Chapter 50 The Unworthy Gown
Chapter 50 The Unworthy Gown
The certainty of his lie burned her.
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Back then, his staff had asked directly: was the gown meant for a wedding ceremony with Claudia? The answer had been yes. If it hadn’t been, Jade would never have taken the commission, not for all the money Alan could spend. She had even broken her own rule, personally designing and stitching the roses herself, thinking it was for her niece’s future.
And now Alan had draped it over his mistress.
Alan’s expression stayed composed. “Madam Jade, perhaps your memory misleads you. I never gave such a reply.”
It was true he had not spoken aloud, only lowered his head to sip tea and let the silence play its game. Now, he used that silence as his shield.
Jade’s palm slammed the table, teacups rattling. “So you mean to strip away all shame in front of me, is that it?”
Alan’s gaze was dark. “I told you–backed by Moore family, Summer is qualified. If there is obstinacy, it is not from me.”
Her cold laugh cut through the air. “Then we have nothing to discuss?”
!
Alan said nothing, the silence more dangerous than words.
The doors burst open.
Nathan strode in, only to be met by Jade’s guards. A blur of fists and muscle, one man’s arm was twisted, but more pressed in to hold him at bay.
Jade did not so much as glance toward the door. Her voice, steady as steel, carried: “If you must speak, do it from there.”
Nathan looked to Alan, fists clenched, waiting.
“Go on,” Alan said evenly.
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Chapter 50 The Unworthy Gown
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Nathan smoothed his cuff, voice flat. “Ms. Summer has been taken. A group locked her in one of the ground–floor lounges. She is due to give her address shortly. Time is short.”
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Downstairs, chaos had already struck.
Summer had been basking in attention, ringed by musicians praising the gown, questioning her ties to Splendid. Then the suited men swept in, silent and
merciless, scattering the crowd like chaff. She was dragged into a side room, others shoved out, the door bolted.
“Do you know who I am?” she shouted, pounding the door, her voice shaking with rage and disbelief. “I’ll ruin you for this!”
But she stopped after two strikes. A Zach daughter throwing tantrums in front of artists and media would be a humiliation that no diamonds could erase.
Her chest heaved, rage burning hot, but she smoothed her gown, straightened the jeweled veil, forced herself into composure. She found the house phone and called. Alan.
No answer.
Nathan picked up instead, curt and cold: wait.
Back upstairs, Alan’s smile had vanished. His foxlike eyes gleamed with frost. “So this is how you mean to play it, Madam Jade? By force?”
Jade lifted the cup Claudia had poured for her, sipping slowly, a smile bending her lips. “I’ve already shown restraint. You should thank me she still has the gown on her back. Tricks and deceit you pulled on me–did you think there would be no reckoning? You parade that girl in front of me wearing my handwork, and dare call
me unreasonable?”
Alan stared in silence, then turned abruptly to Claudia, voice sharp. “All this, just because of Summer? I told you–we’re only friends. Must you create such storms?”
Jade drew in breath to strike him down with words, but Claudia beat her to it. Her
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Chapter 50 The Unworthy Gown
voice was cool, even.
“Alan, do you eyen believe what you’re saying?”
She met his eyes without a flicker.
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“And don’t drag me into this with talk of friendship or marriage. This is between you and my teacher, a matter of business and integrity. If you want to speak of private matters, ask yourself–are you in the right?”
The truth twisted between them, barbed and inescapable.
Cheating, funneling shared wealth into a mistress’s gown, and now claiming innocence.
It was filth dressed in silk.
