Chapter 3

It was 5:00 p.m. in the afternoon.

As if things were not bad enough that Christina Williams wore shades, she was dressed in cheap office wear for such an important occasion. Matthew Henderson kept his thoughts to himself as resisted the urge to kick her off the car.

“Are you planning to wear this outfit to dinner?”

Embarrassed, Christina gulped. "It's all I’ve got!”

Letting out a snort, his face darkened as he got down the car and strode towards the shopping complex.

Confused, Christina followed tightly, dragging her luggage behind her as she tried not to lose sight of the man.

Matthew headed straight for the women’s department in the shopping complex. Seeing that he had stopped, she took a sigh of relief as she wiped off her sweat.

Just as she was about to take a seat, the man’s voice rose. “Come here. What do you think of this dress?”

“Looks good!” Christina replied without hesitation.

“Try it on then.”

Somewhat startled, she did not know how to react but to shake her head in disagreement. “Me? I’m not the same as your girlfriend, President Henderson. She’s long and lean while I’m short and fat. I won’t be able to do this dress justice even if I try it on.”

Fickle minded when it came to his partners, his love interests varied from time to time. His current obsession now was with a model who had both the looks and the figure to kill for.

He had to be joking if he wanted her to try on clothes for the model.

Annoyed by what she said, Matthew retorted, “Don’t give me that cr*p! Just do what you’re told, okay?”

Christina did not protest. Placing her luggage on the ground, she took the dress from his hands and walked into the fitting room.

She had not worn something so fancy in three years. As she felt the familiar Chanel fabric against her skin, the memories brought forth a turbulence of emotions.

Back then, she used to wear this brand all the time. From her clothes to her perfume, she wore only high-end designer pieces and drew attention no matter where she went.

At that time, she thought that giving her a luxurious life was one of the ways Michael Larson professed his love to her.

Only when her marriage was coming to an end did she realize that things were not the way it seemed. Like her, the founders of Chanel had all gone through failed relationships too.

If she knew that her love life would end up the same way as their founders did, she would probably not wear Chanel at all in the first place.

...

Christina walked out of the fitting room as emotions clouded her thoughts. Flapping her arms open, she stood by the mirror as Matthew circled around her in approval. “Tsk, tsk! Who knew? The ugly duckling has finally grown into a beautiful swan. Amazing!”

As if the outfit had been hand made for her, she looked like an entirely different person as the air around her changed significantly.

“It’s settled. You’ll be wearing this dress tonight then. Go get your hair fixed and remove your glasses.”

“I can’t!” Christina argued. After all, she thought that he only brought her here to help pick out a few outfits for his girlfriend.

It suddenly dawned on her that his sole purpose of the visit to the shopping complex was to give her a makeover. He probably thought that she looked too raggedy to attend the dinner that night.

“This is for work. You don’t have a choice.”

Matthew was not expecting her to reject it. After all, it was Chanel. Who would turn down such a luxurious dress? “The client we’ll be meeting tonight is very important to our company. You can’t afford to make a wrong move!”

“I only work as your secretary. I have a right to reject anything that’s not within my job scope!”

“This is work!” Matthew’s temper flared. Did she know how much this dress cost? Did she know how many people would die for an opportunity like this? Matthew was at a loss for words.

“Do what you want. If you screw up the dinner tonight, don’t expect to receive your pay for the month.”

Tired of reasoning with her, Matthew stomped away.

Christina took a sigh of relief as scurried to the fitting room and changed back into her clothes.

She was not expecting to meet that woman when she walked out of the fitting room.

“Sister?” Serena Garcia had been shopping with her friends when she noticed Christina leaving. It was hard to explain the expression on Serena’s face.

Pretending not to see them, Christina put on her poker face as she headed towards the exit, dress in her hands.

“Yo, I thought that you were talking to someone important, not this b*tch! She looks so much more pitiful since we had last seen her a few years back.”

Seeing how old-fashioned she looked, the two women looked at her with mockery in their eyes. Raising her voice, Wendy continued to ridicule her in a sarcastic manner.

Although she knew that it would only be a matter of time before she bumped into these people, she did not expect to meet them so quickly.

Three years had passed and they had long become strangers. Christina had no intentions to socialize with them then, and she certainly did not wish to get on their good sides now.

“See how ancient she looks! Can you believe how thick-skinned she is to come here wearing that? ”

Serena kept quiet as her friend continued to make fun of Christina. “Know where you stand, woman. This is not the place someone like you should be. Can you afford the clothes if your dirty hands stained them?”

“Wendy!” Serena tried to hush her friend.

“I’m speaking the truth! Since she didn’t gain anything from the divorce with Master Larson, she must’ve been in a pretty bad state. Look at her! Was she penniless to only be able to afford these kinds of clothes? Where did she get the b*lls to visit places like this anyway?”

Christina had nothing to say when Wendy snatched over the dress from her hands. She prepared to leave the store.

“I’m sorry, miss. You can’t leave yet. You’ve made a huge cut here.” The sales assistant stopped her from leaving as Christina noticed the huge hole in the dress.

Stunned, she looked at Wendy. Noticing how she smirked, Christina immediately understood what had happened.

She did not want to waste her time here. It was known that only the richest would shop at this shopping complex and she did not want to be recognized by her old accomplices. She just wanted to get out of there as fast as she could.

“I didn’t,” she explained.

“You’re the only one who has touched it, don’t you dare deny it!” Wendy accused.

Taking a step forward, Christina grabbed Wendy’s hand by force and raised it up. A trace of fabric could be seen trailing from her long fingernails.

“Before you frame someone, remember to get rid of all the evidence. I’m not dumb like you are.”

Wendy’s face turned bright red as the blood flushed in her face. The Christina she knew had never fought back whenever she had been bullied. Michael Larson had been the one defending her instead when people picked on her.

She had changed now. The three years apart had trained her to become a strong-willed woman who would lash out against anyone when she felt threatened.

In an attempt to defuse the situation, Serena took a step forward and said, “My sister must’ve made a cut accidentally when she tried it on. I’ll pay for it, so let her go.”

Christina let out a cold laugh. “Don’t call me your sister. My mom only gave birth to me and I have no siblings other than myself!”