Chapter 27 Twenty Seven


    When the assistant took back the shirt, Isabelle turned and headed towards where the two were


    standing. They stopped talking when they saw her approaching, but unfortunately for them, she had


    already heard everything.


    “Excuse me, can you please stop mocking us? We came here to shop and it’s quite unpleasant when


    you two are standing here making insulting remarks.”


    The two exchanged a look, and then faced her. One of them frowned. “I’m sorry, what are you talking


    about?” She asked that with a confused expression, as if she truly had no idea what Isabelle was


    talking about.


    “I could hear you two clearly,” Isabelle told them, “so don’t bother acting like you don’t know what I’m


    talking about. Is this how you treat customers here?”


    “Customers are people who buy clothes here,” the other one said, not interested in ying pretend like


    her coworker. “You two are obviously just here to waste everybody’s time. Look around and ask


    yourself if this looks like a store you should be in.”


    Isabelle clenched her hands and took a step forward, but a firm hand sped around her arm, keeping


    her in ce. She looked up to find Jacob beside her, his furious gaze on the two assistants.


    “Apologise to my wife right away,” he ordered the assistants. His aura was threatening, like he wasn’t


    going to back off until they apologised.


    “You and your wife are interrupting business,” the first assistant said, raising her voice. “Please leave


    before we call security.”


    “How exactly are we doing that?” Isabelle demanded. “We came here to shop, like everybody else.”


    The assistant gestured to her clothes. “Look at yourselves. It’s obvious you cannot afford anything in


    this store. It’s fine if you came to window-shop, but do you have to waste our time waiting on you? If


    other customers see you two in here, they might refuse to shop here anymore. With people like you


    here, it looks like amon shop.”


    Isabelle scoffed, amazed at their shameless usations. “Is it your habit to look down on customers,


    or is this how you people run business here?”


    “What is going on here?” a new voice joined the melee. It was a man dressed in a staff uniform like the


    others, but his tag read Manager.


    “These two walked in and started bothering everyone,” the second assistant replied. “They can’t buy


    anything but have been harassing us for minutes now.”


    “That’s not true!” Isabelle imed when the manager turned to them. “We were looking through our


    options, but it appears that the staff isn’t willing to be helpful.”


    The manager looked at her, gave her a once-over, and did the same to Jacob. “I think you two should


    leave, you’re in the wrong store.”


    Isabelle’s jaw fell as the manager spoke. She had expected him to pay attention to their plight and help


    them along, or at least make an effort to find out how the entire situation had developed. Instead, he


    seemed to not be any different from the assistants. “How are we in the wrong store?” she asked, not


    willing to back down when these people were treating them so poorly.


    “If you don’t intend to buy anything, leave or I’ll call security. My staff are busy and we don’t need idlers


    like you two wasting our time.”


    “Why would wee here if we don’t intend on buying anything? On what basis are you and your staff


    time if this is the job you were hired to do?”


    “You haven’t bought anything despite being in the store for a long time, I think your intentions are


    clear,” the manager countered.


    “If nothing has pleased us, why should we buy anything?” Isabelle demanded. “We’d only been around


    for five minutes before your staff beganining. If your store has a time limit on how long


    someone should spend shopping, you should make it public.”


    Beside Isabelle, Jacob’s face darkened. He never could have expected that the service at the Larson


    Group’s store was so poor. None of the staff were acting in a manner that represented thepany’s


    values, and he didn’t want to imagine the damage they caused to the group’s reputation.


    He had brought Isabelle here hoping she would like the ce and enjoy shopping, but the opposite


    was happening.


    He stepped up to the manager, getting in his space. The manager stepped back, intimidated by his


    taller physique. That’s right, he should be afraid. “My wife and I have done nothing wrong, so you have


    no right to drive us out.”


    By then, other customers were beginning to notice the confrontation and were beginning to gather


    around and listen. The manager looked around and realised that if this went on longer, word could get


    out and ruin the reputation of the store.


    “You are deliberately causing trouble in the store,” he said loudly, wanting others to hear and believe it


    was the two who were at fault. “You’re threatening my staff and disturbing other shoppers, so we kindly


    request you to leave.” Then he turned and beckoned to a security guard who had appeared at the


    scene. “Escort them out.”ConTEent bel0ngs to N?v(e)lD/rama(.)Org .


    The shoppers who were now paying attention to the argument now looked at Isabelle and Jacob with


    judging eyes, with some saying that they should be thrown out. Isabelle was enraged that the manager


    had painted them as viins, to the extent of making false usations against Jacob.


    “My husband hasn’t threatened anyone!” she snapped at the manager, ring at him. “All he did was


    ask for the staff to treat us with courtesy. He didn’t say anything wrong.”


    “Ma’am, you and your husband need to leave now,” the security guard said, making his way to Jacob.


    His intention was to grab Jacob’s arm, but Isabelle stood between the two and red at the guard, her


    eyes daring him to throw them out. “We are not going anywhere until they apologise to my husband.”


    “If you keep making a scene,” the manager said, “we’ll call the police!”


    “Go ahead,” she dared, “and everyone will know how you treat customers who you look down on.” Her


    eyes wandered towards another section of the store, where one customer sat on a sofa while three


    attendants ran back and forth, bringing clothes to her. She dismissed some of them with a flick of her


    wrist, and each time, they bowed respectfully and rushed off to bring her more options. The customer


    had been there before she and Jacob arrived, and she was yet to hear anyonein about her. It


    was obvious why she was being treated like a queen while they were being thrown out–she was


    wearing a designer dress, heels that must have cost as much as Isabelle’s college tuition, and was


    adorned in diamond jewellery.


    The security guard hesitated and took a step back. Jacob stood back, enjoying how Isabelle refused to


    back down even when the manager threatened to call the police. But what made him really happy was


    the fact that she was standing up for him, and even calling him her husband.


    He had seen her defending herself vehemently on the few asions he had made the mistake of


    making baseless usations against her. But he had never thought that she would get the same way


    on his behalf.


    He felt that she truly cared about how the manager’s usations affected him, and it warmed his heart.


    It also made him more determined to make sure that the assistants and the manager regretted treating


    her poorly.