her card and directly charged the eight hundred and fifty thousand dollars.
How did this woman suddenly have so much money?
At the boutique entrance, the store manager led the staff in seeing them off with smiling faces.
This whole ordeal finally came to a reluctant end.
As soon as Grace's group left, the store manager turned and furiously berated Jane, "Jane, you idiot! Don't bother coming to work tomorrow!"
Jane protested, "Store manager! I managed to appease the customer—why are you still firing me?"
The store manager snapped, "If you hadn't caused this mess, would I have had to grovel like that to clean up your trouble? I've always warned you all not to gossip about customers' private affairs behind their backs—you're the only one who can't keep your mouth shut!"
Jane said aggrievedly, "Store manager, she was just pretending to be rich!"
The store manager retorted, "I personally processed her card—her bank card, her name, eight hundred and fifty thousand dollars! You say she's pretending to be rich? Her husband's suit alone costs over a hundred thousand dollars—they're genuinely wealthy! In today's society, you can offend anyone except rich people! Don't drag down the other staff or me! Get out!"
With that, the store manager stormed off angrily.
Jane tearfully chased after her. "Store manager!"
The other colleagues pushed her away.
"This is all your fault!"
"We all believed your lies. I think you were just jealous that she's beautiful and married well!"
"Jane, we thought you were a good colleague, but you nearly cost us all our jobs! If the store manager hadn't done damage control today, you would have ruined us all!"
"Exactly, just get lost!"
Jane was shoved outside the door.
Staff from nearby boutiques came out to watch the drama, pointing and whispering about Jane.
Jane felt her face burning with shame. She wiped away her tears fiercely and fled in embarrassment.
...
In the car on the way home.
Grace looked down at the exquisitely packaged bag. Although she'd spent a million dollars today, she felt quite happy.
This limited-edition Himalaya wouldn't have been sold to her at all if not for Alexander's influence.
Regular customers needed to spend nearly two million dollars to qualify to purchase this Himalaya.
And it was limited—only a few produced each year.
They didn't even know Alexander's exact identity, but seeing his handmade bespoke suit worth over a hundred thousand dollars, they assumed he must be wealthy and influential.
Grace also remembered during her job interview, several other candidates wearing Dior and carrying Chanel were indeed treated with more respect in the workplace.
Alexander asked, "You dropped out of college?"
Grace replied, "Yes, my father forced me to."
"Why did you have to drop out?"
Grace glanced at him.
Alexander immediately understood. "You could have refused."
"I had no choice. In the Foster family, I've always lived dependent on others' charity." Grace said, "Anyway, I don't want to talk about the past."
Back home, Grace logged onto a luxury auction website on her computer and immediately listed the Himalaya bag for auction.
Starting bid, six hundred thousand dollars.
The auction would begin in one hour.
Soon, the bidding price soared rapidly, jumping to two million dollars.
Grace was stunned.
Hermès truly was the investment product of luxury goods, hyped to such incredible levels.
The main issue was the scarcity at boutiques—demand far exceeded supply. Many wealthy women couldn't buy these bags even with money, so they were willing to pay premium prices.
Grace listed it and didn't check again.
That evening, before bed, she looked again—the auction price had risen to two and a half million dollars.
This was absolutely ridiculous!
If this bag sold at that price, she would have made a killing.
Alexander's influence was worth that much money!
Grace suddenly felt that all the humiliation she'd suffered at the Hermès boutique had completely evaporated.
She looked at the still-unopened Himalaya bag. She didn't consider herself lacking in taste, but she really couldn't see why this bag was worth such an astronomical price.
Probably the principle of scarcity creating value!
Limited to just a few pieces annually, driving status-conscious socialites into a frenzy.
Scarcity marketing—Hermès had mastered it perfectly.
Watching the auction price climb higher and higher, with eight hours left until bidding closed, it might even break auction records!