"You could work here your entire life and still never afford the dress Seth personally picked out for me. It's worth millions."
"You'd better start figuring out how you're going to pay for the one you just ruined."
In that moment, the gulf between Seth and me came into sharp, brutal focus.
The dress he'd casually bought for Zoe was worth more than I could save in several lifetimes.
Most of the guests at this gala were the kind of people who worshipped power and trampled the weak. Plenty of them were more than happy to fawn over Zoe, the pampered heiress.
After all, she might very well become the next Mrs. Vance.
The insults piled on, one after another.
I lowered my eyes and bowed my head in humiliation.
The day Seth told me he was tired of me, he'd immediately cut off my living expenses.
Life had only gotten harder since then, and no one dared to help me.
I shouldn't have been at a gala like this in the first place. But Seth's birthday was in a few days, and I wanted to use the money I'd earned myself to buy him a gift.
I'd hoped to use the occasion to sit down and talk with him properly.
Even if it was all a misunderstanding, it needed to be cleared up.