Chapter 5

A shriek caught in my throat. I whipped around to see Mom standing there.

Listening to Emily's muffled cries from the basement, Mom wore a look of bitter disappointment.

"I thought you two were still young. I didn't want you dragged into this too soon, and I feared a single mistake would lead to irreversible ruin."

"Yet she couldn't resist the temptation after all. She stole a gown on her own. If something terrible happens to her down there, she has no one to blame but herself."

Mom shook her head slowly. Her expression held that exact same enigmatic, eerie chill I had seen that morning with the hostesses.

"These gowns are made from human essence. Every single one is extraordinarily precious.

If she chose an ill-fitting cut and ruins it through sheer recklessness, disaster will follow."

"Mia, your sister is utterly useless now. Tell me, do you want to take over my boutique?"

A tender, motherly smile appeared on Mom's face. She reached out with her smooth, youthful, porcelain-white fingers, gently stroking my hair, over and over.

Take over the boutique?!

My eyes lit up instantly. Shrugging off the eerie sensation of her cold fingers on my scalp, raw excitement surged through me.

Taking over Mom's silk boutique meant that not only would I become stunningly gorgeous like the hostesses and Mom, but I would also have limitless wealth!

Twenty thousand for a short cut. Forty thousand for a long one.

Making over a hundred thousand a day meant millions a month!

Even if the clientele was exclusive, once I became rich and gorgeous, wouldn't I be able to land a man a hundred times hotter and richer than Emily's pathetic ex?

Envisioning that dazzling future, I nodded like a bird pecking at grain.