Pete went upstairs to read. Nora sat on the sofa in the living room.
Lisa wasn’t here yet, but she instead saw Lucy, the housekeeper, coming in with someone who looked like some kind of manager. Lucy said, “Great timing, Ms. Nora. They’ve brought the new season’s clothes over, so you can pick some for yourself.”
As a top-class wealthy family, the Smiths ordered custom-made clothes every season. Of course, as a daughter of the Smiths, if she wanted to buy more clothes herself, then that would be a separate matter.
Representatives from high-end custom brands came to the Smiths every season to let them pick what they wanted from the designer styles. Behind the manager were a few service staff members. Each of them was holding fabric samples for the clothes, as well as a thick magazine featuring various styles of clothing for the ladies of the Smiths to choose from.
When the manager saw Nora, he immediately respectfully handed over the magazine he was holding and said, “Please have a look first, Ms. Smith.”
Lucy said, “I’ll go and notify Ms. Yvonne and Mdm. Maureen.”
They were the only other young women living in the manor. From Quentin, the third son, all the way to Louis, the sixth son, none of them were married yet. Previously, when Hillary, Mia’s mother, was still living with the Smiths, she would also come over to pick clothes from the catalog.
However, now that Joel had driven her out, there was one fewer person in the family that was part of the process.
When Yvonne was going downstairs after being notified, she paused slightly and stood on the spiral staircase when she saw Nora and Maureen, who were seated in the living room.
She narrowed her eyes and looked at Lucy.
When they were choosing clothes in the past, Florence would never ask her to go downstairs. She would always take the manager straight to her room and let her have her pick first. It was only after she’d had her pick that she would then let Maureen and Hillary choose from the remaining styles.
Yet, not only was Lucy asking her to go downstairs now, but she was actually even allowing Nora and Maureen to choose ahead of her?!
Yvonne became even more furious.
She felt especially angry when she saw how Maureen and Nora were huddled together and looking at the magazine like close girlfriends. The intimacy between the two of them was completely different from how they treated her.
Yvonne lowered her gaze and suddenly sneered.
She went downstairs and sat on the one-seater sofa at the side.
The manager immediately presented another magazine to her.
Yvonne listened to the other two women’s conversations while she looked at her own magazine. Maureen said, “This red dress is gorgeous! And it even makes one look tall and slim!”
“…Oh,” Nora said.
Yvonne flipped to the section featuring this season’s red dresses when she heard her.
Red was too orthodox a color, so there were generally relatively fewer designs every season.
Additionally, after so many years, Yvonne had already come to know since a long time ago that Maureen favored red clothes.
In the past, she would always deliberately pick the attractive red designs first, and leave two unattractive designs for Maureen, despite the fact that red didn’t actually suit her.
She had done that just to let Maureen know who the noblest woman in the family was.
But now…
Yvonne suddenly pointed to the magazine and remarked, “Nora, this red dress suits you really well!”
The design she was pointing to was the most unique and prettiest one of the year. Maureen had already had her eye on it a long time ago.
Nora, who was taken aback, looked over. The dress was indeed pretty nice.
“Doesn’t it look great?” Yvonne’s lips curled in a smile and she said, “I’ll let you pick first since this is your first year with us. I think this dress is pretty nice, and it’s also the best design this year. Why don’t you take it?”
Now that the dress she loved had been snatched away, let’s see if Maureen would still get along with her!
Yvonne thought to herself viciously.
She looked at Maureen after she spoke. Sure enough, the light in her eyes had dimmed. She sat upright, coughed, and turned over the page where the red dress was on the magazine she was holding.
This meant that she had given up.
However, she definitely wasn’t going to be happy about it.
See? No matter how good a relationship they shared, it was nevertheless still fake. A mere dress could easily estrange the two of them.
While Yvonne was sneering at them, Nora said in a low voice, “Yeah, that dress is certainly pretty nice.”
Yvonne was thrilled. Sure enough, she saw Maureen stiffen.
Nevertheless, she still suppressed her fondness for the dress. Her smile became a little forced, but she still said to Nora, “The dress suits you very well.”
Then, as if she had convinced herself about it, she resumed her usual bighearted demeanor and said, “Besides, true red gives one a lot of presence, so it suits formal occasions a lot. This is the first year since your return, Nora, so it’s a good idea for you to pick this dress.”
She actually became a little more generous?
Yvonne clenched her fists.
Maureen was simply too much. Every time she snatched the dresses from her, she had always looked at her as if she had just robbed her of her baby.
Yet, when it was Nora who snatched the dress she wanted from her, she actually got over it?
Was this the difference between someone who had blood relations to the family and someone who didn’t?!
She was still thinking about it furiously when Nora said, “No, it’s okay. The dress suits you a lot.”
Yvonne: ??
She abruptly looked at Nora, only to see that she was looking at Maureen. She said, “Red suits you a lot.”
Maureen’s eyes lit up. “Do you think so, too?”
Nora nodded. “Yeah.”
She wasn’t stupid. Maureen had flipped straight to that page when she picked up the magazine, and also stared at it for really long. She had even wondered why she hadn’t just taken it immediately if she liked it.
It wasn’t until Yvonne came down that she suddenly figured out why.
The dress didn’t really matter to her anyway, why deprive someone of what they liked?
Sure enough, Maureen got up happily. She was so excited that even her eyes had turned a little red.
For the first time… For the very first time, she felt respected in the Smiths.
In the past, all the good things in the family were always given to Yvonne first, and she had also taken them all very unceremoniously. Maureen could never get anything she really liked.
It wasn’t that bad if it was just once or twice, but once it built up, even someone with a big heart like Maureen found it hard not to feel resentful about it.
Courtesy was a virtue, but it wasn’t always true that courtesy without any limit would always win one respect.
Moreover, they were all women in their twenties. She was only three or four years older than Yvonne, so why did she have to give in to her all the time?
However, she had gained recognition from Nora in this instant.
She held Nora’s hand excitedly and said, “Nora, you’re so… so… How can anyone not like you?”
Maureen was so excited that she gave Nora a peck on the cheek. Then, she said happily to the manager, “Make this dress in my measurements!”
The manager had the body measurements of all the ladies in the Smiths.
The manager was about to nod when Yvonne, who was standing beside him, clenched her fists in fury.
After her expression changed a few times, she suddenly took a step forward and interrupted the manager before he could speak. She said, “Wait a minute. Sorry, Maureen, but I actually really like this dress, too.. I’m taking the dress, sir.”