Chapter 171: Speak Human Language
The shout startled Catherine Chamberlain, making her hand tremble. Still, she turned to Arabella Donovan with a pleasant smile. "Miss, is there anything else?"
Seeing this, the woman nearby seemed to find the perfect excuse to mock them. She crossed her arms, gloating, "What else could it be? She’s short on cash, obviously. I warned you earlier, but you wouldn’t listen. Look at that outfit of hers. Is it even worth a thousand yuan all together? And she thinks she can just pull out ten million? That’s an utter pipe dream!"
"Oh, I just remembered. I think I have a discount card here. Could you see if it’s usable?"
Arabella Donovan lowered her head and rummaged through her bag for a moment before finally pulling out a pale gold card with "50% Off" printed on it. Below the text was the House of Aethel Jade’s logo.
The card had been tucked into the bottom of a jewelry box when Ms. Kerr had someone deliver two jewelry sets to Arabella and her sister. Thinking it might come in handy, Arabella had brought all her various cards with her today. Now it was proving useful.
The moment she produced the card, the entire store fell deathly silent.
After a moment, the woman was the first to break the silence, throwing her head back with a loud laugh. "HAHAHAHA, I’m dying! Who brings such an obviously fake discount card to a jewelry store? You can’t possibly think everyone is as stupid as you are, that they’ll fall for such a cheap trick and actually give you a discount, can you?"
As she spoke, the woman lunged forward to snatch the card from Arabella Donovan’s hand. "A 50% off card, really? What kind of store gives a customer 50% off? It’s not like they’re trying to go out of business. If you’re going to try and scam people, at least come up with a more believable lie. Fifty percent off... why not just ask them to give you all the jewelry for free?"
But before her hand could even get close to Arabella Donovan, Catherine Chamberlain intercepted the card. She examined it closely, and her eyes lit up. "You’re Miss Donovan?"
Arabella Donovan looked surprised. "You know me?"
"I don’t know you personally, but everyone at our company knows *of* you." After confirming Arabella Donovan’s identity, the smile on Catherine Chamberlain’s face grew even warmer. "There is no problem with your card. I will handle the paperwork for you immediately."
"What? No problem?!" the woman shrieked. Even Mr. Sterling, who had been standing on the sidelines letting his mistress run her mouth, had his expression change.
"Ridiculous! How can that discount card be real? I’ve never heard of your store having any kind of discount card, let alone one for such a large amount!"
Hearing him speak, the woman felt emboldened. "That’s right! The manager of this very store is the husband of Mr. Sterling’s cousin. Don’t you think he’d know if you had discount cards? He says it’s fake, so it must be fake."
Catherine Chamberlain already had a poor impression of the pair, and now that she knew who Arabella Donovan was, she sided with her unconditionally.
"Just because this gentleman is unaware of it doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. Miss Donovan’s card was personally issued by the chairman of our group. To this day, it is the only one of its kind in existence—absolutely genuine."
Catherine Chamberlain’s explanation only made things worse. The moment she finished, Mr. Sterling’s composure shattered. "The chairman of your group gave it to *her*? A little nobody like her is worthy of the Aethel Jade Group chairman’s favor? Impossible! I suspect you’re in on this together, colluding to embezzle store assets under the guise of purchasing jewelry!"
"Of course! How did I not think of that? Mr. Sterling, you’re truly brilliant."
His mistress’s fawning praise was music to Mr. Sterling’s ears, making him even more resolute in his conviction.
"You just wait. I’m calling my cousin’s husband right now and having him come over to deal with you personally."
Completely taken aback by this turn of events, Eugene Jennings wore a complicated expression, utterly bewildered. "Are these two people nuts or something? Why do they keep targeting us for no reason?"
If he recalled correctly, this pair had been the ones to pick a fight at the entrance. It was magnanimous of them not to press the issue, so why were these two hounding them now? It was completely baffling.
Arabella Donovan hummed thoughtfully, then said in a deliberately profound tone, "The negative emotions inherent to humanity—inferiority, vanity, jealousy... Some people scorn such feelings, while others are destined to be entangled by them for a lifetime, unable to break free."
"...In English, please."
"He probably just can’t accept that even though his cousin’s husband is the store manager, he still couldn’t get a 50% off card. So he’s full of envy, jealousy, and hatred... for me?"
"...You’re a goddamn genius."
Arabella Donovan: "..."
The two cousins met each other’s gaze, and both broke into awkward yet polite smiles.
The reason seemed ridiculous, but upon reflection, it might not be entirely baseless. It was just like how the pair had kept calling them paupers when they first started making trouble.
But what was the reality? He had to embezzle company funds just to buy his mistress a bracelet.
In short, people are most obsessed with the very things they lack. When they see others possessing those things, they get green with envy and will do anything to destroy them, as if that’s the only way to prove their own worth and superiority.
As one of the nation’s premier jewelry brands, House of Aethel Jade naturally had more than just a handful of customers. Most had been minding their own business until the row of Arabella Donovan’s "trophies" was laid out. Only then was their attention drawn, and now they had all crowded around the group, pointing and murmuring.
People who entered later saw the commotion and, unable to resist their curiosity, also pushed their way in to watch the spectacle.
"What’s going on here? Eugene, what are you doing here?"
Eugene Jennings had just finished his gossipy exchange with Arabella Donovan when he heard his name called. They both turned to see two pretty young women approaching.
Arabella Donovan glanced at Eugene Jennings. "You know them?"
"She’s an old classmate of my older brother’s. I’ve met her a few times." After explaining to Arabella Donovan, Eugene Jennings greeted the young woman who had called his name. "Chloe, what are you doing here?"
"I was out shopping with my friend. We were passing by and I saw someone in the distance who looked just like you, so we came in. I can’t believe it really is you." Chloe Ulrich finished, then gestured toward the scene. "What’s all this...?"
Eugene Jennings’s expression was complicated. He sighed. "Don’t even get me started. I finally get some time to take my cousin shopping, and we run into a couple of weirdos looking for trouble. Just thinking about it feels like bad luck."
"Cousin?" Chloe Ulrich glanced at Arabella Donovan, unable to hide the surprise and curiosity in her eyes.
Before they could continue their reunion, Mr. Sterling—the man who had boasted about his connections and threatened to teach Arabella Donovan and Eugene a lesson—suddenly raised his voice and strode toward the entrance to greet someone.
"Brother-in-law, you’re finally here! Any later and your store would’ve been cleaned out by the vermin working here!"
Arabella Donovan and the others followed the voice and saw a pot-bellied, middle-aged man walking in from outside, accompanied by a flashy-looking woman.
Hearing Mr. Sterling’s words, the man’s face darkened, and he bellowed, "Who is it? Who dares cause trouble in my store?"