Chapter 123: Chapter 123

"See if you can wear this dress?"

Marilyn Ford picked out a pure white long dress from her luxurious wardrobe and handed it to Anna Thornton: "This is a new style that arrived at the beginning of the month. I haven’t even tried it on myself. Hmm... Conrad instructed the Starlight City brand store to choose new styles each month according to my preferences, but it seems you don’t much like the simple and elegant style."

"It doesn’t matter; as long as there’s something different to wear, it’s good."

Anna Thornton accepted it without much fuss. To be honest, this dress was really not her style.

The size didn’t even match. It was a bit tight at the chest, and Anna had to exert some effort to fit into it.

Originally a minimalist style, she forced it to exude an alluring cleavage.

When Anna Thornton came out of the dressing room, even Marilyn Ford couldn’t help but take another look at her voluptuous curves, her eyes revealing envy and jealousy that only women could detect.

The two women walked out together, and Conrad Sterling, waiting outside, stubbed out his cigarette and turned around. His first glance seemed unintentionally to sweep over Anna Thornton, pausing for less than a moment before looking away as if afraid of getting burned.

Whereas Finn Grant, who was also waiting outside, whistled at Anna Thornton, unabashedly sizing her up and speaking without reservation: "This style isn’t as good as the one before, but luckily you look good in anything."

At moments , Anna Thornton greatly appreciated Finn Grant’s candidness.

She also felt that Marilyn Ford had deliberately chosen a dress that didn’t quite suit her, yet had the audacity to pretend it was a generous gift of friendship. Indeed, when it comes to clothes and bags, it’s impossible for women to selflessly share, especially when they don’t particularly like each other. There’s no friendship to speak of.

Fortunately, Anna Thornton had strong adaptability and could wear even an unsuitable dress with her graceful figure and face.

"Cousin, how did you and Miss Thornton meet?" Marilyn Ford inquired with feigned curiosity.

"That’s a long story," Finn Grant replied without intending to continue.

Hearing this, Conrad Sterling and Anna Thornton both smirked simultaneously from their respective positions.

Recalling the first meeting between Finn Grant and Anna Thornton involves issues of traffic and public safety.

Someone must have felt a twinge of shame and wouldn’t voluntarily bring it up.

Luckily, Marilyn was just making small talk and wasn’t genuinely interested, as she wasn’t really familiar with Finn Grant.

She personally came over to entertain him only to prevent any potential trouble he might cause at the dinner party.

"All the other guests have been seated. Let’s head to the hall."

Marilyn Ford said, linking arms with Conrad Sterling to lead the way.

Finn Grant bent his elbow in front of Anna Thornton, indicating for her to do the same.

However, Anna Thornton felt a glare coming from up front and looked up only to see the back of Conrad Sterling’s head,

unsure how the man managed it.

Anna Thornton bypassed Finn Grant and walked straight ahead. Soon enough, the man caught up, sticking to her side like a persistent burr.

During seating, Anna Thornton wasn’t qualified to sit at the table with Conrad Sterling and Marilyn Ford.

She sat with a group of equally unknown actors, and Young Master Grant lowered his status, following over to squeeze out the others beside Anna Thornton.

"What do you like to eat? Chicken or beef?"

"Want a drink? Women shouldn’t drink too much alcohol; it’ll only cause trouble!"

"Is today’s food not to your liking? You haven’t eaten much."

"Would you like some fruit for dessert? The blueberries look pretty good."

Mealtime didn’t stop Finn Grant’s mouth from firing off questions, turning Anna Thornton into a monkey on display. Thɪs chapter is updated by novᴇlfire.net

Everyone had heard plenty of rumors about Young Master Grant, saying he was temperamental and volatile, but they had never witnessed him being so gentle and attentive to a woman.

Moreover, at the same table, the best parts of every dish were dominantly snagged by Finn Grant and placed into Anna Thornton’s bowl first.

Anna Thornton couldn’t eat that much, leaving food conspicuously piled. She tried to persuade Finn Grant to stop piling her plate, but he wouldn’t relent, and others dared not say a word.

Conrad Sterling and Marilyn Ford sat at the head of the table with her parents, constantly engaged in conversation by others. Conrad Sterling seemed adept at handling it, but his peripheral gaze occasionally swept the corner table, with an unfathomable sharpness still glinting underneath despite trying to keep it in check.

As the meal was wrapping up, the three drama queen sisters who previously troubled Anna Thornton suddenly approached to apologize.

"Miss Thornton, we sincerely apologize for staining your dress. We just saw Miss Hathaway attending Marilyn’s birthday party too. As an apprentice of the internationally renowned Chinese designer Nick Walters, there’s no one who understands his designs better than her. I think we should let her look at the dress you changed out of. If it really is one of Nick Walters’ works, I’ll compensate you for the damages."

Though they started with an apology, Anna Thornton still sensed their intent to cause trouble from their words.

But it was probably due to Finn Grant’s presence that they took on a more conciliatory tone.

Sure enough, without waiting for Anna Thornton’s agreement, they had already taken the liberty to fetch her previous dress from somewhere and ostentatiously sought out ’Miss Hathaway’ for an appraisal.

After all, the birthday party was being live-streamed, and the camera operators liked to gravitate where the action was. Upon seeing the commotion here, they eagerly ran over to lead the audience on screen and the onsite guests in examining Anna Thornton’s dress.

"Nick Walters’ exclusive butterfly labels are all hand-stitched, which is why counterfeits can’t pass for real. Both this one and the one Miss Ford is wearing are from the ’Spring River Flower Moon’ series designed by my mentor, one of his most proud works before retirement, no doubt about it."

"So you’re saying the dress Anna Thornton is wearing is genuine? You’re not mistaken?" Jean Zane showed an incredulous expression upon the appraisal result.

"It’s real," Miss Hathaway nodded, "However, if memory serves me, this dress’s design was bought out domestically last year by a big label. The genuine item is on display at their company headquarters and is not for sale."

These words instantly reactivated Jean Zane, who was momentarily silenced by the authenticity result: "Not for sale, then how is it on Anna Thornton? Did she borrow it from the brand?"

It’s common for actresses to borrow dresses from brands for events.

But today’s atmosphere was different; after all, this was a private dinner party. All the guests had some connection with Marilyn Ford to be invited, and while some guests might also be unknown actors, their family backgrounds were such that they could waltz into a brand store and point, saying ’I’ll take all of these.’

The party was essentially an extravagant upper-class feast, and Anna Thornton was like a Cinderella who accidentally wandered into an aristocratic socialite circle, pointed out for wearing a beautiful evening dress supposedly conjured by a spell, destined to revert with the strike of midnight.

"Turned out, the dress was borrowed all along. I wondered how she could possibly afford a dress similar to Miss Ford’s."

"She’s probably trying to put on airs, but now she’s stained the borrowed dress and will have to pay double compensation."

"Anna Thornton can’t even afford to buy a dress, how can she pay for the damages? If I were her, I’d cling to the Zane heiress and extort whatever I could."

"Then again, there’s always Finn Grant fawning over her, isn’t there?"