Elias sat alone in his study, it was a quiet room tucked behind the east wing of his estate. A tablet rested in front of him. It displayed quarterly reports—charts, numbers and more Elias scrolled through them slowly, After a while, he picked up his phone and made a call. “Adams,” he said, once the line connected. There was a short pause. Then a voice answered. “Sir. Good evening. Is everything all right?” “I just want an update,” Elias said as he leaned back in his chair. “How’s the vendor reconciliation task going?” Adams cleared his throat on the other end. “Still working on it, sir. I’ve been at the downtown office since this morning. I’m going through the procurement files from East Asia. Should have it on your desk later tonight.” “Hm,” Elias replied, He glanced at a small corner of the screen on his desk. A security camera feed showed his private office—empty. Silent. No sign of movement. A few seconds passed. “You’re at the office right now?” he asked again. “Yes,

Elias let out a sigh and turned his attention back to the the boutique. For a moment, he’d hoped for a peaceful evening. But clearly, that wasn’t going to happen—not while she was still standing there, waiting to provoke him. “Trying to pretend you fit in, are you?” Miranda said sharply “Walking in here like you’re some kind of prince, when in reality, you’re nothing but a street rat dressed up in borrowed clothes.” Elias didn’t react. He kept his eyes on the blue dress he was holding, pretending not to hear her. But she wasn’t going to stop that easily. “Do you actually believe that just walking into a place like this will make people forget where you come from?” she continued, “Or what you really are?” Her lips twisted into a cruel smile. “You look like someone who lives off scraps. Like someone who’s only ever known hand-me-downs and pity.” Elias turned around slowly, his eyes meeting hers. Miranda stepped closer, “Honestly, I’m amazed they even let you through the door,” sh

Miranda’s loud laughter filled the boutique. She flipped her hair over her shoulder with a smug look on her face. “You?” she said with disbelief. “A salesman trying to buy that suit? Please. You might be able to save up for the cheapest tie in here if you work hard for the next ten years—but a $200,000 suit? Don’t make me laugh.” The sales assistant looked uncomfortable. She glanced at Elias, clearly unsure if she should step in or stay quiet. But Miranda wasn’t done. In fact, her voice grew louder so that everyone else in the boutique could hear her. “This isn’t some bargain store with clearance racks, you know,” she said loudly. She tapped her nail on the price tag of the suit. “That suit costs over two hundred thousand dollars. And that’s just the starting price. You need to have at least silver VIP status just to qualify for a custom fitting. Do you even know what that is?” She gave Elias a fake smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “I doubt you’ve even seen that much money in your