Those people just loved spying on other people's privacy. It was in their nature to start gossip at any
place, using any circumstance, about anyone. And it was especially true when it came to those rich
men's wives.
A satisfied look appeared on the woman's face as she realized that she became the center of attention.
Actually, she just saw the brand by chance and accidentally knew Ashley's dress was from that famous
boutique.
"The dress that she is wearing is from The Silver Moon."
As the others heard this, their jaws dropped. Suddenly, they all turned to Ashley in surprise.
The woman didn't need to explain anything, she knew that everyone understood what she was
implying.
The Silver Moon was famous in J City, and almost everyone here knew it.
It was just an ordinary dressing shop but it had powerful backing.
Its boss was a daughter of the Feng family. Her designs were simple but very unique, and she had won
many famous international dressing design awards.
Because of that, her works had been popular amongst the rich patron of the arts and had been sold like
hot cakes in J City.
All of sudden, the way they looked at Ashley totally changed. "The money bag she leans on must be
very, very full. If not so, how could she be able to afford anything from The Silver Moon?"
one lady said. No one in the group planned on avoiding being heard by Lena or Ashley and so they
didn't bother lowering their voice.
As expected, Lena heard exactly what they were talking about.
With that, she clenched her fists tightly and stared fiercely at Ashley and her dress. It looked 'humble'
but it wasn't 'humble' at all.
But after a while, her look of anger suddenly changed into a malicious smile, as if she was planning
something.
Ashley, on the other hand, jumped when she heard what the ladies were talking about.
'I didn't know that the shop where this dress came from has powerful backing! I just thought that the
owner was a friend of Andrew so he brought me there to try dresses!'
While thinking of this, she could clearly remember the way Andrew had talked to the owner, whose
name was Jade. It really seemed like they were very close.
A defiant smile crept on Teresa's lips when she heard what the ladies had said. She turned to face
Lena and said, her tone strong, "See! You've heard it yourself! Save it, Lena. She has a sugar daddy to
lean on and will not thank you for what you have done for her. As ungrateful as she is, your father and
mother shouldn't have adopted her." Teresa rolled her eyes.
After hearing what Teresa said, Johnny, who was standing behind Ashley, took a step forward. His duty
was to protect Ashley so he couldn't let her be bullied like this. However, before he could do or say
anything, Ashley stopped him in his tracks.
Johnny looked at her confusedly and said, "Miss Mu..."
'Who do they think they are! Mr. Lu loves Miss Mu the most. How dare you bully her like this?' Johnny
thought to himself.
"I'm fine," Ashley said as she furrowed her eyebrows, lost in thought.
'First, I don't know much about Andrew and whether he truly has powerful backing or not. Andrew may
need to do business with them, so I have to be considerate, regardless of my personal gains and
losses.'
"Hey! Are you going to beat a woman?" Teresa yelled at Johnny after she noticed Johnny stepping
forward, trying to protect Ashley.
Even though Ashley had stopped Johnny from doing anything as retaliation, she still didn't want to let
the whole thing go easily. In her opinion, if anything else happened in there, Lena would help her out.
Later, Teresa would understand that what was on her mind at that time was totally wrong.
Johnny stared at Teresa icily, thinking inwardly, 'You are so dead.
Miss Mu is Mr. Lu's most special one. If he learns that someone is bullying his love - God forbid - it's
hard for me to even imagine how aggressively he would react.'
"Teresa, you can't treat her this way. She's my sister after all. If she is truly that terrible, my mother and
father would be really sad," Lena said, pretending to be considerate. Slowly, she turned to look at
Ashley with a hesitated look as if she was struggling for words to say. But with a deep breath, she
finally was able to blurt out, "Ash, go to talk to mother and father, okay? I know that you're going
through something but listen - my parents will understand you. Trust me!" Lena was gazing at Ashley
as if she truly cared about her.
Ashley stared at Lena but didn't say anything. Lena's whole agenda today was to frame her as a bad
girl covertly, as if to further convince everyone how good she was. On the other hand, Ashley really
disliked her but she didn't show it in public.
She said to herself, 'I know Peggy doesn't want the others to know that I'm her adopted daughter. But
at the same time, she wants everyone to know that her daughter is better than me so she often
compares me with her daughter when her friends are around.
With what Lena said just now, everyone here knows that I'm an adopted daughter of their family.
Lena's playing tricks, eh? As if I wouldn't notice. Laughable, truly. Then what? Everyone in here would
believe that she cares about me?'
Thinking of this, Ashley couldn't help but sneer. 'Who will understand me? Who will think that I have
struggles of my own? No one! In their eyes, I'm a bad girl. A girl who will call anyone daddy if he could
give me money.
And that's only because I'm wearing a dress that most of them can't afford. I guess everyone here
thinks that I'm a mistress of an old, dying, rich man. How ridiculous - judging people only from their
appearance!' Ashley concluded inwardly at last.
"What are you doing here, Lena?" A familiar gentle voice came from behind Lena.
Lena immediately perked up, and suddenly a sweet smile appeared on her lips. Then she turned to
face Raymond, and said, "Just guess who I'm talking to, Raymond?"
Teresa was standing in front of Ashley, and so her face was barely visible. Because of that, Raymond
only saw that someone was there, but he didn't know who it was.
Raymond then asked with curiosity, "Who are you talking to?"
Lena's smile widened and she said in a sweeter voice, "Just guess, Raymond, pleeease!"
Raymond pondered for a while and then proceeded to say several names. None of them was correct,
obviously.
Then Lena said, "Well... I'm with Ashley! Look, she is there."
"Ashley?" The moment he heard her name, he felt like his soul left his body. Raymond raised his head
and stared at Ashley affectionately. At that moment, he totally forgot that his fiancee was standing by
his side.
The onlookers started whispering to one another as they noticed that Raymond was looking at
someone else with so much intensity despite that someone not being his fiancee.
"Look, I think their relationship isn't that simple. You could see that, right?" One of them whispered with
her eyebrows furrowed after she saw how Raymond lovingly gazed at Ashley.
"Is there anything wrong?"
"Look! Raymond's looking so tenderly at that girl! It's as if he's looking at someone that he loves the
most. Did you notice that?"
"What? How could that be?" The other one loudly said, a dumbfounded look on her small face.
"Well, girl, look again! Look again, but carefully."
"Oh my god, you're right! It is indeed like what you said! Hmm... Do you know what happened between
them?"
"Only God knows, sis!"
Then, they put their heads together to try and figure out the relationship between Raymond and Ashley.
Lena heard everything and because of that, the sweet smile on her face faded suddenly. A second
later, however, the smile was back, though this time, she looked crazed instead of happy. With a swift
motion, Lena reached out to Raymond and grabbed him by his torso, effectively hugging him. With a
loud, sweet tone, she exclaimed, "See, Raymond! It's Ashley, my dear sister!"
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