Chapter 31
I heard the shop assistant's words and turned my head in shock.
Was she talking about me?
I blinked in disbelief.
If this were before, I definitely wouldn't have confronted her, but now I don't know where I got the courage from.
I walked up to her, looked at her, and asked word by word, "Excuse me, were you just talking about me?"
The shop assistant looked at me guiltily, but after sizing me up and down, she became somewhat righteous again.
"With the way you're dressed, you can't afford anything in our store."
I looked at the shop assistant's very contemptuous expression, pressed my lips together, and a dark look flashed in my eyes.
"Please apologize to my friend and me."
I raised my head to look at that shop assistant, my eyes full of determination.
But the shop assistant acted as if she'd heard something insulting. She stared at me, her eyes filled with disbelief.
"You want me to apologize to you? On what grounds?"
"You just said I was pretentious." I directly repeated what I'd heard.
The shop assistant's expression changed. She snorted coldly and tried to leave, but was stopped by Athena.
Athena's expression was very cold. She looked at the shop assistant indifferently and spoke in an icy voice.
"Please apologize to my lady, or you won't be able to continue working here."
The shop assistant acted as if she'd heard some kind of joke and burst out laughing. She even pointed at Athena's nose.
"I think you've been reading too many novels, thinking you have that kind of power. Coming to our store in such cheap clothes, you probably can't even afford a zipper."
Nina, on the side, couldn't take it anymore either.
"Listen, you're just a shop assistant in this store, not merchandise in this store. You're not worth that much."
Hearing Nina's words, the shop assistant shrieked like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.
"How dare you say that to me! I'm calling the police. You're insulting me."
Athena's gaze turned to me, as if asking for my opinion.
Since she'd treated me this way, I naturally couldn't have any goodwill toward her.
People always have to pay for their rudeness.
I nodded gently at Athena.
Athena immediately took out her phone and made a call.
Seeing Athena on the phone, the shop assistant still had that disdainful look on her face.
"Stop pretending to make calls. People like you couldn't possibly have that kind of power. And do you know whose store this is? If I told you, your legs would go weak."
The shop assistant looked proud, as if she owned the store.
If I remembered correctly, Athena had said this mall belonged to Kane, and probably many of the stores inside were also Kane's properties.
I crossed my arms and watched her quietly, not arguing with her.
But the shop assistant thought I was feeling guilty. She actually reached out to push me, and I stumbled from her push.
Just as I was about to fall, a pair of steady hands caught me.
A familiar cologne scent filled the air.
I looked up.
Was it actually Kane?
What was he doing here?
Kane's eyes were cold, and I could even feel that he seemed to have murderous intent.
I knew that the shop assistant was probably in big trouble.
Although this shop assistant wasn't very polite to me, I didn't think she deserved to die for it.
So I grabbed Kane's hand and asked softly, "How did you get here?"
"I saw you used my card, and I happened to be in this mall. I was discussing something with James nearby, so I thought I'd come see you."
James poked his head out from behind Kane, still with that smiling expression.
"Hello there, beautiful little nun. We meet again."
The shop assistant seemed scared by Kane's presence.
After all, Kane had many bodyguards wearing sunglasses behind him.
The shop assistant didn't seem to realize who Kane was yet. She trembled and took a step back, her eyes wide open.
"Who are you people? What do you want? If you don't leave, I'll call mall security."
James turned his head to look at the shop assistant and sighed silently.
"Looks like you don't know who's in front of you. The entire mall is his. You actually want to call security to kick him out?"
The shop assistant probably didn't recognize Kane, but she knew who the mall's owner was.
Hearing James say this, she stared in shock, her eyes full of disbelief.
"How is that possible? How could he be Mr. Moretti?"
But Kane's presence was so powerful that she couldn't help but believe it.
Finally, the shop assistant seemed to suddenly realize, and she knelt directly in front of Kane, her eyes full of pleading.
"Mr. Moretti, this is my fault. I shouldn't have treated this lady this way. But I really didn't say anything; she misunderstood."
Kane took a step back in disgust, then looked at me, as if asking whether it was true.
I immediately shook my head and pointed at the surveillance camera above the shop assistant's head.
"There's surveillance here. I think such a high-end store should have high-definition surveillance with audio. We can pull up the footage and see what really happened."
The shop assistant seemed to completely lose her strength and collapsed softly to the ground.
She looked at Kane in terror, not daring to speak, as a cat with its throat squeezed.
At this moment, Emily, who had actively come to serve me earlier, walked up.
She glanced at me, then timidly at Kane, and finally faced me, with a bit of pleading in her tone.
"Miss, please don't let her lose this job, okay? She has a bedridden mother at home."
I looked at Emily in surprise.
From this shop assistant's behavior, I thought she probably wasn't an easy person to get along with normally.
I didn't expect Emily to actually speak up for her.
Emily hesitated, but continued, "She's under so much pressure, and sometimes people who come to our store often steal things or deliberately make things difficult for us, so that's why she's like this."
Although I felt Emily's reasoning didn't hold up, I was willing to give her this face.
So I turned to look at Kane.
"Give her a lesson, but don't fire her. After all, she has a family to support."
Working in this kind of luxury brand store, her salary should be pretty good.
Kane looked at me quietly for a while, seeming somewhat unhappy.
I knew Kane thought I was being too soft.
Someone like him, who grew up in this environment, had always been decisive and ruthless, but I really couldn't do that.
Finally, under my pleading gaze, Kane slowly nodded.
"Since my cupcake has pleaded for you, I've decided not to fire you, but your salary this month will be cut in half."
Hearing that Kane wouldn't fire her, the shop assistant felt like she'd gotten her life back. She kept bowing to me.
"Beautiful and kind lady, thank you for not holding a grudge."
I shook my head and looked at her.
"I'm willing to let you go, not because I forgave you, but because you have a good colleague, a good friend."