Chapter 13: In The Mall

Anna was sitting inside a café, her shopping bags in a chair beside her. She was sipping a drink admiring the view, when four girls approached her.

“Hi Anna!” Shannon waved her fingers at her, letting out a small laugh.

Shannon is the daughter of a known business tycoon. She is known for being spoiled and mean.

She once tried befriending Anna, but Anna saw through her fakeness, and rejected her. As a result, Shannon grabs every chance she has to get under Anna’s skin.

Today, she is accompanied by three of her minions. Shannon gets friends through her father’s connections: daughters of people who do business with Mr. Berkeley and people who hope to get some sort of clout through hanging out with her.

Anna is irritated by the sight of them, but tries her best not to let it show.

“Shannon,” Anna acknowledged her presence then went back to sipping her drink, hoping they’d leave

But Shannon didn’t get the hint, instead she continued to talk.

“Wow, you got the limited edition bags? I wanted to buy those, but they told me that they were out of stock,” she smiled with a hint of irritation.

“Well,” she continued, examining Anna’s bags. “It doesn’t matter anyway, I’ll just ask Daddy to reserve the next ones for me,” she gave her a haughty smile.

“That’s good for you.” Anna said, hoping she’d go away soon.

But Shannon was just starting. When she first spotted Anna in the café, she wanted to put her in the spot. She had always been annoyed with the power and influence Anna holds.

And the worst part, Shannon thought, Anna doesn’t even seem to care. And she always does everything so flawlessly. Plus, she was still kind of bitter that Anna didn’t accept her friendship. That was a massive blow to her ego.

“So, where is Dalton?” Shannon started, looking around the café. “Is he in another store?”

That was a bait. Shannon knew that Anna came alone, she saw her leave the parking lot on her own.

When Anna didn’t answer immediately, Shannon smirked in her mind. Who knew that the grandest marriage of the century was going to end in the fastest divorce of the century?

“He’s away on business.” Anna answered simply.

She didn’t really want to deal with Shannon at the moment, but this was the reason why she came to the mall alone in the first place.

She figured she’d deal with any rumors at once when it appears, and where else would she manage to get that done other than the mall? Where all spoiled, gossip-hungry elites hang out.

And Shannon is really doing a great job right now. Really, Anna must be grateful for her, she’s making things easier.

“So early on your honeymoon?” Shannon faked a concerned tone. Her friends did the same.

”Business emergencies don’t really wait around for the perfect time to appear. I thought you should know that by now.” Anna took a bite of her cake slice.

The other girls gasped at that.

That comment of hers seemed to hit a nerve on Shannon. Growing up, Shannon was raised by maids and nannies. Her parents were always away on business, leaving her behind in the hands of strangers.

During their graduation, Mr. and Mrs. Berkeley had to rush out of the ceremony while Shannon was about to walk on stage, all because an investor called them for a meeting.

“I imagined Dalton had someone else take over company matters while you were on your honeymoon,” this time, Shannon didn’t even bother masking the poison on her voice.

“You see Shannon, Dalton and I believe in handling matters on our hands. We can’t just go crying to our family every time trouble comes our way,” she looked at her sideways. “Of course, it’s not something I’d expect you to understand.”

Shannon was fuming by this time. She lunged towards Anna at the other side of the table, aiming for her hair.

But was instead pulled back when someone grabbed her hair from behind and forcefully yanked her backwards. Shannon fell to the floor, her chair going with her.

Shannon’s friends hurriedly ran towards her, helping her up. One arranged her hair, another tidied her dress, while the other one took her bag. Then, they all turned around to glare at the person behind them.