159 The Million-Dollar Sneak Peek: How a Billionaire Retail Executive in a Gray Sweater Exposed Corrupt Store Managers, Fired Elite Snobs on the Spot, and Claimed Ultimate Justice

The boutique was completely silent now. The remaining customers had drifted away toward the exit, sensing the storm gathering under the gold chandeliers. Jenna, the young sales associate near the register, kept her head down, furiously pretending to organize a stack of receipt books while secretly watching every move.

Ethan swallowed hard, his hands trembling slightly as he reached for his pocket handkerchief to wipe his brow. “Ms. Vance, please. This is an isolated incident. Natalie is one of our highest-grossing floor associates, she simply made an error in judgment under pressure—'

“An error in judgment?” Clara repeated, her gaze shifting back to Natalie, who was now backing up against a mirrored pillar. “Is that what we’re calling premeditated frame-ups now?”

Natalie’s eyes widened. “What? That’s absurd! I didn't frame anyone! She took the dress off the rack, and when I saw the tear, I assumed—”

“You didn't assume anything, Natalie,” Clara interrupted, her voice dropping into a cold, lethal register. “You deliberately handed me a compromised garment, stepped back, and called security before I could even inspect the fabric. Why? Because you wanted a scapegoat for an inventory discrepancy, or simply because you enjoyed the power trip of publicly humiliating someone you decided didn't belong in your pristine little world.”

“That is a lie!” Natalie shrieked, panic finally piercing through her sophisticated veneer. “You can't prove that! You’re just a customer!”

“I am not a customer,” Clara said calmly. She reached into her plain gray sweater pocket, pulled out a black leather cardholder, and extracted a heavy, engraved metal card bearing the corporate insignia of Maison Avery’s executive board. She laid it gently on the glass counter right beside the ruined emerald dress. “I am your employer.”

Ethan closed his eyes as if bracing for a physical blow.

Natalie stared at the metal card, her mouth opening and closing silently like a fish gasping for air. The reality of what she had done—harassing, detaining, and insulting the executive vice president of operations while caught on the store’s high-definition security cameras—crashed down on her all at once.

“Now,” Clara said, turning her attention back to Ethan. “Let’s talk about store procedure. Marcus, you can wait outside. We’re done with your services for today.”