Chapter 117: High and Mighty

Hayley’s POV:

“This tie is quite nice. If you gave it to Ben as a birthday gift, I’m sure he’d love it,” Madeline said with a bright smile, then glanced at me with a look full of sarcasm. “I never expected to run into you here. Are you also interested in this tie?”

I planned to ignore her, but her words were sharp and undeniably uncomfortable.

“Do you enjoy snatching things from others, Ms. Kilmer?”

Madeline laughed. “Snatching? Isn’t it just that I spotted it first? Besides, you’re just an Omega from a remote pack. Have you ever heard of the brand Hermes? I doubt you’ve even heard of it, let alone have the money to buy it.”

Madeline’s voice was loud, drawing the attention of several onlookers. The sales associates seemed to recognize her and treated her with great respect, sizing me up with disdain. They judged my outfit as outdated, assuming I couldn’t afford anything. One by one, they hurried over to Madeline, showering her with compliments. “Ms. Kilmer, welcome back! What will you be taking home today?”

They completely ignored me standing nearby.

Madeline continued to mock me, clearly enjoying herself. “Hayley, let’s face it. Even the public has keen eyes. Let me give you a friendly piece of advice. Don’t dream of climbing too high or trying to catch something that’s out of your league. With someone like you, even if you’re connected to the Shadow Pack’s ruling family and close to George, our Alpha Benjamin would never choose you as Luna!”

I found her words amusing and chose to ignore Madeline. Instead, I turned to the sales associate and asked, “Do you have any more ties like this in stock?”

The sales associate looked at me with a dismissive expression. “We do have some, but are you really interested in buying, miss?”

I raised an eyebrow. “How many of these ties do you have in total?”

The sales associate seemed taken aback by my question but answered honestly, “This is a limited edition; there are only ten in the world, and we were lucky to get two.”

I said straightforwardly, “Wrap them up for me.”

Hearing my words, Madeline couldn’t help but laugh. “I didn’t expect you to be so bold! Do you even know how much that tie costs? Where would someone like you find the money to buy it? Don’t come here pretending to be something you’re not.”

I ignored her and turned to the sales associate. “Please wrap both of these in gift boxes. I’m giving them as gifts.”

As soon as the sales associates heard I was buying, their eyes lit up. Gone was their earlier arrogance. They immediately rushed to assist me with the packaging.

Madeline crossed her arms, looking disdainful. “Ha, Hayley, you really put on quite a show. I can’t wait…”

At that moment, the sales associate approached Madeline and said, “Ms. Kilmer, this tie has already been purchased by this lady. Please hand over the one you’re holding.”

Madeline’s face flushed instantly, and she tossed the tie to the sales associate without a word. I almost burst out laughing at her awkwardness as I watched from the side.

The sales associate took the ties to wrap them up and then asked, “Would you like to pay with cash, card, or Apple Pay?”

I replied, “I’ll use Apple Pay.” After a moment of tapping on my phone, the transaction went through successfully. The sales associate beamed as she handed me the receipt. “Here you go, ma’am. Please keep it.”

I nodded and tucked the receipt into my pocket, then picked up the two bags and prepared to leave, completely ignoring Madeline.

Madeline stared at me in disbelief and stepped in front of me at the store entrance. “Those are men’s ties! You’re buying them for Alpha Benjamin, right? Are you trying to seduce him?”

“That b*tch! I should go out there and teach her a lesson! How dare she humiliate us! Benjamin is our destined mate. She should just give up on him!” Hera was fuming.

I tried to calm her down. “This woman isn’t worth my time.”

I shook off Madeline’s hand, shot her a disdainful glance, and walked out of the store.

As I stepped out of the mall, I glanced at the two bags in my hands. I had initially intended to buy just one tie as a birthday gift for Benjamin, but to provoke Madeline, I ended up buying an extra one. I decided to give the extra tie to my beta, Thomas.

This thought brightened my mood, and I no longer worried about the extra expense.

Just as I was about to head back to school, I received a call from Grandpa Southwell. “Hayz, are you busy right now?”