As soon as she said that, everyone looked over.
Sheril immediately felt her face flush in embarrassment as though she was living on someone's charity.
Rachel, however, didn't let her off. She continued and said, "You can ask your mother to make an appointment for you, though. That way, you'll also be able to attend her classes! By the way, does your mother have any connections? Do you want my mother to hook her up with the relevant people?"
After the Andersons fell into decline, as Simon's wife, Melissa's status had also dropped.
However, not only did her family, the Woods, not help her in any way, but they even rubbed it in.
Take, for example, what was currently happening. What Rachel said had in no uncertain terms told everyone that even though Melissa had been part of the Woods in the past, her current authority and connections were actually not as good as the Woods'.
Sheril clenched her fists and tried her best to make herself look calm as she replied, "No, it's fine. I'm not very interested in dancing anyway…"
Rachel curled her lip. "Is that so?"
She glanced at Caden. Then, as though she was talking about Sheril yet also as insinuating something else, she said, "What a shame."
After that, she turned and looked at the other people there.
However, when she did, she saw that everyone who had been circling around her and asking about Tanya just now was instead now staring curiously at Nora.
The young woman, who was dressed simply, easily became the focus of the crowd just by gracefully standing there.
Rachel frowned. She took the initiative to walk over, held Sheril's hand with a smile, and asked gently, "Who's this, Sheril?"
Sheril suppressed her awkwardness and embarrassment and naturally made the introductions. "This is Nora, my eldest aunt's daughter."
A surprised Rachel immediately exclaimed rather loudly, "Huh? So that's who you are! I totally couldn't tell from your figure that you've given birth before!"
The words "you've given birth before" astonished everyone there.
Rachel covered her mouth and looked at the two of them apologetically. She said, "S-sorry, I accidentally spoke without thinking for a moment there. Nora, you don't mind, right?"
To outsiders, premarital pregnancies were seen as immoral behavior. Under normal circumstances, even if one's family didn't help them to hide it, they wouldn't publicize it like that, either.
However, Rachel had mentioned it the moment she came over. This made everyone instantly look at her in a different way.
Nora could hear someone nearby whisper, "Tsk, she looks pretty pure and innocent. I didn't expect that she already has kids."
"Why is someone like her here to dance? Is she trying to hook up with someone?"
Sheril frowned. She stood in front of Nora and said, "Don't spout nonsense, Rachel. Nora's just here to learn how to dance!"
Rachel cast her eyes down and smirked. "In that case, does she have a dance partner yet?"
Sheril looked at the other people there.
Most people who came here to dance didn't come at fixed intervals. Neither did they have fixed dance partners. She had originally thought that it would be very easy to find Nora a dance partner since she was so pretty.
However, Rachel's words just now had obviously made everyone averse to Nora.
She was about to say something when Nora smiled and said, "It's okay, Sheril. I'll just watch you dance."
Sheril said, "Nora, you…"
Nora cast her eyes down. "It's fine, really."
Sheril knew that trying to comfort her further now would only result in the opposite effect, so she could only give her a resigned nod.
When the dance teacher arrived, everyone split into pairs and started to dance.
A bored Nora leaned against the wall and played with her cell phone while she watched Sheril out of the corner of her eye.
Caden was unexpectedly a pretty good dancer.
International ballroom dancing was performed in pairs of men and women. In particular, if the men were strong enough, their dancing would be very exciting to watch when they led the woman.
Caden was likely a professional. He held Sheril by her waist and danced, the two of them forming a dazzling sight. Gradually, they became the center of all the dancers in the room.
While they were dancing, Sheril was also constantly looking at Nora.
She suddenly suggested, "Caden, why don't you dance with Nora later?"
Caden was a little reluctant. He replied, "I wanted to say this just now, but someone like her who became pregnant before marriage must have a very profligate lifestyle in private. Sheril, you shouldn't associate too much with her."
An unhappy-looking Sheril said, "You don't even know what Nora is like or anything about her past. Why would you say that?"
Caden frowned. "Okay, okay, I won't say any more. She doesn't look like she's danced before, though. I'm a professional; it may not be appropriate to have me lead her in a dance."
His eyes were downcast and he looked obviously reluctant.
After the dance, Sheril cast Caden aside and went to Nora.
Next to them, Rachel clenched her fists when she saw what she did.
Although her dance partner was also pretty good, he ultimately still couldn't compare with Caden.
Sheril obviously didn't dance as well as her, yet because Caden was the one leading her, she had actually danced better than her!
Furious, Rachel narrowed her eyes. Then, she suddenly walked toward Caden…
Sheril had a good temper and a cheerful personality.
Although she found Caden's words unpleasant, she knew that he ultimately wasn't aware of her cousin's circumstances, so it was understandable that he would misunderstand. Thus, after she counseled herself a little, she decided to explain to Caden what had happened to Nora.
She didn't have a profligate lifestyle. Rather, she had been deceived.
But as soon as she turned around, she instead saw Caden and Rachel walking toward her together.
The two of them behaved intimately, which made Sheril frown.
Caden seemed a little awkward, but he nevertheless bit the bullet and said, "I'm having the next dance with Rachel, Sheril."
Sheril's eyes widened. "What?"
Rachel smiled and took Caden's arm. She said, "Sorry about that, Sheril. My partner and I don't fit quite well together. Caden's the best dancer in our class, so I thought that if we dance together, I could have Ms. Turner give him a few pointers, too. It's mutually beneficial for both of us after all! You won't mind, right?"
Sheril was so angry that her hands were shaking.
She looked at Caden with her eyes red.
He had refused to dance with her cousin when she asked him just now, yet he was going to dance with Rachel now?
He clearly knew that she and Rachel were at loggerheads! And that she was always looking for opportunities to bully her!
Sheril felt her throat going tight and she felt like she had been betrayed. She asked, "Are you sure you want to do that, Caden?"
Caden replied in a low voice, "You know I major in dance, so I'll have to participate in international ballroom dancing competitions. If I can get some pointers from Ms. Turner, I'll definitely benefit a lot from it!"
Sheril clenched her fists and said, "Caden, I'll let you choose—either you dance with me or we break up, in which case you're free to dance with whomever you want!"
Caden frowned and said, "You're being unreasonable, Sheril!"
Rachel also said calmly, "Sheril, I'm just asking Caden to dance with me. Why are you making such a huge fuss? How can you hold Caden back like that?"
She sneered, "It's the Andersons who can't get Ms. Turner as a dance teacher, yet you're forbidding me from helping him? If you were able to get her as a teacher and have her give Caden some pointers, he wouldn't have chosen to dance with me, either!"
Sheril turned pale and she tried to hold her tears back.
At this point, an extremely cold and indifferent voice reached them. "Who says the Andersons can't get Tanya to teach us how to dance?"