"Mom!"
Alia Sutton threw herself in front of Mae Sheffield, shouting, "You want to hit , is that it? Then do it! Co on, hit right in the face!"
Alia jutted out her chin defiantly. "Once you’ve beaten Mom and to death, you can go suck up to Eliza Sutton, the great Madam Lockwood!"
"Alia!" Mae Sheffield grabbed her daughter tightly, her voice urgent. "Don’t you dare speak to your father like that! Apologize, now!"
Alia’s face was a mask of stubbornness. She refused to back down.
Mae Sheffield quickly apologized on her daughter’s behalf. "It’s all my fault. I didn’t raise our daughter right. She’s about to be married, yet she still acts like a child, so quick to judge. I’ll have a good talk with her."
The thought of the marriage to the Hughes family softened Harrison Sutton’s expression slightly. He said coldly, "Alia does need to be taught a lesson. Otherwise, once she marries into the Hughes family, her mother-in-law won’t spoil her the way we do!"
With that, Harrison Sutton stord out.
Alia Sutton helped Mae Sheffield to her feet. Seeing her mother’s swollen face, she was filled with anger and anxiety. "Mom, are we just going to keep swallowing this humiliation and let Eliza Sutton walk all over us?"
"In her dreams! I’d like to see how a dead person is going to walk all over us!" Mae Sheffield snarled, a venomous light glinting in her eyes.
...
After work, Eliza Sutton followed the mbers of Design Team B, led by Brenda Preston, to the Elysian Palace Entertainnt Center.
This establishnt, which combined entertainnt and dining, was quite renowned in Seabourne. Nearly every gathering for the design departnt was held here.
This ti, however, they were barred from entering their private room.
The portly manager of the Elysian Palace Entertainnt Center bowed before Brenda Preston.
"Miss Preston, I’m very sorry, but you cannot use the private room today."
Brenda Preston frowned, feigning annoyance. "Give a reason."
The portly manager said, "Ordinarily, Miss Preston, since you ca in person with your group, and to a pre-booked room, we’d have to let you use it no matter what. But you know the Elysian Palace is one of the most exclusive venues in Seabourne. If we just let any sort of person in, wouldn’t that lower our standards?"
As he spoke, the manager’s gaze swept over the crowd before landing precisely on Eliza Sutton.
Eliza knew this was aid at her.
Sure enough, she heard Brenda Preston ask, "Manager Campbell, what do you an by that? These are my colleagues from the Lockwood Group, not just ’any sort of person.’"
Manager Campbell said, "Anyone who can get into the Lockwood Design Departnt is one of the elite, whom I’ve always admired. However, I heard that this ti, a criminal has been added to your ranks. Miss Preston, you know we businessn are very particular about good ons. If we let an ex-con like that into the Elysian Palace, wouldn’t it offend the refined sensibilities of our other patrons?"
Manager Campbell’s voice was loud, attracting a number of onlookers who pointed at Eliza and began to whisper amongst themselves.
"You wouldn’t think it, would you? Such a pretty young woman, and she’s been to prison."
"What Manager Campbell is doing is great. He’s really looking out for the rest of us."
"Soone of my status can’t be seen coming and going from the sa place as an ex-con."
Hearing the crowd’s overwhelming support, Manager Campbell puffed out his chest and said loudly, "Miss Preston, you’ve heard what everyone thinks. Please don’t make things difficult for ."
"Oh, well..." Brenda Preston feigned distress, finally speaking up. "Eliza, you see the situation. There’s really nothing to be done. We can’t let everyone’s celebration be ruined just for you. How about this? I’ll give you five hundred. You can go get sothing to eat on your own, okay?"
With that, she crisply counted out five hundred and thrust the cash in front of Eliza.
Eliza looked at the money, then at Brenda Preston’s smug expression. She knew perfectly well that Brenda was doing this on purpose—to humiliate her and isolate her from the group.
’The tactic was crude and simple, but utterly disgusting.’
Seeing Eliza not move, Brenda Preston urged her, "Go on, take it. Don’t waste everyone’s ti. We’re all waiting to eat."
"Yeah, we’re all starving."
"We can’t all go hungry just because of one person’s past mistakes."
"That’s enough!" Crystal Harrison couldn’t take it anymore and snapped, "Have you all forgotten? The only reason Manager Preston is taking us out to celebrate today is thanks to Eliza! Do you have any conscience, talking to her like this?"
A colleague from the design departnt retorted, "We wouldn’t necessarily have lost even without Eliza Sutton. Or are you saying our team leader, Dulcie Vaughn, is less capable than a newcor like Eliza?"
At these words, Dulcie Vaughn’s expression soured. Though she was generally magnanimous, she wasn’t happy about being upstaged by a newcor like Eliza either.
A small, triumphant smile played on Brenda Preston’s lips, a gleam of satisfaction hidden in her eyes.
’So what if Eliza proved her innocence and won the competition? She can dream on if she thinks she can get a foothold in the Lockwood Design Departnt!’
Crystal Harrison’s face flushed red. "That’s not what I ant..."
Eliza was a little surprised. She hadn’t expected Crystal Harrison to stick up for her so strongly.
Brenda Preston’s expression darkened with irritation. "Crystal, get your head straight. You’re a top student with a clean record. What does it look like for you to be hanging around with soone like Eliza Sutton? Do you want to beco low-class, too?"
"Eliza Sutton is not low-class! She’s a good person!" Crystal said firmly. "If you’re forcing her to leave, then I’ll leave with her."
With that, Crystal grabbed Eliza’s wrist. "Let’s go."
Eliza didn’t move.
"Eliza?"
The truth was, Eliza couldn’t care less whether these people looked down on her or not.
’She’d only co to the Lockwood Design Departnt to make it easier to handle her private affairs.’
’But Crystal had stood up for her. She couldn’t just let the young woman leave with her in disgrace, scurrying away with their tails between their legs like beaten dogs. That wouldn’t do at all.’
She looked up at Crystal and asked, "Do you want to go in?"
"Huh?" Crystal was completely bewildered.
Eliza said, "Just tell , do you want to go in or not?"
"Of course I do."
A smile spread across Eliza’s face. "Alright then. We’re going in."
"You? Get a room?" Hearing Eliza’s words, the other colleagues couldn’t help but laugh. "This is the Elysian Palace Club, not so street-side stall."
"I suspect that besides operating a sewing machine in prison, Eliza also minored in stand-up cody."
Crystal Harrison grew a little embarrassed as well. She tugged on Eliza’s sleeve. "Eliza, it’s fine, we can celebrate sowhere else. We have plenty of ti."
"It’s fine. Trust ." Eliza knew Crystal was worried about her. She gave her a reassuring smile, then took out her phone and made a call.
When the call connected, Eliza commanded, "This is Eliza Sutton. I’m at the Elysian Palace Club. Arrange a private room for ."
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