Tải xuống ứng dụng
5.78% Reborn Young Miss: Phoenix Burning Red / Chapter 28: Stepmother (2)

Chương 28: Stepmother (2)

Camilla didn't waste time. By afternoon, Adrienne was seated inside a limousine with Camilla and Elise. Elise pretended not to see her and only spoke to her mother, occasionally glancing at Adrienne. Initially, she thought that with the three of them boarded inside the car, Adrienne would feel uneasy. However, who knew that once Adrienne boarded the limousine, she pulled out her phone and kept her eyes on it. With Adrienne's imposing aura, Elise could only hold back the words she wanted to say.

The entire ride toward the shopping mall was spent in silence. Camilla brought them to a shop named 'Spotlight.' It was a luxury brand owned by the Jiang family. It offered various products for young women, such as clothing, perfumes, cosmetics, and jewelry, and it was quite popular within the Elite Circle.

Adrienne stopped momentarily and looked at the signage outside the shop. Camilla must have not known that 'Spotlight' was the fruit of her mother's hard work. When the Jiang family faced a financial crisis, 'Spotlight', managed by her mother, saved the company from bankruptcy. She glanced at Camilla and Elise, who excitedly entered the shop arm-in-arm.

Camilla noticed Adrienne hadn't followed them and halted. She wasn't willing to bring Adrienne with them today, but she already promised her in-laws to look after Adrienne's needs.

"Addie? Come with us. You don't have to worry about the expense. Your father agreed to let us take whatever we need from the shop." She said while Elise smiled mockingly at Adrienne.

"Sister Adrienne probably doesn't know that Spotlight is the place to go if you want to be in trend."

Adrienne sneered inwardly. Just because she hadn't stepped in this place for two years, it didn't mean she didn't care about it. Seeing the shop made her want to seize it for herself. This was her mother's shop. When she was younger, her mother frequently took her along for their shop inspections to familiarize her with the whole process.

Who gave her father the right to use it to pamper and spoil his mistress?

She walked towards Camilla and smiled coldly. "Then I'll need to trouble Aunt Camilla to bring me here more often in the future so that I can catch up with the trend. What would others say if they saw the Eldest Miss of our family looking like a church rat?"

Camilla stiffened. She wondered if she was just seeing things or if Adrienne had given her an icy mocking smile. She tried to hide her reaction by forcing a smile while gently taking Adrienne's hand. They were in a public area, and she knew anything said between them could easily reach someone's ears.

"Yes, of course. Since your mother isn't here to care for you, I'll try my best to raise you as my own daughter!"

If it were in the past, Adrienne would easily fall for such a trick. However, now that Adrienne knew how rotten this woman before her was, how could she accept Camilla as her mother? Her mother, Rosemary Zhao, was still alive! How dare this woman speak as if her mother had already died?!

Meanwhile, Elise clenched her teeth tightly and glared at Adrienne. She would never accept Adrienne as her sister! After the recent humiliation she suffered because of Adrienne, she couldn't wait to get even with her.

Before Adrienne could answer Camilla, a shop attendant dressed in a tight-fitting black uniform came and greeted them enthusiastically.

"Welcome, Madam Jiang, Miss Elise. How can I assist you today?"

Because Adrienne had started walking around, the attendant almost missed her presence. The shop assistant turned her attention towards Adrienne and looked at the latter in surprise. Adrienne was wearing a white shirt, a pair of denim pants, and a pair of white shoes. Though her outfit looks simple, it wasn't enough to dull her presence.

"Miss Addie?" The woman called Adrienne as if she couldn't believe what she was seeing.

Adrienne turned her head and said, "Yes?"

The shop attendant's face lit up. "It is really you!"

She looked thrilled and excited at the same time. She excused herself from Camilla and hurriedly went to the staff room without explanation. Another shop attendant stepped in and showed Camilla and Elise around when she noticed that the three were left to their own devices.

"Addie, do you have any idea what kind of dress you would like to wear? Elise and I are here in case you need us."

Camilla wanted to see Adrienne make a fool out of herself. After all, Adrienne hadn't presented herself in public events for a long time. From what she knew, Rosemary Zhao didn't have much time to spend with Adrienne when she was younger, so how could she act as a proper eldest miss? She wanted her daughter, Elise, to shine during this banquet. This was why although she didn't like Adrienne attending the party, Camilla had to make sure everything would go according to her plan.

"Thank you, Aunt Camilla. I'll be fine on my own. You can enjoy your shopping without me." Adrienne said before turning her back to the mother-and-daughter pair, not wanting to sully her eyesight anymore. She wasn't oblivious to their real intentions.

However, Camilla's eyes remained on Adrienne. Looking at the young woman, it reminded Camilla of Rosemary and she felt uneasy. In the beginning, Lewis Jiang had chosen to marry Rosemary Zhao over her. Not only did Rosemary Zhao have a better family background, but she was also prettier and more presentable than Camilla, who came from a middle class family. If it wasn't for the Jiang family facing a financial crisis back then, she would have been the madam of this family a long time ago.

When she finally married Lewis, the media kept comparing her to Rosemary Zhao. From the moment their paths crossed, Camilla was forced to live in Rosemary's shadow. Therefore, the more Adrienne grew into a stunning beauty like her mother, the more Camilla despised her.


Chương 29: Stark Contrast (1)

Adrienne looked around and noticed that 'Spotlight' wasn't as grand as she remembered. It had only been two years since her mother's accident, and Spotlight's growth had considerably decreased. Though the style and the concept remained, the new sets of clothes and jewelry looked subpar compared to those her mother had commissioned in the past.

She heard that her father had fired the designers her mother had been working with and replaced them with designers who offered lower rates. It made sense to her why the quality had lowered too. Her father seemed to be trying to cut the company's loss by cutting off the expenses.

Adrienne sighed inwardly. He was slowly shoving her mother's efforts down the drain by doing this. At this rate, she wouldn't be surprised if the company suffered more losses in the future. However, how could Adrienne let that happen? She would seize everything the Jiang family had as payment for what they'd done to her and her mother.

The previous shop attendant returned with the manager, whom Adrienne recognized. She hadn't seen this woman in a long time. She hadn't expected that she was still working in this place.

"Miss Addie, I'm glad that you're back. Is there something I can help you with?" The manager named Joanne Lin greeted Adrienne with a sincere smile. Rosemary had just hired her as a new manager of this branch when they first met, and Adrienne didn't think that Joanne would remember her.

"Miss Lin, it's been a while." Adrienne gave the older woman a curt nod. "I'm here to pick up a dress for my Grandpa's birthday banquet."

"Miss Addie, you are just in time. The new collection has just been launched. You will definitely look nice in them. Would you like to give it a try?" The shop attendant's name was Marie, and she was a close friend of the manager. She had heard things about Rosemary and Adrienne before and felt bad about how things turned out after Rosemary's accident.

Joanne shook her head. "No, Marie. Those pieces don't go well with Miss Addie's appearance. Why don't you try the previous collection made by your mother instead? It might not be in trend, but it would surely highlight your best features."

Adrienne hesitated for a moment. The last collection her mother launched was released a day before her accident. The public easily forgot the launch as the news of the accident overshadowed it. It made sense to her why Joanne would offer her the previous pieces.

"Alright. Let me see what you have there." She replied, allowing the two women to lead her to a private VIP room.

Marie and Joanne brought three racks of dresses and several jewelry cases for Adrienne to see. The dresses were all made of first-rate materials, and they came in an assortment of colors. All of the colors suited young women like her. Adrienne slightly cringed upon seeing a dress with a death Barbie pink color.

She already knew what kind of dress Elise would wear for the event, but the more vibrant the color Adrienne would wear, the more it would highlight Elise's refined beauty. The huge contrast would be unfavorable for Adrienne then. Their grandfather's birthday banquet started Elise's rise in her previous life, so how can she allow it to happen this time?

Marie started to get worried when Adrienne rejected each dress she presented. They were left with only a few dresses, and she wasn't sure if any of them would catch Adrienne's eye. She wanted to say something to Joanne, but when she turned her head to speak to her friend, she realized that Joanne agreed with Adrienne's sentiments about the previous dresses.

"That one," Adrienne suddenly pointed to a long crimson dress on the rack. "I would like to see that one."

Marie didn't expect Adrienne to choose the most vibrant dress in the collection, but she had no choice but to collect it for her. Only a few people could pull off this shade of red.

"But Miss Addie… this dress…" Joanne also expressed her doubt about Adrienne's choice of dress, but Adrienne cut her off.

"We've been here for an hour now. Elise might have picked out the white dress she'd been staring at earlier." She said out of the blue.

Joanne was confused for a moment before something dawned on her. They had catered to Elise for the past two years and knew she preferred light and neutral colors. Elise always presents herself as a fairy who lost her way on the earth. As expected, she chose a white dress to highlight her innocent features, but standing next to Adrienne, who would be wearing a fiery bright red, would only drown Elise's presence.

"But Miss Addie, I don't think we have your size for this dress." Marie lamented. She was eager to see what Adrienne would look like wearing such a stunning dress. This dress also came with a set of jewelry to complete the look, so Adrienne didn't have to worry about what accessories to pair it with.

"Don't fret, Miss Addie. I will guarantee that I can fix this dress before the event. When the time comes, you must clear the rumors about you and make those naysayers shut their mouths. I'll make sure all eyes will be drawn to you."

Adrienne smiled. "Miss Lin is too much. It's enough for the dress to be presentable. I don't want to take away the limelight from grandpa. There's no need to use such sweet words on me."

Thus, with Marie's help, Joanne took Adrienne's measurements. It would take them a few days to fix the dress according to Adrienne's size, but the latter wasn't worried about being compared to Elise anymore. By the time she stepped out of the VIP room empty-handed, Camilla couldn't help but frown.

"Addie, didn't you take anything with you? Are the designs not to your liking?" She asked while Elise completely ignored Adrienne, choosing to check the new expensive jewelry set on display instead.

"No, Aunt Camilla. Everything is already settled." Adrienne said with a knowing smile.


Load failed, please RETRY

Quà tặng

Quà tặng -- Nhận quà

    Tình trạng nguồn điện hàng tuần

    Đặt mua hàng loạt

    Mục lục

    Cài đặt hiển thị

    Nền

    Phông

    Kích thước

    Việc quản lý bình luận chương

    Viết đánh giá Trạng thái đọc: C28
    Không đăng được. Vui lòng thử lại
    • Chất lượng bài viết
    • Tính ổn định của các bản cập nhật
    • Phát triển câu chuyện
    • Thiết kế nhân vật
    • Bối cảnh thế giới

    Tổng điểm 0.0

    Đánh giá được đăng thành công! Đọc thêm đánh giá
    Bình chọn với Đá sức mạnh
    Rank 200+ Bảng xếp hạng PS
    Stone 24 Power Stone
    Báo cáo nội dung không phù hợp
    lỗi Mẹo

    Báo cáo hành động bất lương

    Chú thích đoạn văn

    Đăng nhập

    tip bình luận đoạn văn

    Tính năng bình luận đoạn văn hiện đã có trên Web! Di chuyển chuột qua bất kỳ đoạn nào và nhấp vào biểu tượng để thêm nhận xét của bạn.

    Ngoài ra, bạn luôn có thể tắt / bật nó trong Cài đặt.

    ĐÃ NHẬN ĐƯỢC