lissa sauntered past the barricade and unhesitatingly pushed her way toward the venue. No one had noticed her yet, thankfully. She kept her chin high, hoping no one would see her until she reached the building.
But, as always, her peace was short-lived.
"lissa?"
Her steps faltered at the sudden call from her side.
"lissa Young?"
lissa gulped and slowly turned her head toward the voice. The second she t the person’s eyes, deep lines ford between her brows.
"Do I know you?"
The other person grinned and leaned closer, stopping only when lissa instinctively stepped back. "lissa, it’s !"
"Huh?" lissa studied the woman’s face—she was wearing a black turtleneck under a gray, almost worn-out blazer. "I’m sorry, but I don’t know you."
"Co on! It’s ! Have you forgotten? Aileen!" Aileen’s voice rose in pitch as she grinned and hastily reached for lissa’s hand. "We used to play together! Don’t you rember?"
lissa blinked, her gaze tracing the woman’s features until a faint image of a child overlapped with Aileen’s face. Her lips instantly curved downward. Of course, she rembered that child. After all, that girl used to worship Lola and caused lissa endless trouble.
She could still recall the ti Aileen had told the Lancaster boys—Travis and Caullen—sothing that made them avoid lissa like the plague. Aileen had even almost ruined her relationship with Derek. Thankfully, Derek had sided with her.
"Gosh, it’s so nice to see you here!" Aileen clasped her hands excitedly. "Are you also attending the G Fashion Show?"
"Uh..." lissa cleared her throat. "Yes."
"Oh, nice!"
"Aileen, what are you doing here?"
"? Well... I have work here," Aileen said, rubbing her chin. "But that’s not important! How have you been, lissa? It’s so good to see you! Wow, it’s been years! You look amazing! Is that—wait, is that from G’s last collection?"
"Oh." lissa’s brows twitched slightly. She shrugged and lifted her chin with confidence. "Yes, it is."
"Wow! lissa, did you know there are only three of those pieces from the brand?"
"Huh?"
"It’s part of their exclusive design sold through bidding!" Aileen exclaid, eyes twinkling. "I heard one piece costs more than half a million or more."
The mont lissa heard the price, she almost choked. She already knew about the design but hadn’t checked its cost. The website had only shown the collection, not the price. She assud it was from a previous line.
Watching Aileen’s excitent, lissa cleared her throat and shrugged casually.
"Well, it’s nice, isn’t it?" She smacked her lips lightly and smiled. "Aileen, I’m really surprised to see you tonight. I an, this place is closed off because of the event. You shouldn’t be idling around here, even if you work nearby."
She fluttered her eyelashes, eyeing Aileen’s misplaced clothing. "I know you’ve always liked things your mother couldn’t afford. But the event tonight is very private. If they see you hanging around here, they might drag you out. I’m just looking out for you."
"Anyway, I’m really glad to see you, Aileen." lissa smiled sweetly. "But this isn’t the place where you belong. Tell your mother I said hi."
With that, she turned on her heel and walked away—her confidence higher than before. She’d never liked Aileen for many reasons, but seeing her tonight oddly gave her a boost. At least she hadn’t fallen as far as Aileen.
That’s right. Soone was doing worse than her. Or rather, Aileen had always been at the bottom.
A light scoff escaped lissa as she smirked until she heard footsteps behind her. Slowing down, she looked back.
"Aileen, what are you doing?" she asked in disbelief.
Aileen blinked innocently. "If you think I’m following you, I’m not. That’s where I’m going."
"In here?" lissa pointed in the sa direction. "Aileen, didn’t you hear ? There’s a private event here. Don’t tell you’re working inside."
Aileen scratched the back of her head. "Sort of."
"Seriously?" lissa scoffed. "You? Working in there?"
"Why? Is there sothing wrong with that?"
"Aileen, are you saying you’re really working for G? You?"
Aileen’s brows drew together as she studied the ridicule in lissa’s eyes. Seeing that look made her chuckle softly and shake her head.
Sure enough—lissa hadn’t changed one bit. If anything, she’d beco worse.
A small part of Aileen had hoped Lola’s leniency toward the Young family ant they had changed—that perhaps they’d beco decent people. But no. Lola had just been... Lola for giving them so room to breathe.
Good thing Aileen wasn’t like her at all.
"lissa, it’s really good to see you," Aileen said with a subtle smile. "Seeing you brings back a lot of mories."
" too, Aileen," lissa smirked. "It’s nice seeing you. It reminds of a lot of things." — Like the fact that she was doing better than this woman ever could.
After all, Aileen ca from nothing: a maid for a mother, a father long gone. Soone like her could never rise above lissa, who had everything since childhood.
"I’m sure it does, lissa."
lissa turned around again, resuming her walk. But she froze when Aileen spoke once more.
"lissa, the world is round, you know," Aileen said, watching her glance back. "You can’t expect to always stay at the top. Life has highs and lows. You never really know what it’ll hand you."
lissa only scoffed and walked away. There was no point wasting more energy on Aileen.
anwhile, Aileen stayed where she was, arms crossed, eyes cold as she watched lissa’s retreating figure. Then, the corners of her lips curled upward. She took out her phone and dialed soone.
"Hey," she said with a smile. "You were right. Staying here is interesting. Anyway, she’s on her way there. Want to slap her together?"
*****
At the sa ti, Slater raised his brows as he held his personal phone. A satisfied smile spread across his lips. He was the one who had tipped Aileen off to linger in the parking area.
"Sure!" he grinned, ending the call before posing for the caras that still hadn’t had enough of him. When he turned to them, his smile stretched wider.
"Hey, guys! Want to see sothing interesting?"
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