Alia instinctively turned back at the sound, and since she had stopped walking, Matteo was forced to halt as well so that he wouldn't just be yanking her along.
Several eyes had turned their attention onto them, only to see a huge rip in Kelsie Friesent's beautiful pink gown. A large tear ran from the bottom of the dress all the way to her upper thigh, revealing what was more than polite.
Instantly, Caleb removed his suit jacket and wrapped it around Kelsie's waist. His eyes were trained on Alia's shoe, red with anger.
"Alia, what do you think you're doing?" he yelled, all while protectively holding Kelsie behind him.
Alia's eyebrows instantly shot to the top of her forehead. "What did I do?" she asked, confused.
"Caleb, it's fine," Kelsie instantly said, holding onto Caleb's upper arm. "She must've been upset about the wine from earlier. That was a cherished piece of clothing after all."
"Still, there's no need for her to purposely rip your dress!" Caleb seethed. "What is wrong with you, Alia? Must you be so petty about such trivial things? It's just a dress. And don't you already have a new dress to change into?"
He pointed at Alia's new outfit, but the latter did not miss the way Caleb's line of sight lingered on her cleavage for a second too long. Neither did Kelsie Friesent.
Kelsie's grip tightened on Caleb's arm, and a small choked sob escaped her lips. "Caleb, it's alright," she said. "I just want to get a change of clothes."
Caleb, who noticed the sparkling beads of tears in Kelsie's eyes, turned to Alia. His lips curdled into a nasty sneer before he spat out the word, "Strip."
"Excuse ?" Alia blinked; she must have misheard.
Caleb sneered derisively. "I told you to strip! Are you deaf now? You tore Kelsie's dress, so you must give her yours in repaynt. Besides, this is a bargain you should be happy to accept. It's not as though you could afford to replace her dress with what pathetic little you own."
Alia could only laugh, incredulous. "Is the suit you're wearing not clothing? Since you claim to love Miss Kelsie so much, you should strip and let her wear your clothes instead. More importantly, I did not rip Miss Kelsie's dress."
Beside her, the faintest smile ford on Matteo's face.
"How dare you! You're just trying to shirk responsibility for your carelessness!" Caleb yelled, "This is revenge for the wine earlier!"
Matteo's eyes darkened, as he received a missing piece of the puzzle. So these two individuals were responsible for Alia's distraught deanor earlier.
"How fascinating," Matteo's voice escaped in a soft nacing growl. "What's this I'm hearing about wine on a dress?"
Alia was startled by the venom in his voice. For the briefest mont, Alia had a feeling that her boss was more upset that she had wine splashed on her than he was about losing a five-million-dollar flute.
Then she blinked and reminded herself to go back to reality.
Kelsie quickly gripped Caleb's hand tightly, wordlessly warning him to keep his mouth shut. If Caleb blabbered the truth to Matteo, there was no knowing what he might do in retaliation. According to the rumor mill, Matteo Montgory was a man who took very good care of his people.
It was better to be safe than sorry. Kelsie wanted to keep her options open, just in case things didn't work out with Caleb.
Caleb coughed. "Nothing. Just a tiny accident that you don't have to worry about."
"I see," Matteo said evenly, nodding in response. "In that case, I see no reason why you should demand Alia strip off her dress in response. That is a drastic overreaction to a simple accident, one caused by Miss Kelsie herself."
Caleb spluttered, surprised at Matteo's words. This was the most that Matteo Montgory had spoken to him. After all these years of trying and failing to hold a conversation with him, to think the incident that loosened his tongue was Kelsie's ruined dress!
"How can you prove it?" Caleb challenged, bravado in his voice. He couldn't back down without trying to argue― it would make him look weak.
"A word of advice, Mr. Montgory, you don't know Alia as well as I do. It's highly possible that she could have ripped Kelsie's dress on purpose!"
Matteo turned his stony gaze at Caleb and then went on his knees in front of Kelsie. Kelsie's face imdiately blood a bright red. Oh, she had successfully managed to win Matteo's attention from that bitch Alia―
"As you can see, the thread and beading of Miss Kelsie's dress is still attached to the bottom of her heel," Matteo pointed out, his fingers jabbing in the direction of her heel, yet he made sure not to touch her at all.
True enough, the priceless crystals were littered around the floor of Kelsie's feet, the pale pink threads stuck to the sharp black edge of her heels, easily visible under the light.
He rose up again and addressed Kelsie and Caleb, "I understand you might not want to take responsibility for such a careless mistake, but it is important to investigate the root of the problem instead of mindlessly blaming an innocent person."
He gave a particularly flinty glare at Caleb at the last part, who shrunk back at the force of his glare. "Especially, when you're so intent on seeking retribution."
Now, Kelsie was red in the face from embarrassnt. She had never felt so humiliated in her life! Caleb's little stunt had effectively drawn the eyes of everyone in the room, so all of them knew it was her fault, to begin with. She had no doubt that the story would spread past this event.
But the first thing she had to do was to smooth things over with Matteo Montgory.
"Please forgive Caleb, Matteo," Kelsie said sweetly, batting her eyelashes. "He went overboard, but it was simply out of concern for ."
"I believe we're not familiar enough to be on a first-na basis," he stonily said, causing Kelsie's lips to go pale while her cheeks turned beetroot.
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