Chapter 21
Chapter 21:
Inside MCN, the crowd wasn’t ordinary — they were the daughters of power, raised in Wront’s most exclusive social circles. Rosanna, freshly reintroduced to that world, couldn’t afford to be humiliated here.
Her face turned grim the second she caught wind of their condescending remarks. Nothing rattled her more than the thought of being dismissed or pitied. So when her pride was on the line, she didn’t hesitate. With a cold glare, she turned to Stacy and said, “There’s nothing worse than someone who goes back on their word. You lost. That means you follow through. If you don’t, we’re done — don’t speak to me again p>
Shock froze Stacy in place as she looked at Rosanna, her body trembling from head to toe.
Every bit of privilege she had came from clinging to Rosanna’s side. Without her, she was nothing. Defying Rosanna wasn’t an option.
Trying to hold herself together, Stacy bit down on her lip and forced the words out. “I am truly sorry, Maia. I should not have talked to you so arrogantly and embarrassed you in public. Please forgive me, and I promise I will remember this lesson p>
“It doesn’t sound so sincere, but whatever. I accept your apology.” Maia raised an eyebrow and gave a slow, satisfied nod.
With her face buried in her hands, Stacy bolted out of the store.
As Rosanna passed Maia, she shot her a glance full of resentment. In her heart, she made a silent promise — Maia would regret this.
But Maia didn’t even flinch. Her attention drifted elsewhere as she noticed Chris entering from the main entrance.
Watching the two retreating figures, Chris squinted before turning to Maia. “Care to explain what just went down p>
With a careless grin, Maia shrugged. “Just ran into a couple of lunatics who didn’t know when to quit p>
That drew a subtle smirk from Chris, his brow slightly lifted.
Instead of asking more about those two women, he simply changed the topic. “Anyway, did you like the clothes p>
At that, Maia suddenly remembered something. She leaned in and whispered by his ear, “Mr. Cooper, these prices are way too high. Maybe we should shop somewhere else p>
“Too high, huh?” Chris, playing along, raised his voice slightly on purpose.
That was all it took for the manager to catch on. He hurried over, plastering on the brightest smile he could manage. “Miss, please accept our sincerest apologies. We’ve caused you unnecessary trouble today. As compensation, the mall would be honored to cover your purchases. Anything you choose is free of charge p>
“Oh… I wasn’t expecting that.” Maia blinked in surprise.
Is the mall owner really that generous? Could they not fear the possibility of her cleaning out their inventory and bankrupting them? Or was it possible that they recognized her as an MCN Supreme VIP, and that was why they were bending over backward to accommodate her?
“Let’s accept it; it would be discourteous to decline.” As Maia was still pondering, Chris gently took the voucher and placed it in her hand.
After expressing her gratitude to the manager, Maia glanced up at Chris with a hint of mischief in her eyes. “This turned out to be a hidden blessing p>
Caught by her mischievous expression, Chris paused briefly. It had been about eleven years since he’d last seen that look on her face.
He grinned. “Looks like it’s not quite as costly as we thought.” With that, he started toward the MCN store. But Maia swiftly tugged at his arm.
“Actually… I’ve had a second look, and the styles here don’t really appeal to me. Let’s check out another place,” she suggested.