The staff members exchanged confused glances.
The girl in question was dressed in what appeared to be thrift-store finds, save for an expensive oversized jacket.
Yet, the mother had handed her credit card to Sylvia Tang, the affluent family’s daughter, to handle the payment.
Who on earth was this girl’s mother?
Sylvia’s eyes widened in surprise at Everly’s bold statement, but she quickly composed herself, plastering on a fake smile of sympathy.
“Everly, Mom gave me this card to buy you new clothes.
I know you’ve had a tough life in the orphanage, never getting to wear anything nice.
Even that jacket you’re wearing was lent to you by Alan because he feels sorry for you.
Just relax.
I’ll make sure everything is taken care of.”
She made it sound like Everly was a charity case, an orphan who had latched onto the Tang family in a desperate bid for a better life.
And by claiming that Anna was her mother earlier, Everly was just trying to pass herself off as their real daughter.
“Is she…
an adopted child of the Tangs?” one customer whispered.
“How shameless.
Miss Tang is being so kind, offering to pay for her, and she has the nerve to act like she’s a real Tang!” another staff member muttered.
Everly rolled her eyes so hard she thought they might get stuck.
But instead of getting angry, she decided to have a little fun with it.
“This is hilarious coming from…
a child who lives a life of luxury, the result of a chicken kicking out a raccoon’s eggs and replacing them with its own to be hatched by the unsuspecting raccoon.”
Chicken…?
Raccoon…?
Everyone in the store looked around, completely bewildered.
It was like Everly had just spoken a foreign language.
Little did they know that Everly, the queen of cliché novel plots but a disaster in academics, had meant to use the witty simile to expose Sylvia as the imposter.
However, in her moment of inspiration, she’d mixed up the animals.
And even though she was completely wrong about the chicken and the cuckoo, she spoke with such confidence that some people started to wonder if this was some new, hip term they just hadn’t heard of yet.
“Um, what does that even mean?” someone finally blurted out.
“Huh?
You’re seriously that clueless?
You really need to hit the books more often!”
Everly’s voice rang out with unwavering confidence, despite the fact that her analogy was completely off the mark.
Her words planted a colossal question mark in everyone’s minds, leaving everyone scratching their heads in confusion.
What in the world did a chicken and a raccoon have to do with anything?
And hold on a second!
Since when did raccoon lay egg?!!!
Among the sea of bewildered faces, Sylvia’s expression changed from confusion to sheer panic.
She immediately grasped the veiled meaning behind Everly’s stupid words.
Everly was subtly hinting at their swapped identities as babies and the fact that Sylvia’s real mother was the one who had orchestrated the switch.
Panic and anger surged through Sylvia’s veins.
The last thing she wanted was for her true identity as a fake Tang daughter to be exposed.
So, she did what she did best—she started to cry.
“What are you trying to say, Everly?
Are you trying to insult me?” she sobbed, wiping away fake tears.
The staff and other customers, who had been confused just moments ago, now turned their anger towards Everly.
One of the staff members, who seemed to have a personal connection with Sylvia, not just a professional one, saw this as her cue to jump in.
“You!
You made Sylvi…
I mean, Miss Tang cry!
You’re just an orphan, and yet you have the audacity to act so high and mighty?
Is it because the Tang family has shown you a little kindness that you think you can pass yourself off as their real daughter?
Or maybe…
you’re trying to seduce all of Miss Tang’s brothers?
Is that why Mr.
Alan lent you his jacket??”
This random NPC-looking woman was spouting the kind of nonsense you’d expect to find in the sleaziest of gossip rags.
Unfortunately, Everly wasn’t in the mood to waste her precious time on someone she’d only met for three minutes.
She let out a long, exasperated sigh, looking at the staff member as if she were the dumbest person on the planet.
“You really don’t realize that your words aren’t insulting me at all.
In fact, they’re hitting a little too close to home for someone else.
And everything you’re saying is so far off the mark, it’s laughable.
But whatever.
Spilling the beans right now would just spoil all the fun.”
In the past, Everly had always rolled her eyes at the protagonists in cheesy novels who kept their true identities as wealthy heiresses a secret, even when they were being mistreated or misunderstood.
But now, she understood the appeal.
Revealing the truth too soon was like opening a present before Christmas – it just wasn’t as satisfying.
Everly turned to the staff members who had remained silent throughout the drama. Enjoying the story? Read on at g.com.
“Show me some clothes with a cool style, and make sure they’re the opposite of what that chicken…
oh sorry, not chicken, but your beloved Miss Tang would choose.”
“I…”
The staff member faltered, her initial disdain for Everly, whom she saw as an ungrateful orphan, warring with the icy glint in Everly’s eyes.
It was the kind of look that said she was just one wrong word away from throwing punches.
With a gulp, the staff member nodded vigorously and scurried off to fetch the clothes Everly had requested.
Meanwhile, Sylvia’s face turned as red as a tomato when she heard Everly’s “chicken” comment.
She was so angry that she felt like she was about to explode.
How dare this loser humiliate her in public?
She clenched her fists so tightly that her nails dug into her palms.
Oh, she was definitely going to make Everly pay for this.
Everly could feel Sylvia’s murderous gaze boring into the back of her head.
It was like a heat-seeking missile, ready to strike at any moment.
She knew that if she stayed too close to Sylvia, she’d be dragged into another one of her melodramatic scenes, complete with fake tears and false accusations.
And as much as Everly loved a good drama, she loved free clothes even more.
So, she decided to follow the staff member who was bringing out the clothes, putting as much distance as possible between herself and Sylvia’s crocodile tears.
While Everly was busy flipping through racks of clothes, Sylvia took the opportunity to whisper something to the annoying staff member.
The staffer’s eyes widened in shock, and then she shot Everly a look that could kill.
Everly could practically hear the cheesy music from a soap opera playing in the background.
She knew it was only a matter of time before she was dragged into another ridiculous drama.
But as the minutes ticked by, nothing happened.
In fact, more and more staff members started bringing her clothes to try on.
It was like they were in a fashion show or something.
After carefully selecting 30 outfits that she deemed acceptable, Everly finally called it quits.
She scanned the store until she found Sylvia, who was busy trying on the latest designer dresses.
Everly walked over to her, a mischievous smile on her face.
“You’re taking forever, sugar mommy.
I’m ready to check out.
Chop chop!”
Everly wanted to get the payment out of the way as quickly as possible.
She knew that Sylvia was as slippery as an eel.
If she didn’t act fast, Sylvia would probably find a way to wriggle out of paying for the clothes.
Sugar…
mommy…?!
The words hung in the air like a particularly pungent fart at a fancy dinner party.
Everyone within earshot gasped as if they’d just witnessed a unicorn doing the Macarena.
So, the daughter of the prestigious Tang family was into women?
And not just any women, but an orphan girl she was apparently paying to be her sugar baby?
But wait, wasn’t Sylvia just a minor who had barely finished her SAT?
This was wilder than a monkey on a unicycle!
Then, like a wave of realization crashing over a beach full of sunbathers, they remembered the earlier “mom” talk.
At first, they thought Everly was adopted, but now…
could it be that the “mom” Everly was referring to was actually her mother-in-law?
Did they have a same-sex marriage?
Was the Tang family really that open-minded?
Whispers spread like wildfire through the store, each person adding their own absurd twist to the story.
It was like watching a game of telephone gone horribly, horribly wrong.
Sylvia, who caught snippets of the gossip, felt like she was about to spontaneously combust with rage.
Her face turned a shade of purple that would make a grape jealous.
On the other hand, Everly was struggling to keep a straight face.
She was torn between laughing at the absurdity of the situation, being amused by the wild imaginations of the elite, and getting angry at the ridiculous rumors.
She had expected the elite to be more…
well, elite.
But here they were, gossiping like a bunch of old ladies at a knitting circle, their imaginations running wilder than a pack of feral cats.
Just when things couldn’t get any more absurd, the annoying staff member who had been harassing Everly earlier walked into the store.
She was carrying a tray of juice for Sylvia, which she had just bought from the nearby café.
She had been out on a juice-buying mission, so she blissfully unaware of the chaos that had unfolded in her absence.
The moment she saw Everly standing near Sylvia, her eyes lit up like a Christmas tree.
This was her moment to shine—or rather, to cause some more trouble.
With a not-so-subtle stumble, she “accidentally” sent the juice flying towards Everly’s jacket.
It was a move so obvious, it would have made a professional wrestler blush.
Everly, quick as a cat, tried to dodge the airborne juice.
But she didn’t count on Sylvia’s sneaky maneuver.
The ‘NPC-looking’ staff put on a show of shock and guilt that was so over-the-top, it could have won an Oscar.
“Oh, miss!
You should take that jacket off right away!
Let me wash it for you!”
Everly’s hands balled into fists.
She was seconds away from giving the staff member a piece of her mind—and maybe a black eye to go with it.
But she knew she had to act fast.
That jacket was important, and she couldn’t let it get ruined.
“Don’t you dare touch this jacket,” she growled, her voice low and menacing.
“I’ll handle it myself.”
But as she spoke and unzipped her jacket, standing there in just a simple t-shirt and jeans, something plummeted out of the jacket pocket like a lead weight.
A dazzling necklace now lay on the floor in front of Everly, twinkling under the store’s bright lights like a tiny, accusing star.
In an instant, the store went as silent as a library during a power outage.
Then, like a pack of rabid dogs, the accusations started flying at Everly, led by the annoying staff member.
“That’s a necklace from this store!
Look, the price tag’s still on it!
You’ve been nothing but rude to Miss Tang, and now you’re stealing?!”
“Everly…
if you wanted that, I could have bought it for you…”
Sylvia piped up, adding fuel to the fire with her patronizing tone.
The looks of disgust and disdain aimed at Everly multiplied like rabbits on a sugar high.
Everly groaned inwardly.
While she had anticipated the theft plot, she never thought she’d be so careless as to not notice the necklace being planted in her pocket.
It was like she had walked into a trap with a neon sign saying “Danger: Bad Plot Ahead” and still tripped over it.
Before the situation could spiral further out of control, she raised her hand, like a traffic cop halting a chaotic parade.
“Hold your horses!”
Everly then motioned to the cashier, beckoning for the credit card terminal to be passed to Sylvia.
“You’ve tallied up all the clothes, right?
My ‘mommy’ here is going to pay for everything.”
She flashed a big, toothy grin at Sylvia, whispering in her ear, “You’d better cough up the cash before I spill the beans about your little secret, your true identity…”
Everyone in the store looked like they had just been hit over the head with a giant mallet.
This was the first time they’d seen an accusation of theft interrupted by a demand to pay first, and it was the accused thief making the demand!
Sylvia’s hands itched to wrap around Everly’s neck when she heard that “mommy” comment.
And now with this threat…
she was ready to commit a felony right there in the middle of the high-end store.
But she knew she had to keep her cool, so she put on her best disappointed face.
“Everly…
You can’t use me to get out of this…”
“Nope.
After you settle the bill, then we’ll get back to discussing that necklace.”
How could she let Sylvia off the hook without paying first?
Everly was well aware that Sylvia didn’t want her to have new clothes.
That’s why, before coming here, Sylvia had made a show of saying in front of Anna that she was going to give Everly some of her old clothes.
So, even if the police showed up, she’d make sure Sylvia footed the bill!
Everly opened her mouth, putting on an expression that made it look like she was about to drop a nuclear bomb.
“So, Sylvia Tang…”
“I’ll pay!”
Sylvia interrupted her, fumbling for her black card like it was a life preserver in a stormy sea.
She thrust it at the cashier, her hands shaking with a mix of anger and humiliation.
Her face was a mask of fake disappointment and sadness, as if Everly had just kicked her puppy.
Once she saw that the payment had gone through, Everly let out a sigh of relief.
But unfortunately, some people were seeing red and thought Everly was bullying Sylvia.
The bootlicking staff member was at the forefront of this outrage.
She grabbed Everly’s arm with a grip so tight, it felt like she was trying to squeeze the life out of it.
“You, an orphan thief, bullying Miss Tang?
You’re asking for trouble!
Now, you either pay for this necklace or you’re going to jail!”
Since Everly had already taken off her jacket, the staffer’s hand made direct contact with her skin.
“Oh, crap.”
Everly immediately knew that her gossip system had been triggered again when a transparent blue screen materialized above the woman’s head – the very staffer she had been itching to punch.
[Name: Sophie Xie
Age: 24
Relationship: Passersby]
At the exact same moment the screen appeared, Anna walked into the store.
Meanwhile, Everly’s eyes widened in disbelief as she read the gossip that followed.
She never could have imagined that the names she knew would pop up like this!!!