Chapter 18

Chapter 18 A Slap in the face Monica stared at Olive viciously. It was as though the dress was made with Olive’s measurements.

Olive wasn’t just beautiful but she was alluring. If she wasn’t sent off to the orphanage, she would have been. amongst the socialite in L.A.

Monica stepped forward and held Olive’s little hands affectionately, “Olive, you’ve changed your dress. Come, let me introduce you to some friends. Hold on, why is your dress so familiar? Isn’t this the princess dress that Gabriella is meant to wear tonight?”

Olive did not look surprised. She knew the big show was about to be begin.

Gabriella stared at Olive with wide eyes, “Olive, why are you wearing my princess dress? Today’s my birthday, right? This LUMINOUS princess dress is a birthday gift from my mother…”

Pearl quickly added, “Olive, you’re going too far! Today’s Gabriella’s birthday, why did you steal her dress?” Gabriella’s friends knew that she had a LUMINOUS princess dress which she was going to change into. So they begun whispering amongst themselves.

“What’s wrong with this Olive girl? Was she trying to steal Gabriella’s clothes just to show off? That’s too selfish!” One muttered.

“I heard she just returned from the orphanage, I’m certain she couldn’t get her eyes off the dress. Hence, she stole it. What a shame!”

The stares fixated on Olive were now unpleasant. Patrick walked over to them. After the previous incident, he really didn’t want any more drama that’ll embarrass him.

He glared at Olive and reprimanded in a low voice, “Olive, Today is Gabriella’s birthday right? Why do you want to steal her dress? You really have zero education. Hurry up and go change upstairs. And please, don’t come downstairs until the party is over.”

Gabriella blinked her eyelashes severally as though she was about to cry. “Dad, please forgive her. After all, Olivia and I are sisters. If you want, I could give the dress to her.”

As she spoke, two drops of tears had rolled down her cheeks.

All the ladies and socialites glowered at Olive with contempt.

“Gabriella’s too kind. If it were me, she must pull off the dress!” A voice sounded.

“Yes, absolutely!”

The scene unfolded just as Monica had contrived. A satisfactory smirk appeared on her face. “Olive, why don’t you go upstairs for a while…”

Olive who had been silence the entire time suddenly furrowed her brows and muttered, “This dress is mine and not Gabriella’s.”

Her words seemed to have ignited an uproar in the crowd. Monica had a bad feeling and quickly said, “Olive, no need to argue. Let’s go upstairs.”

Olive gazed at the floor, and with a bit of grievance she added, “The dress isn’t from LUMINOUS it’s just an imitation.”

Imitation?

Almost all the guest were fans of LUMINOUS. A lady immediately stepped forward to verify the truth in Olive’s words by checking the logo on the zip.

“This dress is really…a high quality imitation.” The lady came to a conclusion.

What!

Monica and Gabriella’s felt like their souls had just left them. Gabriella hastily moved forward and asked in disbelief, “Are you sure?”

“The LUMINOUS logo has an eagle sign. But this one, just as you can see, the bird really isn’t an eagle.” The lady explained showing the zip to Gabriella.

The crowded gazed at each other, “It turns out Olive really didn’t wear Gabriella’s dress.

But, why’s she wearing a fake dress?”

“Today’s Gabriella’s birthday. Ma called to inform me, to dress beautifully. But I didn’t have any beautiful dress, so I just spent the last cash I had in purchasing from a fake brand. I know what I did was wrong, but I just wanted attending my sister’s birthday party.” She explained in the lowest of tone, with her head bowed.

“Dad, I didn’t want to embarrass you. I just wanted blending in after all these years.” Her low pitched voice cracked, as she wiped a tears off her eyes.

Olive’s emotional words instantly turned the situation around.

“What’s really going on? It seem Patrick doesn’t love this Olive girl.” Someone muttered.

“Look at Gabriella crying as though she’s the victim, whereas, Olive is the real victim.”

Another chipped in.

“It’s Monica that should be blamed! Why couldn’t she also buy Olive a dress. Is it because she isn’t her biological daughter?”

The situation had swiftly changed direction. Monica really was caught off guard. She wasn’t aware that the Luminous dress she bought was fake!

Patrick yet again felt embarrassed. He stood shamefully with his hands in his pocket.

Monica and Gabriella stared defeatedly at Olive. And yet again Olive had outsmarted them.