?Chapter 153:


    “Well, well, look who it is! Oh! If it isn’t my shameless ex-sister-inw,” Katie’s theatrical voice sliced through the boutique like a de wrapped in silk, instantly drawing every pair of eyes in the store.


    Customers turned, curiosity ring. A few sales associates exchanged knowing nces. All eyesnded on Christina. And then came the looks—the slow, deliberate once-overs. Judging. Measuring. Faces shifted into masks of disdain. Lips curled in veiled contempt, and in some, barely concealed jealousy simmered beneath the surface.


    “Katie, is this the one you told me about?” A girl nking Katie raised her voice, toneced with derision. “The ex-sister-inw who can’t stop chasing men and stirring up drama?”


    But behind the scorn, beneath the venom, flickered something else: envy. There was something that didn’t quite add up about the Christina Katie had described.


    Katie had always painted Christina as a dull, mousy housewife—hair like a bird’s nest, thick sses slipping down her nose, barely a whisper to her name. A ghost in the background of domestic life. But the woman standing before them now? Graceful,posed, striking. She didn’t just stand there—she owned the space, as if she belonged in the spotlight, not in the shadows Katie once described.


    “That’s her,” Katie sneered, piling venom onto every word. “My brother had the misfortune of marrying that tramp. She turned our whole family upside down.” Her tone was theatrical, exaggerated to draw attention. Spinning gossip was effortless for her.


    But Christina? She remained unbothered. Her expression unreadable, as if the scene unfolding around her was just background noise. It was Chloe who snapped, “That’s not true at all! Christina isn’t like that!”


    “And who’s this? Someone who actually buys that tramp’s act?” Katie raised a brow, amused by the outburst. She let out a mockingugh, hand daintily covering her mouth like a viin from a soap opera. “Don’t tell me she’s seduced your dad too?”


    galnσνels.c○m hosts fresh updates


    The girl clicked her tongue mockingly. “Yikes. He must be ancient. That your type now? No standards at all?”


    Chloe’s eyes red with fury. “That’s a lie! My brother is—”


    “Enough!” Christina’s voice sliced through the tension, cool andmanding. “If you’re done running your mouths, get lost.”


    Her gaze, as cold as frost, locked onto Katie and herpanion. Without a word, she reached for Chloe’s hand, gently patting the back of it—a quiet signal for restraint.


    But rage was already simmering across from Katie and the girl. “Get lost?” the girl hissed, eyes shing. “Do you have any idea who you’re talking to? Who do you think you are?”


    The girl’s re could’ve burned through stone, but Christina didn’t even flinch. “I don’t care who you are,” she replied evenly, her voice low andposed. “I said leave. That’s enough.”


    Before the tension could escte further, the sales assistant stepped in, her voice bubbling with ttery as she introduced, “This is Miss Thea Reed. Heiress to Reed Group—and one of our most valued premium customers.”


    There was almost a bow in her tone, as though Thea’s presence alone was a privilege to witness.


    The Reed Group—one of the five corporate giants of Dorfield. An empire built on wealth and influence.


    .


    .


    .