Chapter 4 Don't Let Your Vanity Ruin You

The mall's ground level was all about made-to-order bridal gowns.

It seemed that Caiden and Paulina's wedding day was getting close.

The realization made Irene's chest tight. She had to get out of there.

Someone's cutting voice rang out before she could move. "Hey, look who it is! That's Irene, isn't it?"

"No way! Last time we saw her was years back after she bailed on med school! Can you believe we'd run into her in a place like this?" The second voice had laughter in it, but the friendly tone was fake.

Irene knew these two from her medical school days-Madalyn Bennett and Zoe Payne.

Irene had blown them out of the water academically back then.

They talked cheap shots at her when she left school, acting all superior about it.

Paulina was dress shopping with them that day. Spotting Irene got their attention right away, and they made their way over.

Paulina had her arm linked through Caiden's as they came closer, a smile on her face. "What a surprise, Miss Burton. What brings you here today?"

She had on a custom designer wedding gown right then. The high-end material and perfect fit made her look absolutely stunning.

Irene's first impulse was to make herself small when she looked at Paulina.

Kallie made a cold sound and moved forward though. "Hey, do you all know Miss Burton? What are the odds-she's shopping for a wedding dress as well."

That news caught Paulina off guard for a second.

Caiden's face went dark. He shot Irene a look that said she should leave.

Madalyn missed all the tension completely and cracked up. "Wait, Irene's getting a wedding dress? From this place?"

Zoe piled on, her tone nasty. "Are you aware what these things run? The cheapest ones in here are over a hundred grand! Irene wouldn't have had to quit school and take that nutritionist gig with Mr. Smith if she had that kind of money."

She made a big show of blinking at Irene. "Am I wrong?"

Caiden was already on edge having Irene and Paulina in the same room.

Zoe bringing up how Irene ended up working for him made things worse. Scared Paulina would figure things out, he came down hard on Irene. "Miss Payne's got a point. I'm the one who pays you, and it's not much. There's no way you could afford a dress from this place. Looking around to see how rich people live is fine, but that's it. Head home now. Don't let your vanity ruin you."

Everything felt like it was designed to hurt Irene-the mention of dropping out, the comments about vanity, the sight of Paulina's wedding dress. It all cut deep.

Irene kept her head down and took their mockery. Her hands were balled into fists inside her sleeves, getting tighter and tighter.

Kallie saw she was shaking a little and was ready to jump to her defense. Irene lifted her head up then though, looking straight at them with her neck stretched tall.

Caiden was used to seeing her act scared and timid. The sudden fire in her bright eyes threw him off.

Irene gave him a big smile and finally pushed back. "You're absolutely right, Mr. Smith. What I make definitely won't cover a dress from here. Lucky for me, my fiancé's loaded and he'll take care of the bill."

Everybody had their limit, and Irene had just hit hers that day.

The word "fiancé" made Caiden's face scrunch up in annoyance, but a smug look crossed his face pretty quick though.

She had to be green with envy over Paulina, cooking up some stupid fantasy about becoming his wife.

Paulina, Doctor of Medicine, got an incredibly bright future ahead of her. What was Irene? Nothing but his plaything. Like she had any right to that title?

Caiden was getting ready to throw some mean comments her way with those thoughts running through his head.

Paulina spoke up first though, still smiling. "It's pretty unusual for Miss Burton to be trying on wedding dresses the same day I am. How about we give her a hand picking something out? Then we can see exactly how rich this fiancé of hers actually is."

Paulina gave Madalyn and Zoe a look after saying that.

They got the message. Each one grabbed one of Irene's arms and started pulling her toward the priciest dresses in the shop, all excited about it.

They were dying to watch the broke Irene make a complete idiot of herself.

Kallie's voice cut in though. "Wait a minute!"

They looked back.

Irene turned around too, curious about what she had to say.

"Miss Burton is my boss's fiancée. Her wedding dress is going to be custom designer couture, not some mass-produced thing anybody can get off the rack." Kallie had her arms folded and made the announcement nice and loud.

Madalyn and Zoe weren't buying it. They were about to laugh when Paulina came forward. "Really? Miss Burton's doing pretty well for herself then. We should absolutely check it out."

Her eyes stayed on Irene.

Irene's fingers were clenched tight. Her face was getting hot.

She knew Henry was generous to a fault. If she grabbed any regular wedding dress from the shop that day, he would cover it without making a fuss.

Custom designer couture was a whole different ballgame though.

Irene was worried that blowing that much cash just to look good in front of these people would tick Henry off. She would feel terrible about it too.

Paulina's interest only got stronger when she saw how uncomfortable Irene looked.

She couldn't wait to watch Irene try to show off and then get kicked out of the store.