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The employee pointed to Bella's small bag: "This bag isn't yours. It was reported stolen just a while ago, and the owner contacted us."
At first, Bella didn't understand what was meant. Then her eyes sparkled with coldness.
She was holding her own bag, custom-made for her, not even sold on the market.
She understood immediately: a new insult… in a more brazen way.
She looked at them unemotionally, then turned toward Lucien and Emily, and said calmly:
"I'll wait for you outside. Finish the payment... I can't take any more of this play."
Lucien said worriedly:
"Bella, wait, this is nonsense, I—"
She interrupted him with a calm smile: "Don't worry... they're just floundering in the swamp of their stupidity."
And she walked away. Her steps were soft, but inside... she was vowing. "Alright... you chose to play, I'll make this your final act in this place."
But things didn't stop there.
As Bella was about to leave the store, the same employee approached a nearby guard and said with poisoned clarity: "Stop her. The police are on the way, we need her to stay here for questioning."
The heavy footsteps of the guard drew closer.
Bella froze, turned slowly, and her eyes widened in surprise—not from fear, but from the humiliating exaggeration.
Emily gasped unintentionally, while Lucien rushed toward the guard.
"Stop! This lady is innocent! That's her personal bag! You don't understand—"
The guard didn't move. The employee reaffirmed with false confidence: "Everything is documented, we're just following procedures."
Then… he approached.
Jean-Louis.
His gaze was calm, his walk slow, but his eyes held a hidden triumph, like someone watching his opponent get caught in a trap he'd planned from the start.
Bella understood immediately.
She looked at him, stepped forward, a calculated approach.
She didn't speak, didn't get angry—she just smiled. It was a very small smile… but terrifying to those who understood it.
On the other side, Lucien was trying to talk to the guard, and Emily was holding Bella's arm in confusion and worry.
Then, Bella leaned toward Emily and whispered in a voice only she could hear:
"Take Lucien and leave. Tell him you'll call my mother to help us, and that I'll stay here until the show ends—but I'll end this mess myself."
Emily looked at her with shocked eyes: "Are you sure?"
Bella smiled without looking at her, as if she had been expecting this kind of insult: "Absolutely. Just… protect him from getting more involved. This isn't his level."
Emily nodded, then approached Lucien, who wouldn't have allowed himself to leave Bella alone, but with her insistence and performance of "an urgent call from Ellen's mother," he finally agreed… while glancing back every three steps.
Bella remained alone.
But she wasn't a victim.
Only now… the real game begins.
After Lucien left with Lucy (Emily) through the store's glass door, and once their shadows disappeared from view, the play began—the one whose protagonist, with her blonde hair, thought she would be the one directing it.
The employee arrogantly approached Bella, who still stood calmly by the cashier, and said in a tone louder than necessary:
"Put the bag here, and wait with us until the police and the real owner arrive."
Bella didn't respond. She just looked at her, then at the bag, as if silently wondering who the real fool here was.
But the employee didn't wait for a reply.
She gestured to the nearby guard and said with arrogant authority, as if she were a ruler issuing commands:
"Hold her! Looks like the poor girl doesn't know the law!"
The guard stepped closer, heavy-footed, trying to appear professional, but his hesitant eyes betrayed his doubts.
At that moment, Bella lifted her head toward him, her voice calm but cold like the edge of a blade:
"Come any closer, and I'll turn your regret into a family joke passed down for years."
The guard froze, his hand in the air, unsure if it was a real threat or just an act.
But the mocking laughter from behind split the silence of the moment.
Jean-Louis, standing like an arrogant king before his throne, smiled with deep sarcasm:
"Poor girls… Not only do they steal, but they also threaten."
The two girls — the blonde-haired employee and her brunette companion — laughed with him, but with different expressions.
The brunette laughed nervously, knowing the situation had spun out of control.
But the blonde… was at the peak of mockery.
Bella closed her eyes for a moment, then sighed.
She reached out and gently placed the bag on the cashier's table.
But before the employee could open her mouth to say anything else...
Slap.
A slap no one expected.
A slap that made the girl's face turn and pushed her two steps back, clutching her cheek in pain, looking around in disbelief.
A gasp escaped from the brunette, the guard stood frozen in place, and Jean-Louis lost all expression on his face.
"This..." the employee tried to say something, but Bella wasn't done yet.
Calmly… without a word, she removed the mask.
Her features were revealed.
The blue eyes everyone knew.
The red lips.
The radiant skin that distinguished her from anyone else.
The familiar features.
And the stance… the stance of Bella Leclaire.
Eyes froze, the heartbeat of the store slowed.
Even the card machine stopped its usual buzzing sound.
Jean-Louis wanted to step back, to disappear, to rewind time just a few seconds, but time did not wait for him.
Bella looked at the blonde employee with a fiery gaze and said:
"You… fake rat. Your makeup doesn't hide your ugliness—it enhances it. You whore, I'll break your synthetic face and you'll never see it again."
Then she jumped.
Yes, she jumped on her like a lioness on her prey.
They fell to the ground, the girl screaming, and Bella on top of her, gripping her hair and pulling it harshly, hitting her with one hand and using the other to wipe the cheap makeup off her face.
Each scream was met with a slap. Every tear from the girl was met with a sarcastic laugh from Bella as she said:
"Did you think I was poor? Do you know how much this bag costs? You can't even afford a quarter of its zipper!"
"This is for your lie." Slap.
"And this is for your contempt." Hair pull.
"And this… is for every poor person you thought you were better than!"
The girl screamed:
"Someone… please! Help me! Stop her!!"
The brunette stepped forward, trying to gently hold Bella:
"Please, Miss Leclaire… please stop, we know we were wrong… I wasn't—"
Bella pushed her gently, without looking at her: "Stay out of this, you didn't have the courage to step in from the beginning, so don't pretend now."
As for Jean-Louis…
He stood in the corner, as if his body had turned to stone.
His gaze was lost, stiff, his face white as paper.
He realized.
He realized the disaster he had caused.
This wasn't just a mistake… it was a crime against France's First Lady of Fashion.
The woman who must never be insulted… not even in a whisper.
The screams still echoed throughout the store. The air was heavy with the scent of broken perfume, burnt makeup, and rage.
Bella… was still on top of the blonde girl, her fist clenched in her hair as if tearing the arrogance from its roots.
But finally, the two guards managed — with great difficulty — to pull her away. It wasn't a gentle pull, but a short war between a slim female body and two exhausted male wills.
"Let me go! Let me teach her the morals she missed during her poor childhood!!"
Bella screamed, trying to return, her arms flailing in the air, her legs trying to cling to the floor.
"Rude! Human trash! Do you think the poor are toys? You're garbage that only shines under cheap neon light!!"
Bella screamed and cursed with harsh words no one had ever heard from Paris's First Lady.
As for the blonde girl, she was a wreck of human chaos.
Sitting on the floor, crying, trying to hide her swollen face in her brunette friend's arms, as if wishing to melt into her chest and disappear.
"She hurt me… she hurt me..."
She kept repeating it like a child receiving the first harsh punishment of her life, while the brunette wiped her trembling tears and tried to soothe her, her eyes avoiding Bella's gaze.
Then… a skilled actor entered the scene with a trembling face.
Jean-Louis.
He stepped forward with calculated steps, wearing a polite… fake smile… with drops of sweat jumping off it.
His voice tone was loose, barely holding itself together.
"Miss Leclair… please forgive us… the employee was new… she didn't know who— I mean, there were… misunderstandings—"
He didn't finish the sentence, because Bella turned toward him.
But not just any turn.
It was slow… like a killing machine… her neck first, then her shoulders, then her eyes that fell on him like an arrow.
She stared at him with eyes as cold as ice, her features like a painting drawn in the colors of noble anger.
"You… dare speak, you bastard?"
She said it calmly, in a way that made Jean-Louis feel like his throat would freeze in place.
"You scum, you… who thought yourself above everyone else while you're just an employee getting paid like anyone. You're the one who allowed all this to happen, you trash of all trash. And you… will be held accountable in front of everyone."
She took a step toward him — even though the guards were still holding her by the arms — but her presence alone almost pushed him to retreat.
Yet he didn't find the time to think.
The scene cut off suddenly.
The glass door flung open with force.
A woman in her fifties… elegant, wearing a velvet blue dress, her grey hair tied with taste, her face a blend of power and refinement.
The store owner.
Her eyes widened as they captured the image of chaos:
Two guards pulling a girl off the shoulders of her spoiled employee Jean-Louis… she was hitting him like it was a scene from a comedic play.
A destroyed blonde girl crying, curled up on the floor.
A brunette girl hugging her, trying to protect her.
"What is going on here?!"
She shouted, her voice firm, piercing, bringing order to the chaos.
No one answered her.
But Bella turned toward her, her hair messy, her breath hot, and her face looked like a movie star at the climax of a confrontation.
"Hello, Madame Lafitte." She said it as if she had just walked off a runway, not out of a brawl.
She slipped off Jean-Louis's shoulders, who was now in the same state as the blonde girl.
The guards held her shoulders, afraid she might cause more trouble.
The owner stared… then her pupils narrowed as she recognized the face.
"Oh my God… Bella? Bella Leclair?!"
The shock turned into a stunned smile.
She advanced quickly, as if regretting every moment she wasn't present.
"My dear! Our jewel!"
She gently held her hand, despite the stares of those around them.
"What happened? Who dared upset you?"
Bella looked toward the blonde girl, then to Jean-Louis, then back to the owner and said coldly:
"Your store employees don't hesitate to accuse any customer without reason… they attacked me, mocked my appearance, and insulted me just because I was carrying a luxury bag beyond their league."
The owner looked around, anger starting to seep into her features.
Then she turned to Jean-Louis and said:
"In my office… now."
Then looked to the two employees:
"You two… are suspended until further notice."
And added in a low voice directed only to Bella:
"I'm sorry… I'll handle this personally."
Bella adjusted her jacket, put her mask back on after picking it up from the floor, tucked her hair behind her ear, then turned to the guards and said:
"Let go of my hands, I'm not a dangerous killer."
They looked at each other with doubtful eyes, then did as she asked. She walked with the steps of a queen toward the door after taking her bag.
But before she left, she looked at the blonde employee, then gave a light smile and said:
"Your face... will need a redesign. You have a date with dignity, don't be late."
Then she walked out… laughing hardly like a villain.
•••
At Amélie's Mansion / 5:00 PM
It was five o'clock in the evening, and the sky outside Amélie's mansion windows began to be painted with the warm colors of sunset; that soft blend of orange, pink, and gray that steals breath and lights in the heart a strange feeling of nostalgia and serenity.
Inside Amélie's medium-sized mansion, the TV room — that private space where the outside world is supposed to be forgotten — had turned into a small fortress of calm and honesty.
Bella and Amélie sat side by side on the soft couch. Bella looked tired and clearly exhausted. Her sparkling eyes did not hide the tension or the annoyance consuming her from within, as if she was carrying a storm of words that had no escape but constant speech.
Bella started to speak, her voice broken but fast, as if she were trying to unload every lump buried in her chest.
"I couldn't believe what happened in the store, Amélie... How can someone be that rude, and how did they let it go that far? I felt like I lost control, and I almost hurt that girl, even though I knew she was a victim like me because her arrogance got the better of her, but the anger was stronger than me."
Amélie listened quietly, her eyes following every detail of her friend's facial expressions, her words, even her shallow breaths.
She gently raised her hand and touched Bella's to comfort her, then called one of the servants who was outside the room.
"Prepare some sweets? Like Bella likes. And bring banana and strawberry milkshake, please."
The servant responded with a small smile, then left politely.
Amélie smiled softly, then said calmly:
"You know, I still remember... how Lucien reacted?"
Bella stopped talking for a moment, and her features paled slightly at the memory of that moment.
Suddenly, above their heads, as if a magical memory bubble started to form in the air; a vivid scene began to emerge before their eyes.
In the memory, Lucien was standing near Amélie who was pretending to call Bella's mother, who was inside the store. They were far from the store, his face was colored with worry, his lips trembling slightly, as if he was holding back tears that were about to fall from his big green eyes.
Despite his tall build and the aura that made him look like a giant puppy, that moment made him appear small, fragile, and touching — like a stray dog who found shelter in a woman's embrace.
The scene returned to the TV room, and Bella was blinking gently, a small smile growing on her lips like a flower blooming after a storm.
Amélie didn't say a word, just looked at that smile, and found in it a soft sparkle that even anger couldn't erase.
They sat in silence, the room breathing peace, and the sunset streaming through the windows to wash everything with a new color of calm.
Bella, sitting on the couch, shook her hands in a slight gesture of annoyance, looked at Amélie and said with a sharp voice that held a bit of humor:
"Believe me, Amélie, these clothes… I'm never wearing them again, even if you try to bribe me."
Amélie smiled and nodded in agreement:
"Agreed. I don't think I could see you in that look again. Enough shock for one day."
Suddenly, Bella picks up her phone and presses the internal number for her apartment, waiting a few seconds until Josephine's voice appears on the other end.
Bella says quickly:
"Josephine, please, return all the used clothes to the shop where you bought them. And quickly, please."
Josephine responds kindly but firmly:
"Alright, Lady Bella, I'll return them, but do you want me to give the money back to Lady Amelie now?"
Bella laughs and replies immediately:
"No, no! Amelie refused, she just said the clothes should be returned, and she doesn't care about the money."
Everyone goes silent for a few seconds, then Josephine says in a hesitant voice as if trying to comprehend the news:
"Okay, but by the way, the amount in front of Lady Amelie… is really huge. I mean… she's giving up a very large sum without even blinking!"
Bella and Amelie exchange glances and stifled laughs, and Bella responds sarcastically:
"It's fine, for us it's like a piece of candy from a box, so don't worry."
Amelie laughs and says:
"Josephine… thank you, you've worked so hard."
Bella stands up from the couch with boredom:
"From now on, I'll only wear what makes me comfortable, and there's no store in the world that can fool me twice."
And the scene closes on their shared laughter, easing the weight of a day full of quarrels and shocks.
To be continued…
Question for you?
1. What did you think of Bella's actions inside the store? Was she right to react the way she did, or do you think she lost control?
2. "Your face... will need a redesign." — What's your take on this line? Was it harsh, or well-deserved?
3. How did you feel about the relationship between Bella and Amelie in this chapter? Did it feel like more than just friendship?
4. During the flashback with Lucian, how did you perceive his emotions? Do you see him as sensitive or weak? What do you think of the way he expresses himself?
5. How did the scene at Amelie's mansion affect the overall tone of the chapter? Did it successfully balance out the tension from the store?
6. What's your impression of Amelie for paying such a large amount just to make Bella feel better? What does that say about her personality?
7. After this chapter, how do you expect Bella's character to develop? Will she move towards more independence, or will upcoming challenges force a bigger change?
8. Do you think Lucian will remain in the background as support, or will his role become more central and impactful in the story?
9. Which moment in this chapter touched you the most? And why?
10. In your opinion, what danger could push Bella back into a state of losing control? And do you think she's ready to face it now?