The manager looked pointedly at Ynda, then back at Juniper, his strained smile firmly in ce. "You either buy something, or you''ll have to leave."


    They dealt with penniless window shoppers all the time; no one wanted to waste their time on them.


    Juniper''s brow furrowed, and she was about to put the man in his ce when a male voice cut through the tension. "Ynda!"


    “Jerrold!” Ynda flitted over to him like a social butterfly, her voice turning cloyingly sweet. "What took you so long?!"


    "Hm," Jerrold grunted, his attention fixed on Juniper. Behind his sses, his eyes narrowed with a predatory gleam. "What''s going on here?"


    “Well.....” Ynda clung to Jerrold''s arm, speaking in a stage whisper. “My sister came here to buy clothes but can''t seem to afford them. When the staff pointed it out, she got angry and started making a scene."


    "Youngdy, there''s no need to be so nasty. Who''s making a scene?" Saskia snapped, her patience wearing thin. She''d been holding her tongue out of respect for the Sherwin family patriarch, Lemuel, but Ynda was going too far. She was an elder, after all, and wouldn''t normally stoop to arguing with someone so young, but this was too much.


    "Can''t afford it? Our Juniper is a master choreographer, and her brother is an incredibly powerful..." Saskia started to spill the beans but caught herself, the words dying in her throat.


    "Who? Go on, tell us!" Ynda prompted, leaning in with mock curiosity. "A brother? Don''t you mean some old, pot-bellied sugar daddy with white hair?"


    "What did you just say? I''ll tear that foul mouth of yours off your face!" Saskia couldn''t take it anymore. She rolled up her sleeves, ready for a fight.


    "Saskia, calm down." Juniper let out a smallugh, patting her shoulder reassuringly. "It''s just a few pieces of clothing."


    Jerrold pushed Ynda''s hand away and stepped directly in front of Juniper, his voice slick with insinuation. "See anything you like? Go ahead, pick it out. I''ll pay."


    "Jerrold!" Ynda''s face fell, her voice sharp with disbelief. She couldn''t have heard him right. Jerrold was offering to buy things for that tramp, Juniper?


    "She was your sister once, after all," Jerrold said, his eyes locked on Juniper, his intentions obvious. "It''s nothing to buy her a little something."


    Ynda was left speechless, practically boiling with rage.


    "You''ll pay?" Juniper raised an eyebrow, casually ying with a bottle in her hand as a slow smile spread across her lips.


    "That''s right." Jerrold was pleased


    with her reaction, his ego swelling. A


    woman who could be bought with


    money was simple enough to


    handle He thought she was so high and mighty


    pure and


    untouchable, but in the end, she


    bowed to money just like everyone else.


    "Alright then," Juniper said, twisting open the bottle for a small sip. She popped a candy into her mouth to quell the mat sea rising in her


    stomach. Then, in a calm, deliberate


    voice, she announced, "Wrap up


    everything in the store. This


    gentleman is paying."


    Silence fell over the boutique. Everyone stared,pletely stunned.


    Jerrold''s triumphant smile froze on his face.


    "Ev-everything?” the manager stammered, his eyes darting between Juniper and Jerrold. "Mr. Lonsdale, are you sure?"


    The color drained from Jerrold''s face. He couldn''t speak. A few thousand he could manage, but this... As an illegitimate son, where would he get that kind of money?


    Juniper''s lips curled into a smirk. "Can''t afford it?" she said, her voice dripping with scorn. "Of all the things you could''ve pretended to be you. aded to be you


    had to be a phony."  fo