Katherine enters the room and picks up a pair of shoes. She examines the small, narrow shoes and frowns. She knows the shoes are too small for her daughters to wear. As she examines the beautiful but petite clothing, her face distorts with irritation and rage. It’s clear the clothes aren’t meant for her daughters and she wants to shred them to pieces.
“Look, there’s another box over there,” Vanessa exclaims, noticing an unopened box buried beneath the discarded wrapping and tissue paper, “Is it another gown?”
Janetta crosses the room to open the box. She notices a string of elegant script scrawled across the top of the box: “If you are willing to wear it…” The message trails off and an arrow points down at the contents of the box.
Janetta quickly tears the lid off and open the box. A delicate, gauzy white veil sits at the top of the box, but Janetta is more interested in what lies underneath. She tosses the veil aside, revealing a beautiful evening gown, embroidered with fine white thread and hundreds of pearls. The pearls are attached to the skirt of the gown to resemble the constellations of the Milky Way.
“Oh my God, those pearls are so beautiful!” Vanessa gushes, “It’s a pity that the waist is too small. None of us could fit it, except for Gabrielle.”
Among the sisters, Janetta and Leilani have the most similar body types. They’re similar in height and they have similar figures. From the back and from a distance, it would be difficult to distinguish between the two—though Leilani is slightly taller and thinner.
“I don’t know, I think you could fit into it,” Vanessa says, joining Janetta by the box, “Would you like to try it on? Perhaps it was meant for you?”
Janetta accepts her sister’s flattery and happily puts on the gown.
The neckline of the gown is covered in pearls, and the gown itself is so long it trails on the floor.
“Oh, it’s beautiful,” Vanessa gushes, “It’s tailor-made for you. Mr. Bamford must have sent it especially for you.”
Though Vanessa is jealous, she tries to ingratiate herself with Janetta. She knows that the skirt is for Leilani, and she wants to infuriate Leilani and curry favor with Janetta at the same time.
“If you wear this skirt to the party, you’ll be the most beautiful woman there,” Vanessa continues.
Janetta twirls slowly in the dress to showcase it.
“The dress is very beautiful,” Leilani interrupts calmly, “Do you plan to give it to me now?”
Leilani stands on the second floor and looks down at her sisters from the balcony. She leans elegantly against the rail as she speaks.
“How can you prove that the dress belongs to you?” Janetta asks.
She adores the graceful gown and thinks it looks as if it was made to suit her. She loathes to give it back to her sister.
“My husband sent the dress, so of course it belongs to me,” Leilani replies as if she’s talking to a simple child, “Why would you think that my husband would send a dress to you?”
“I think it looks like it was made for Janetta,” Vanessa insists.
“Most designers and fashion experts agree that women look fat when they wear white,” Leilani says with a smirk, “Are you still sure you want to wear it?”
Janetta is shorter than Leilani and not as thin, and it’s true that the white gown makes her look bigger than her size. Besides, the dress is clearly slightly too small. It was difficult for her to zip it up, and even now the zipper slightly strains and puckers. Janetta feels infuriated and wants to retaliate.
“Why would you think that Mr. Bamford sent the dress to you?” she snaps, “He already sent so much clothing to Gabrielle.”
“You’re right,” Vanessa echoes, “Mr. Bamford had several boxes of clothes sent to Gabrielle with the instructions to let her pick whatever she likes. Even if the dress was meant for you, it’s just one simple dress. Funny how love results in such strange treatment. Besides, Gabrielle’s clothes are all made by famous designers. Even if the dress that Janetta wears belongs to you, it’s just some nameless thing by an unknown designer.”
Leilani smiles to herself. She knows that Vanessa is trying to provoke a fight between her and Gabrielle, in the hopes that they’ll turn against each other. Vanessa walks toward Janetta and unzips the dress.
Vanessa looks inside the dress for a label and smiles triumphantly when she sees that there isn’t one.
“Clearly, the dress was made by hand, and I can see from here that it took a lot of skill,” Leilani says, “Surely only a master could have done it. Sister Janetta, don’t you know quality when you see it?”
Janetta feels blushes with frustration, unsure about how to answer Leilani.
“Even if the dress was made by hand, it’s clearly for Janetta or Gabrielle and not you,” Vanessa says.
Leilani smiles with amus.e.m.e.nt.
“It’s just like the old days,” she thinks, “Now that Waylen isn’t here to intimidate them and protect me they’re eager to grab everything they can.”
A maid holding a box of accessories interrupts, “Sorry Miss Janetta, Mr. Bamford ordered the dress for Mrs. Bamford.”
Janetta scowls at the maid but makes no move to remove the dress.
“Lady Janetta, please take it off,” the maid entreats, “If Mr. Bamford finds out that we let you wear it, we’ll be punished.”
Janetta looks pale as she scowls at the maid in fury. Finally, leaves the room to change. In the privacy of the other room, she slowly pulls the dress down and lets it fall to the floor. Then she begins to trample it underfoot, using her high heels to rip the delicate fabric. She reenters the main room carrying the damaged dress.
“Sister Leilani, I’m so sorry,” she says with fake guilt, “While I was changing, I somehow tore the dress. It was completely accidental, of course.”
She dr.a.p.es the dress over Leilani’s arm. Leilani spreads the dress and finds that it is torn from the chest to the waist. She quickly grabs her phone and snaps several photos of the dress.
“Mrs. Bamford, you can give the dress to me and I can sew it,” the maid offers, “It’s such a pity that such a beautiful gown is ruined.
“You don’t need to sew it, it’s fine,” Leilani says as she looks around the room. She points at the wall near the TV and hands the dress to the maid, “Nail the skirt to the wall and make sure everyone knows that it can’t be taken down without my orders.”
“What?” The maid asks confused.
Janetta freezes, “What are you doing?”
“It’ll be like an exhibition,” Leilani says patiently, “Everyone who enters the house can see how beautiful the dress is, even if it’s ruined.”
“I don’t understand,” Janetta says, “Do you want your husband to see your weakness? What if he thinks the dress tore because you couldn’t fit into it?”
“I’m not worried about that,” Leilani says calmly, “I just want others to see how beautiful the dress was and how tragically it was destroyed.”
“Well, I can ask people to fix it,” Janetta says, grabbing the dress from the maid.
“No, you can’t,” Leilani replies, “Mr. Bamford hasn’t seen it yet.”
Janetta can’t believe that Leilani is fighting back and even threatening her.
“Fine, then I’ll sew it myself,” Janetta snaps.
Leilani pretends to consider Janetta’s offer and sits down on the sofa.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.
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