<b>Chapter </b>467


    Earlier, Sebastian had led his men to deal with an issue concerning Counterfeit VFBA designs being sold on the ck market, <b>Callie </b><b>s </b>tem had trare batch of near perfect VERA knackoffs that had been smuggled in from overseas, priced at a fraction of the originate


    The same dress design that cost tens of thousands from VERA could be purchased in knockoff form for just a few thousand. Many won Women,ndete in afford the real thing, sought out these imitation channels for a taste of luxury.


    Sebastian took a document from Tyler. “This is an order receipt from the counterfeit market in Chinatown. It shows you ced an order for s? copy at <b>the </b>exact dress 40 minutes ago. You paid $1,800.


    “Then you deliberately damaged the counterfeit and brought it here to this gship store, hoping to exchange it for a full refund.


    “What do we call that? Fraud. Extortion. I could have you arrested right now. Do you understand that?”


    His cold stare drilled into Reese like a de. His voice was frosty, heavy with menace.


    “… I…” Reese stammered,pletely at a loss. She had never imagined that Sebastian would be able to trace a purchase she made anonymously


    How did he even find out?


    Everyone around them could see her name printed clearly on the backend transaction record, matched with the timestamp and item details.


    “So she really did buy a fake to scam the real store?”


    “She paid $1,800 for a knockoff and tried to exchange it for a $100,000 dress. If that worked<b>, </b>she’d basically get the real deal for pocket change.


    Shameless!”


    “Who even thinks of stuff like this?”


    The crowd murmured in disbelief. Reese scanned the room, desperate for help–but Jillian was nowhere in sight.


    Unbeknownst to her, Jillian had slipped away unnoticed the moment Sebastian arrived. There was no way she was sticking around to face him.


    The whispers, the judgment, and Sebastian’s crushing presence–Reese couldn’t take it. Flustered and humiliated, she grabbed the fake and turned to


    flee.


    “Stop right there!” Caitlin’s voice cracked like a whip. Reese froze.


    “Miss Nguyen, did you forget our little wager? If we proved your dress was a counterfeit, you agreed topensate us tenfold for damages and publicly apologize.”


    There was no way Caitlin would let her walk out so easily. If troublemakers like this were allowed to pull stunts without consequences, it would destroy


    their business.


    “Fine, I admit it. I did it on purpose. You caught me. But ten times the price? Isn’t that just robbery?”


    Reese knew she’d lost and wanted to cut her losses–but she wasn’t about to throw away that kind of money.


    “If you hadn’t tried to scam us, we wouldn’t have demanded it. Everyone here saw what happened. This is called ountability.


    “You made a bet, and <i>now </i>it’s time to pay up. If you’re thinking of backing out, I’ll just call your cousin Virgil. I have his number.


    “He’s a public prosecutor–fighting fraud and crime is part of his job. Let’s see how he’d respond.”


    Caitlin pulled out her phone, pretending to dial. Reese panicked and shouted, “No! Don’t call him! I’ll pay! Okay?”


    Her family might be rich, but the scandal would be far worse than just coughing up money. If Virgil or her uncle found out, she’d never hear <b>the </b>end <b>of </b>it.


    $13059


    <b>With </b><b>a </b>sour face <b>and </b>under the watchful gaze of a dozen customers, Reste reluctantly paid the <b>tanfoli </b><bentation </b><b>Myana </b>handle white Caitlin added coldly.


    <b>“</b>Don’t <b>act </b>like you’re doing us a favor. Calcte how much you cost us in lost sales<b>, </b>brand damage, and wasted <b>time</b>. This doesn’t even begi lector


    “t paid. What else do you want?” Reese snapped as she took back her card, her tone brimming with resentment.


    “You still owe us an apology,” Caitlin reminded her.


    “Apologize,” Sebastian growled the word through gritted teeth. The weight of it made Reese shudder.


    She looked around. Caitlin had Sebastian backing her up. His men looked intimidating, and the customers were now impatiently urging her to own <b>up </b>


    “Fine, I’ll apologize. I’m sorry. Happy now?” she said, her tone full of unwillingness.


    Caitlin suddenly mimicked Benjamin’s voice, deadpan, “That attitude’s all wrong. Where’s the sincerity? Where’s the 90–degree bow? A proper apology requires both. Do it again.”


    Reese froze. That was exactly what Benjamin had once told her. How did Caitlin even know that? This felt worse than a p to the face.


    “Sorry!” she barked, bending at the waist in a begrudging bow. When she straightened, she turned to leave.


    But Caitlin called out again, “Miss Nguyen can go, but the counterfeit stays. We don’t allow fake goods to be taken out from our store.”


    “I paid for it!”


    Reese snapped, unintentionally confirming that she’d bought a fake.


    “We hope Miss Nguyen will support original design in the future,” Caitlin said coolly. “And refrain from leaking anything online. Our store has full surveince footage of today’s incident. But out of respect for consumer privacy, we won’t be making this public.


    “You’re still wee to shop at VERA… if you dare.”


    It was a clear p in the face–a firm warning not to cause trouble again unless she wanted to be humiliated.


    With no other choice, Reese hurled the counterfeit on the floor and stormed out.


    She hadn’t just failed to stir up drama–she had been utterly disgraced and lost a million dors in the process.


    Even though she had a real VERA dress now, she swore she’d never wear it. Ever.


    The storm passed. Customers chatted about the incident with excitement. Caitlin instructed Ulyana and the staff to resume normal operations. The counterfeit was destroyed.


    Caitlin’s handling of the situation didn’t just restore order–it won public trust, strengthening VERA’s brand reputation.


    Once everything was wrapped up, Caitlin and Sebastian left the store together. She had nned to head home, but he had other ideas.


    “We’re not going home?” she asked.


    “What’s the rush? We’re already out. Let’s catch a movie. My treat.”


    Sebastian’s handsome face wore a rare, gentle smile. He had already bought the tickets–wasting them would be <b>a </b>crime.


    “Sounds good!”


    The two of themughed as they headed toward the elevators. But just as they reached the corridor, a figure who had been lurking <b>nearby </b>suddenly rushed out and lunged toward Caitlin.


    Date night was <b>about to </b><b>be </b>crashed–with more chaos and drama <b>on </b>the way.