Chapter 471


    After breakfast the next morning, Crystal was in excellent spirits as she took Madeline, Aldo, and


    Buddy out for a day of shopping.


    Michael and Hanson came along as well. They were in charge of keeping an eye on the children so


    that Crystal and Madeline could shop to their hearts'' content.


    Crystal brought Madeline to Wendel City''s most luxurious shopping mall.


    The mall had a selection of everything a person could possibly want. As long as one had money, one


    could walk away with anything one wanted.


    Crystal first brought Madeline to check out clothes, shoes, and bags, but the main event for the day


    was buying… jewelry!


    Clothes, shoes, and bags were all consumable fashion, but jewelry held its value. Crystal wanted to


    buy more jewelry for Madeline as it could even be passed down to her granddaughter in the future.


    Crystal had the bodyguards carry the bags of clothes, shoes, and bags to the car while she and


    Madeline headed straight for the jewelry disy.


    As it was, Crystal wasn''t someone who was all that fond of shopping. Most of the jewelry items she


    owned were presents from her husband and sons. She rarely bought any for herself.


    But today, she had an excellent reason to buy as much as she wanted, and the thought of that made


    her excited.


    She dragged Madeline over to the high-end jewelry disy which contained all of the finest designs.


    The jewelry sparkled in all its glory inside the disy case. There was a selection of crystals,


    diamonds, pearls, rubies, jade, and more.


    "See anything you like, Maddie?" Crystal held Madeline''s hand and dered with a smile, "Your father


    said he''ll pay for everything we buy today!"


    "Mom, you and Dad have prepared enough for me. I don''t need anything else." Madeline didn''t share


    Crystal''s enthusiasm. On the contrary, she was feeling a little helpless.


    Madeline wasn''t someone who loved shopping. Most of the time, she only bought things for her


    children. When it came to herself, she was satisfied with having the bare minimum.


    Crystal had already swept through the selection of clothes, shoes, and bags earlier. Madeline had


    gaped in shock when she saw Crystal buying tens of each category for her.


    It was too much!


    Sebastian had already given her a lot of things that were of a simr fashion. She didn''t have enough


    days in the year to wear it all and she truly didn''t need all of this.


    "There''s no such thing as too much jewelry," Crystal refuted. "They hold their value, so you can use


    them if you like them, and if you don''t, you can save them for my future granddaughter. Jewelry doesn''t


    need to be used to make you feel good, you know. Even if you just keep them on disy at home, you


    can still feel great whenever you admire your collection!"


    Madeline was dumbfounded.


    She didn''t know what she could say to reject Crystal''s offer.


    She knew that her parents were trying to make it up to her by showering her with presents. They would


    probably be happiest if she simply epted anything that they bought for her.


    Text ? 2024 N?velDrama.Org.


    However, she wasn''t used to people treating her so well. She didn''t want to ept it because she felt


    as if she didn''t deserve it.


    Still, seeing how happy Crystal was right now, she didn''t want to rain on her parade.


    Oh, forget it.


    I''ll just go along with it. I can always find a chance to repay themter on.


    This way, everyone''s happy!


    Madeline hadn''t chosen anything, so Crystal took it upon herself to choose three sets—one each of


    diamonds, rubies, and sapphires—before she started urging, "Hurry up and choose, Maddie. You must


    choose at least six more!"


    Madeline was at a loss for words.


    "It''s fine if you don''t like anything here," Crystal said. "We can take a look at the other disys."


    The sales assistant wasn''t about to let a high-roller customer walk away just like that. She quickly


    began to make her rmendations to Madeline. "Our jewelry designs are the most sophisticated in


    all of Wendel City. These are all one-of-a-kind designs made by our designers. Miss, why don''t you


    take a look at this set of rubies…"


    She expended her entire vocabry to promote the jewelry to Madeline.


    Crystal stood aside and watched with a smile. She would be more than happy if the sales assistant


    managed to convince Madeline to select a few more pieces.


    Madeline was young, beautiful, and carried herself with poise. Crystal couldn''t think of any other young


    woman in Wendel City who was prettier than her daughter. She could sense other people staring at


    them when she walked out on the streets with Madeline, and her heart swelled with pride.


    s, her daughter didn''t grow up in Wendel City, but if she did, she would surely be the top socialite


    here!


    What a fine daughter I have. She should wear the best jewelry!


    As Crystal continued to gaze at her precious daughter with pride, someone called out to her from


    behind. "Miss Taylor?"


    Crystal turned around and saw that it was a business acquaintance of hers.


    She swiftly put on a professional smile and greeted, "It''s been a while, Ms. Lowry!"


    "It''s you, Miss Taylor! I thought you looked familiar!" The person waved her over. "Come and help me


    take a look at this jade, Miss Taylor. I can''t decide at all. Come and tell me what you think."


    "Alright!" Crystal agreed. She turned to Madeline and said, "Choose a few more sets. I''m going over


    there for a moment."


    "Okay, Mom." Madeline nodded.


    Crystal went over to help her acquaintance with the jewelry.


    The two quickly became caught up in their conversation.


    Meanwhile, Madeline kept listening to the sales assistant as she exined every single piece of jewelry


    in the store in great detail. She made it sound as if the jewelry here had been created by the heavens


    themselves, and Madeline was rather amused.


    If only I could speak as well as these sales assistants, then ourw office wouldn''t be doing as poorly


    as it does now.


    Thankfully, everyone at thew office was well-connected and had means of garnering business even


    without her help, or else, she wouldn''t even be able to pay them a sry.


    Now that they had moved theirw office to a new location, no one knew about them, not even by word


    of mouth. She was young as well and didn''t seem particrly convincing to clients. As a result, thew


    office didn''t even manage to get a single casetely!


    Although Madeline appeared to be listening to the sales assistant''s rmendations, her mind had


    wandered far, far away. Thinking about the state of herw office made her feel a little depressed. With


    how bad business is, I don''t deserve to be here shopping for jewelry!


    How depressing!


    She was preupied with her thoughts when she heard someone calling her name. "Maddie?"


    She turned around to see who it was.


    James strode over in surprise. "It''s you, Maddie! I never thought I''d bump into you here. What a


    coincidence!"


    "Yeah. What a coincidence." Madeline smiled and surreptitiously took a step back.


    It was James Dugray, Sam''s childhood friend and the heir to the second most prominent family in


    Wingston. Once upon a time, he had been her admirer.


    However, his pursuit of her brought her nothing but disaster.


    When James'' mother found out that he wanted to date her, she ran over to Taylor''s Residence and


    warned her off haughtily. She said that the Dugrays weren''t about to let a woman like Madeline into the


    family and told Madeline to stay away from James. She even said that Madeline shouldn''t dream about


    raising herself from her lowly ce in society by marrying the Dugrays.


    From then on, Madeline stayed as far away from James as possible and would avoid him whenever


    she saw him.


    Later on, Madeline left for Dusktown to avoid Phoebe, and ever since then, she never saw James


    again.


    She never thought she''d run into him here.


    James looked pleased to see her, but she had a look of indifference instead.


    She didn''t want to see James.


    James was the one who liked her and tried to date her. She had rejected him outright and told him that


    she wasn''t interested in dating him.


    However, his mother came over and humiliated Madeline without even knowing what the truth was.


    James'' mother ndered Madeline by iming that she had seduced James because she was


    delusional enough to think she could change her lot in life by marrying James.