Chapter 5

Just as Madison couldn’t bear it anymore and was about to push away Sally, Sally suddenly had a slight change in expression. She furrowed her brows and let Madison go.

Sally assessed Madison’s figure. “Madison, is this dress a bit loose? It looks kind of baggy.”

In the high-society circle, attending an evening party meant competing with one another.

Dresses and jewelry were displays meant to show off.

The topics of discussion among them included who wore the limited edition haute couture from which brand and which set of jewelry belonged to which designer. If someone wore an outdated dress, they would be immediately ostracized, not to mention accidentally wearing a knockoff.

Ill-fitting dresses were obviously categorized as embarrassing and shameful.

People around them started ridiculing Madison openly.

“She doesn’t even have a fitting dress. How could she call herself Mrs. Palmer? How pitiful!”

“Cut her some slack. She just came back from exile overseas. It’s good enough that she has a decent dress to wear. Look at her hairstyle. It’s so old-fashioned. No wonder Mr. Palmer doesn’t like her! I wonder when Mr. Palmer will divorce this woman. He should hurry up and free himself!”

As if she didn’t hear what the others were saying, Sally complained to Leo. “Leo, why did you prepare such a dress for my sister?”

Madison had already anticipated such a scene. She watched Sally’s performance expressionlessly, thinking that it was pretty childish.

Surprisingly, Leo spoke up to explain. “I didn’t have time to ask for Madison’s measurements. I thought both of you had similar figures, so I had the designer tailor it according to your size. I didn’t expect it to be ill-fitting. There was also no time to make changes.”

The gossiping abruptly stopped.

Sally almost couldn’t maintain her smile.

She could already feel the mocking gazes from the people around her, as if they were saying she was fatter than Madison!

There was also the matter of the dress. Sally had set her eyes on it when Sprince’s spring-summer collection was released. It had not been available for sale yet and could only be obtained from the designer.

Unexpectedly, Madison was the first to wear it!

Even more unexpectedly, Leo not only gave the dress to Madison but also spoke up to defend that despicable person!

Taking a deep breath, Sally struggled to maintain her composure and complained to Leo, “I see. You should be more attentive next time.”

Leo lowered his gaze and looked at Madison. He gave a nod of acknowledgment.

Gritting her teeth, Sally turned back with a smile. She hugged Madison’s arm affectionately. “By the way, Madison, I had several dresses sent over by Leo this time, with different sizes. If you don’t mind, go change into another one. Ill-fitting clothes don’t look good.”

Madison originally intended to refuse.

Although the dress was ill-fitting, wearing it a bit loose was quite comfortable. However, as the words of rejection were about to come out, she suddenly curved her l*ps and said, “Sure.”

“The dresses are in the room you used to stay in before. Choose whichever you like. There are still guests here, so I won’t accompany you.” Sally retracted her hand.

Madison nodded. “See you later then.”

She turned to leave, but someone behind her bent down and helped lift the skirt of her dress.

Leo’s expression remained unchanged as he said, “I’ll escort you.”

Madison instinctively looked at Sally.

She didn’t miss the flash of resentment on Sally’s face. But upon closer inspection, Sally’s delicate face only revealed a hint of coquetry. “Leo, my sister gave me a birthday gift. What about yours?”

Madison took the skirt back from Leo and glanced at him. “It’s hard to console a girl once she’s angry. You should go get your gift first.”

She turned to leave decisively without a second look.

Leo subconsciously clenched his fingers, but the silky fabric sl*pped away from his palm. Lifting his gaze, he only saw her slender back steadily heading towards the villa.

Madison went straight to the furthest room on the villa’s second floor.

Before Sally returned, she used to stay in the bedroom on the second floor with a balcony. Later, when the real daughter of the Hale family returned, Madison naturally gave up that bedroom.

However, at that time, Sally directly expressed her dislike for Madison on her face and complained about the difficulties of her life as an abandoned commoner every time she saw Madison. Not letting Madison stay in the servant’s room was already a show of Sally’s kindness.

But compared to the remote room, the feeling of living under someone else’s roof was tormenting. When she was alone in the small room, it was the most relaxing time of her day.

Deep in thought, Madison pushed the door open.

The instant the light came on, the door behind her suddenly slammed shut with a bang. She could hear the sound of the key being pulled out from outside.

She instinctively turned around, but her arm was suddenly forcefully restrained…