In the Lap of Luxury by Unsweetened Chestnuts

Chapter 30 Why They Had Gotten Married in Secret
“Invitations purchased from third parties are void,” Grace said, lifting an eyebrow mockingly.
“You certainly aren’t worthy of my attention.”
“Of course,” she added, “if you spend over 50 thousand dollars here today, I might consider serving you.”
The Quine family wasn’t filthy rich. Yvonne only had so much money to spend, and after the 31 million dollars she wasted on the
diamond bracelet, Grace knew that she was broke now.
Even if she managed to scrounge up the money somehow, it would only help Emily’s profits.
Either way, Grace won.
Celia, an utter idiot, began urging Yvonne as well. “Yvonne, let’s buy everything in this boutique. Then she’ll see!”
Yvonne lowered her eyes silently, ignoring Celia.
“No money?” Grace’s voice was just loud enough for everyone to hear her.
“If you’re broke, then why waste the money to buy an invitation just to ogle at things you can’t afford? I’m afraid I’ll have to call
security to turn you out.”
The world of socialites was a brutal one. Almost immediately, some busybodies began posting
about this on social media.

The news spread fast. Soon, notification alerts chimed on everyone’s phones.
Yvonne and Celia could hear the people around them laughing at them.
They were mortified.
“Grace, you shouldn’t be so arrogant,” Yvonne said, narrowing her eyes. Her face was red with
anger.
Grace smiled at her. “What can you do? This is just how I am.”
Then, several security guards in sunglasses appeared. They stood behind Yvonne and Celia, holding their arms out to escort the
two out of the boutique.
Yvonne and Celia made a hasty exit amid everyone’s whispers.
Yvonne was no longer in the mood to continue shopping after that fiasco.
After telling Celia off, she got into the car and told the driver to take her home, leaving Celia alone, still fuming.
+15 BONUS
The more Celia thought about it, the angrier she became. She pulled her phone out and called Benjamin.
Benjamin was in a pub with his friends. When he saw Celia calling him, he answered the phone.
“Benjamin, Grace has gone too far this time!”

As soon as the call got through, he heard Celia’s shrill voice. It gave him a headache, aggravated further by the mention of
Grace’s name.
“Again? What happened?” he asked, irritated.
“She bullied me and Yvonne at the boutique! She embarrassed us by saying that we were poor, and she even called security to
kick us out!
“Benjamin, you need to divorce her at once. I never want to see her again!”
Celia had more to say, but Benjamin didn’t want to listen to her anymore. He hung up on her.
Frowning, he downed his entire glass of alcohol in one gulp.
Celia had been loud enough that Frederick, who was sitting beside Benjamin, had heard the conversation as well.
He refilled Benjamin’s glass and patted him on the shoulder. “We support you in the divorce, you know.
“That woman’s too crafty. She forced her way into your relationship with Yvonne by using the fact that she had saved your
grandmother.
“Now that she’s successful, she’s ready to kick you to the curb and treat your sister and Yvonne badly. We told you before ... ”
“That’s enough,” Benjamin interrupted.
For some reason, he didn’t like to hear anyone talk badly about Grace.
He gave Frederick a hard look. “Is that what you think of her?”
Frederick pointed to their group of friends who were playing cards behind them. “It’s not just me. We all think so.
“She’s just a peasant with nothing but looks. We never liked her. She only got into Hawkins Group because of you. How can she
be good at anything? Isn’t it?”
He took a swig of alcohol and demanded, “You married her secretly because you were embarrassed of her, right?”
Benjamin felt annoyance building up in his chest. He tugged at his tie impatiently.

Back then, he had chosen to marry Grace in secret because he hadn’t wanted her to be
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He hadn’t expected his decision to cause such a misunderstanding. Because of it, Frederick thought that he didn’t like Grace and
had never viewed her as his wife.
If his friends had thought so, then had Grace had the same misconception as well?