Elara agreed to the two men following her inside the mall after promising her they wouldn’t interrupt her shopping rendezvous.
She also made them promise to follow her only as bodyguards and nothing more.
When asked why she was acting like that, her answer was short and precise.
She wasn’t here just to shop. She was here with a plan, and that plan didn’t have to wait for long when her gaze fell on the four women entering the showroom from the other side.
Antonio recognized the woman in the center within a second.
His gaze flickered to Elara as he immediately remembered how she had mentioned the first pawn in her game of revenge would be none other than Andrew’s mother, Sophia Lloyd.
There was no way this was pure luck. It was a pre-planned trip. And after what Andrew said in the cafe, Sophia was going to bear it quite well, no doubt.
Sophia, who had arrived with her friends, Arohi, Bella, and Grace, immediately furrowed her brows when she saw Elara entering the showroom from the other side.
And what surprised her the most was that she wasn’t alone. The girl appeared with three men trailing behind her, and the way the two of them were wearing masks, it wasn’t hard to guess they were her bodyguards.
But why bring three? Wasn’t this just a way to catch attention?
She was clearly trying to show everyone how important she was now that she had won a contest. Sophia scoffed in her head.
She already had pent-up anger because of the humiliation she endured when Carla wasn’t the lead singer in the drama.
Since the good-for-nothing woman appeared before her, this was a good opportunity for her to show Elara her rightful place, which was below her. Sophia smiled.
"How can I assist you, ma’am?" One of the sales assistants who knew Sophia as a regular immediately rushed to her.
Sophia pursed her lips.
"Is this really a place where anyone can just walk in?" Sophia asked.
The three ladies looked at their friend in surprise, then at Elara, standing at the far end, who was talking to another saleswoman.
"What are you talking about, Sophia?" Grace asked, removing her sunglasses as she tilted her head to look at the dresses casually.
"That woman standing over there, do you think she is in the same league as us? Are we supposed to shop with roadside people now?" Sophia asked.
The saleswoman flicked her gaze towards Elara, who stood there unbothered, and doubt crept into her mind.
"Ma’am, I think you are mistaken. The woman over there isn’t some roadside person," the saleswoman said.
Sophia arched her brows, placing the tip of her sunglasses on her lips.
"No one knows that useless, good-for-nothing woman more than me. Not only is she a man stealer, but she also loves to take on others’ opportunities. Don’t be deceived by those three con men behind her. She surely paid them so she would be allowed in a prestigious place like this," Sophia said.
Elara, well aware that Sophia must already be cooking up trouble for her, smiled and described the details of the kind of dress she was looking for.
"Don’t act stingy when buying. Just keep your hand on whatever that appeases you, and I’ll buy it for you," Daniel murmured from behind her as he stood there casually, looking far from a bodyguard.
"And what do I want in this entire store?" Elara asked casually as she browsed the dresses.
Daniel didn’t say anything for some time, and Elara was about to turn around to mock him when the man leaned forward and whispered in her ear from behind her.
"Then I’ll buy every single piece available, not only in this showroom but in this entire mall, and you’ll have to give me a personal show. And when I say every single piece, I include every lingerie available, be it covering or revealing," Daniel said, the tip of his nose touching Elara’s earlobe, making her heart skip a beat.
Elara turned to scold him for using such words because she knew he was just getting back at her for what she said in the parking lot, but before she could say anything, the man left with Antonio and Mason towards the men’s section, more like Mason dragged them away.
"Ma’am, the kind of dress you described is in the premium section. Please follow me," The saleswoman walked to her, and Elara nodded.
Elara feigned surprise when she saw Sophia standing in the premium section.
The saleswoman attending to Sophia looked at Elara with hesitation.
"Nancy, can I talk to you?" She pulled the other saleswoman away.
They talked in hushed whispers at some distance, and Elara turned to the dresses.
"You have some guts appearing in a place like this," Sophia commented.
Elara didn’t pay her any attention, which angered Sophia even more.
"I am talking to you." Sophia grabbed her elbow to turn her forcefully to look at her.
She thought Elara would act timid and scared in front of everyone because she wouldn’t want to embarrass herself, but what she hadn’t expected was for Elara to jerk her hand away, making her stumble to the side.
"Mrs. Lloyd, don’t go around touching random people like this. Not everyone appreciates it," Elara said.
Sophia glared at her.
"Didn’t I tell you? She is a roadside beggar who has no morals. Who treats their elders like this?" Sophia scoffed.
"Who is my elder?" Elara asked.
"Are you blind? We are all elder than you," Sophia said as if she was entitled to some kind of respect just because of her age.
"And? Just because you are older, does that put you on some kind of pedestal? If you are an elder, behave like one," Elara dismissed the woman who got even more pissed.
"Miss, the dress you were talking about. It is quite pricey. Will you be able to..." The saleswoman bit her lower lip.
They wouldn’t talk to a customer like this. But after what Sophia said and given how they had never seen Elara before, they couldn’t overrule the doubt either.
"Did I give you a price range?" Elara asked, her gaze clear.
The saleswoman shook her head.
"Then what’s stopping you? Bring me the best piece according to the description," Elara said, and she was about to look at other dresses when Sophia stopped her.
"Are you going to keep pretending you can afford a dress here?" Sophia touched Elara’s handbag as if it were dirt, and the others laughed at her.
Elara looked at the woman.
"This way, ma’am." The saleswoman, wanting to separate the two ladies to avoid any chaos in the shop, quickly approached Elara.
However, before she could take another step, Sophia slammed her credit card on the counter.
"I was planning on buying five dresses today. And you can have the commission for all of them. But if you assist her, you can say goodbye to it," Sophia said brazenly.
The saleswoman looked at the platinum card and swallowed hard.
The premium dresses in the showroom cost thousands of dollars. The commission for selling such dresses was more than their monthly salary. And to say Sophia said she wanted five of them.
Usually, customers like Sophia were catered to by the seniors, but if she was openly claiming to let her have the commission, how could she—? The saleswoman looked at Elara with pursed lips.
Elara looked at the saleswoman, the doubt flickering in her eyes, and let out a sharp breath.
"You guys have a weird habit of having monopoly wherever you go, don’t you?" Elara clicked her tongue before smiling.
She walked to where Sophia was standing.
"It’s clear you won’t let me shop here, no?" Elara asked.
Sophia smirked.
"You guessed it right. You are not taking away even a single dress from here as long as I am present here. I don’t care if you sold yourself out to gather money, but I won’t let you ruin the place where I am regular," Sophia said.
Elara nodded in understanding.
"Your words express your hatred towards me clearly," she said calmly.
Sophia scoffed.
"Yes, I hate you. You have no idea to what extent I can go to ruin you for what you did," Sophia openly admitted.
Elara nodded again.
"Why do you hate me, though? Since you claim me to be a roadside beggar, care to explain how a roadside beggar got on your nerves?" Elara asked.
"It’s because—" Sophia paused for a second.
She didn’t know how to respond.
If she mentioned she hated Elara because the girl was Andrew’s wife and had taken away the opportunity to have a good daughter-in-law, it would be like exposing herself.
And if she said it was because of what happened with Carla, she would be calling herself pretty indirectly.
"Because I don’t like your face. Your personality is off," Sophia came out with the best reply.
Even Sophia’s friends looked at her weirdly. Sure, they were used to having their way around, but they never acted like that just because they didn’t like someone’s face. What was wrong with Sophia?
Elara chuckled.
The saleswoman could see this was going to escalate and was about to interrupt when Elara opened her mouth.
"I am a hundred times better looking than your daughter, and regarding the bad vibes, is it because your daughter lost to nobody like me? Because I got the main singer role in the Fallen Star?" Elara asked.
Everyone looked at her in shock.
They had thought she was just a familiar pretty face, but after hearing her words, they couldn’t help but gasp.
So she was the same girl who became a sensation overnight for singing E.T.’s song?
"What did you say? You are a hundred times better looking than my daughter?!" Sophia screeched before she raised her hand to slap Elara.
However, before her hand could even touch Elara, the girl before her acted faster, backhanding her.
The impact was so loud that everyone standing around looked on in horror as Sophia fell to the ground.