Heir Above All

Manager Lu

Evelyn took Oscar to the Culmen Store the next afternoon.

Though smaller than Hudson Group's Kingsford headquarters, it didn't look exactly small at all. The building sat on a corner lot with glass windows two stories tall, each one framing a single mannequin dressed in wears Oscar guessed cost more than most people made in a year.

Culmen was Hudson Group's own luxury fashion house, Evelyn had explained on the drive over. It was one of the crown pieces of the family's holdings in the world, and this was just one of its stores in Kingsford.

Oscar looked up at the building for a moment before walking in. Though he didn't say anything about it, the same couldn't be said about his feelings. Oscar simply felt stumped, to say the least.

Evelyn led him past the main floor to a private elevator near the back, one that only opened with a card she carried. It took them to the top floor, a space reserved for VIP members and guests important enough they didn't need to wait in line downstairs.

"I need to speak with Manager Lu about your accounts," Evelyn said. "It won't take long. Feel free to look around."

She stepped away toward an office near the back of the floor, leaving Oscar alone among racks of tailored suits and glass cases full of watches.

Looking at these clothes, Oscar suddenly realized how plain and worn-out his own clothes were. For the past one day, he hadn't had the time for himself. So, it was safe to say, he had been wearing the same faded jeans and shirt for over a day.

He walked slowly past the suits without touching them, studying the stitching, the way the fabric caught the light, and just how beautiful they genuinely are.

But then, a man's voice cut through the quiet.

"How did a rat like you end up on this floor?"

Oscar turned. A well-dressed man stood a few feet away, a woman on his arm in a dress that probably cost more than the store's entire staff made in a month combined.

‘Alright, that might be an exaggeration. But close enough.’

The man's eyes moved over Oscar's clothes with open disgust.

"I didn't spend half a million on a VIP membership just to shop beside a beggar," the man said.

The woman on his arm wrinkled her nose, looking Oscar up and down like he was filthy on someone's shoe. "Ugh, and he smells like he hasn't showered in days. Is this what they let in now? I thought this floor had standards."

"It usually does," the man said. "Someone's clearly slipping."

Oscar didn't answer. He'd heard worse from people who'd known him a lot longer than these two had known him. There was no need to argue with people like these two.

"Look at him, just standing there," the woman said, laughing behind her hand. "Not even embarrassed. Some people really have no shame."

"Some people don't know any better," the man said. "That's what happens when you let anyone off the street wander in."

He snapped his fingers at a nearby sales employee, a young woman who hurried over immediately. "Get him out of here. Now."

The employee glanced at Oscar, uncertain, then back at the man, a VIP member, someone whose complaints could cost her her job if she didn't move fast enough. She didn't ask Oscar who he was. She simply reached for her radio and called for security.

"Finally," the woman said, fanning herself as though the whole encounter had been exhausting. "I don't know how you people work here if you let this happen in the first place."

Two guards arrived within a minute, moving toward Oscar with the practiced pace of men who had done this so often they didn't have to think twice.

"Sir, I'll need you to come with us," one of them said.

Oscar didn't raise his voice. "I'm waiting for someone."

The businessman laughed. "Sure you are. Waiting for someone on the VIP floor, dressed like that." He turned to his companion. "Watch this. He'll say anything to stall."

"Pathetic," the woman said, shaking her head. "Just leave already. You're polluting the air more by staying."

The guards stepped closer, but Oscar didn't move.

At that very moment, just as the guards were about to grab him.

"Young Master?"

Evelyn's voice cut across the floor. She was walking quickly toward them, an older man in a dark suit beside her – Manager Lu, judging by the badge on his chest. His expression, which was calm a second ago, went hard the moment he saw the guards standing around Oscar.

"What is this?" Manager Lu's voice was sharp enough that every head on the floor turned.

The lead guard straightened. "Sir, we were told to remove him. He wasn't authorized to—"

"Authorized?" Manager Lu cut him off. "Do you have any idea who you're speaking to?"

The guards exchanged a look. The businessman's smug expression started to slip, and beside him, the woman's laughter died in her throat.

Manager Lu turned to the sales employee, who had gone pale. "Explain yourself. Now."

"I—he asked me to, and he's a VIP member, so I thought—" the employee stammered, glancing at the businessman.

"You thought it was easier to humiliate a guest than to ask his name first," Manager Lu said. He turned to the businessman next, his voice dropping into something colder. "Mr. Weller. I don't care how much you've spent here. I care that you used your membership to have my staff remove a Hudson Group executive from this floor without so much as confirming who he was."

The businessman's face went from smug to pale in the space of a sentence. "I—I didn't know—"

"That's exactly the problem," Manager Lu said. "Your VIP privileges are revoked, effective immediately. You're blacklisted from every Culmen Store, starting today."

The woman's mouth fell open. "You can't be serious. Do you know who my husband is—"

"I know exactly who he is," Manager Lu said. "He's a man who just lost the right to shop here. Both of you can leave now."

Security, who moments ago had been closing in on Oscar, turned instead toward the couple. The businessman opened his mouth to argue and found nothing worth saying. He grabbed his companion's arm and left without another word, her heels clicking sharply against the marble as she was pulled along.

Manager Lu turned back to the employee. "As for you, you're dismissed. I won't have staff who assume rather than ask."

"Wait," Oscar said.

Everyone turned toward him.

"Everyone deserves the chance to correct a mistake," Oscar said. "A warning will do."

Manager Lu blinked, clearly not expecting that. "Young Master, she nearly had you thrown out of the building."

"She was following an order from someone she thought she had to listen to," Oscar said. "That's not the same as malice. Give her a warning instead."

Manager Lu studied him for a moment, then nodded slowly. "As you wish." He turned to the employee, whose eyes had gone wide with relief. "Final warning. Don't let it happen again."

"Thank you," the employee said quietly, turning to Oscar. "I'm sorry. Truly."

Oscar just nodded.

Manager Lu personally walked Oscar through the floor after that, pulling suits from the racks himself, offering opinions Oscar mostly agreed with. Oscar steered away from anything too bold, no bright colors, no logos stitched across the chest. He picked pieces that were well made and quiet about it.

By the time they left, Evelyn was checking something on her tablet again.

"One more thing before tomorrow," she said, as they walked toward the private elevator. "Which vehicle would you like for the wedding?"

Oscar didn't need to think about it. "The Velma Helm 1."

Evelyn glanced up. "That's a five-million XD SUV, and it's not the most expensive option in the garage."

"I know," Oscar said. "It's the one I want."

Evelyn considered that for a moment, then gave a small nod. "People tend to underestimate quiet things, Young Master. Judging by today, that usually works in your favor."

Oscar didn't answer that. He just smiled, faintly, and stepped into the elevator.

***

The car pulled away from Culmen Store a short while later, the city sliding by outside the windows. Evelyn looked over tomorrow's itinerary on her tablet, then set it down.

"A reminder, Young Master," she said. "Tomorrow, you'll attend Miss Olivia Hall's wedding."

Oscar looked out the window, his expression unreadable.

"It's time to put the past behind me," he said.