Chapter 196: Says who?

A glint flickered across Mrs. Miller’s eyes as she arrogantly raised her chin. Meanwhile, Allison’s entire body shuddered.

Confrontations were something Allison often dealt with privately — whatever it was. This confrontation was something she thought shouldn’t be done in this place. Yet, Mrs. Miller had no problems airing the Bennet Family’s dirty laundry out in the open.

How dare she?

Just as Allison’s mouth parted, she stopped at the growing whispers around.

"Gosh, did I just hear that her daughter did a crime and pin it on someone else’s child?"

"What a cruel child."

"A baby swapping? That’s scary! I wonder which hospital she gave birth to?"

"If she raised another woman’s daughter, it still doesn’t excuse her action for keeping the daughter when the real one came home."

"Goodness. Not all parents truly deserve to be one."

"If that was me, I would try my best to make up for all the years I lost with my real baby. I pity the child."

"Isn’t that Mrs. Miller? Ah, god. So, it’s true, huh?"

"Do you know her?"

"Of course. She’s from the Miller family, and my daughter attends the same school as them. From what I heard, Mrs. Miller’s daughter and Mrs. Bennet’s fake daughter got into a fight. Apparently, Mrs. Bennet’s daughter framed and bullied Mrs. Miller’s daughter..."

Allison opened and closed her quivering lips while her fist trembled in anger. However, she couldn’t refute that, since it was the truth. Nina accused someone else of her wrong actions, and Patricia had to face consequences for something she didn’t do.

"Hah!" Mrs. Miller sneered, pleased that everyone agreed with her. She cleared her throat and cast the staff a look. "Miss, you shouldn’t let these kinds of people into your shop. Everyone who comes here is from a respectable family. Even though the Bennets have the money, their reputation is so bad I’m afraid you’d lose all your clients!"

The staff smiled awkwardly. "Ma’am, I’m afraid that’s not a decision I could make."

"Then, call your manager!" Mrs. Miller harrumphed. "I want to raise a petition to ban her and the entire Bennet Family from shopping here!"

"That’s right!" Someone from the crowd chimed in. "How can we shop here if we know you accept customers like her?"

"Gosh. What if she brings her daughter here next time?"

"You should think of your store’s reputation."

"If you don’t do anything about this, well, I’m out of here," another one expressed. "I don’t support shops that protect people like her."

"That’s right. I know people who act gentle and dignified, but are a monster behind closed doors! If she could raise such a monster, then I can only imagine just how terrifying she is when no one is looking!"

Mrs. Miller set her eyes on the staff. "See? Everyone agrees with me! Call your manager, or else expect a decline in your sales!"

The staff felt conflicted about this woman, casting Allison an apologetic look. When she faced Mrs. Miller again, she said, "I’ll call my manager then."

"No need." Allison huffed and maintained a brave front, even though her heart was shattered hearing all this criticism they had after listening to one side of the story. She faced the staff and forced a smile. "Thank you, but you don’t need to call your manager. I’m leaving."

Allison placed down everything she had and cast Mrs. Miller a look. "Mrs. Miller, I hope you’re happy by pulling off such a scandalous confrontation. However, let me tell you one thing. The next time you’re going to air our family affairs, I won’t just leave."

"Hah! See?" Mrs. Miller scoffed. "She might appear as dainty as a white lotus, but she’s actually very scary! Is that a threat, Mrs. Bennet?"

"It’s a warning." This time, Allison didn’t care about every eye on her anymore. "I don’t talk about your family, so don’t talk about mine as if you understand what it is to be in my shoes. Don’t let me talk about your family, Mrs. Miller, because we both know that between our families, yours has a lot of more dirty laundry you want to keep under the rug."

Mrs. Miller sneered again while Allison strode off.

However, when Allison was heading to the exit, she saw Jessa walking in.

"Mrs. Cortez, I’m done shopping here..." she trailed off when Jessa suddenly grabbed her arm and turned her around, dragging Allison back to where she came from.

’Hah! Serves her right!’ At this point, Mrs. Miller was busy enjoying her glorious victory when she sensed an omen approaching her. When she turned her head, her eyes dilated at the dark look on Jessa’s face.

"What — you!" Mrs. Miller panicked. "What are you doing here?"

Jessa tossed Allison’s arm, making the latter look up at her with wide eyes. Jessa just looked at Mrs. Miller from up and down and snatched the ribbon from the latter, checking it briefly.

"We’ll take this and all the things this woman here got." She tipped her head in Allison’s direction, her eyes on the staff.

"Uh..."

Jessa raised her brows. "What is that sound, uh, from, hmm?" she blinked three times. "Did you not hear me?"

"Ha!" Mrs. Miller scoffed. "Didn’t you hear? That woman is banned from shopping here!"

"Says who?" Jessa arched a brow and looked at Mrs. Miller apathetically. "Do you own this shop?"

"No, but everyone —"

"Do any of you own this shop??" Jessa scanned all the shoppers of the boutique. When no one answered, she smirked. "Good! Because if any of you owned this shop, I would love to have a word with this person."

Suddenly, Jessa’s calm demeanor changed as she seethed. "How could they let such a scandalous person as this woman right here cause trouble for their customers?" Jessa snorted as she cast Mrs. Miller a disdainful look.

"Hey there, Mrs. Who, you don’t decide on who gets to shop here and who can’t — unless, of course, it’s your property. But since you’re not and you’re just like every person who comes into this shop, that’s a lot of nerve of you! After all, you’re the one who started this drama unprovoked all because of a small ribbon!" Jessa laughed out loud and shook her head, eyes falling on the staff. "Wow, you’re still here?"

"Uh, sorry, ma’am! I’ll get them right away." the staff, afraid Jessa would target her, quickly picked up the stuff Allison put down earlier. Before she could go, she stopped at Jessa’s call. "Also, call your manager."

"Ma’am?"

Jessa arched a brow. "I said call your manager because I think you and this entire shop should apologize to her." she cocked her head in Allison’s direction again. "This shop is supposed to protect its clients and yet, not only did you not protect your customer, you let this tackless woman escalate the situation. I need an apology!" — and a discount.