Chapter 56: Getting a Chain

June gasped, opening and closing her mouth in amazement.

Chris smiled, loving the expression on her face. It was one of the reasons he had brought her to the store.

This was one of the smallest stores the Vassaris owned, but he planned on taking her to each of the stores one by one, and probably one day, he would be able to convince her to take part in managing everything they owned.

After all, she was the legal heir to the Vassari empire. He was just an adopted son.

Not that anyone knew that.

When June finally found her voice, she smiled.

"I’m sorry. I had no idea."

Just then, another thought came to her mind.

"If we’re picking things at her store for her, is it the same thing as buying her a gift?"

Chris leaned closer to her.

"Of course. We’re still going to pay even though it’s our store," he whispered in her ear.

June blinked.

"You pay in your own store?"

"Of course. So, don’t think too much about it and pick exactly what you want."

Assured that she was still buying the gift with her own money, June started picking different things, from glasses to wristwatches, necklaces, and even a leg chain. Whenever she checked the price tag and felt it was too much, she dropped it.

Not that she didn’t want to give Serena something expensive, but she wanted her first gift to her to come from her personal savings.

Not some money she received from Chris or something he was paying for.

Chris was engrossed in his shopping to pay attention to her.

He was searching for a necklace that was similar to the one he had bought for June. He intended to place his and June’s picture in it. He wanted Serena to have it around her neck while going into surgery.

And he also wanted her to have the same thing as June.

A sign that her family was with her.

June picked up a glass, and before she could check it well or return it, the salesgirl was back at her side with a glare.

"Ma’am, please put that down. It’s not meant to be handled the way you are."

June frowned at her.

She hadn’t done anything to the glass. She had only held it and was checking the frame.

"What do you mean by that? Don’t I have the right to check what I want to buy?"

Her gaze danced over June.

"I’m sorry, ma’am. But this isn’t the type of glass you can afford."

Her voice was now a whisper. She didn’t want Chris, who was a few feet away from them, to hear their discussion.

June clenched her fist beside her.

"How could you conclude I can’t afford it..."

Before June could continue, the salesgirl leaped in.

"I could tell from the way you’re dressed."

She turned to look at Chris, who was busy.

"Unlike Mr. Vassari, who can actually afford something like this. You are dressed pale in comparison. This is a one-of-a-kind pair of glasses. It’s a rare kind."

Then suddenly, she collected the glasses from June and started cleaning the frame as if June had left dirt on it.

"If you want, ma’am, I can show you the list of things you can actually afford at this store."

June stared at her in utter disbelief.

She looked down at her short-sleeved shirt, though it was big enough to hide her bump that had started showing, and her jeans.

She was dressed simply, but she was neat.

She shook her head.

"No. What I want is exactly those glasses."

June didn’t care that it was expensive. She was ready to prove to the salesgirl that it was wrong to judge someone by their clothes. And it was actually rude to talk to a customer in such a manner.

The salesgirl smiled.

"Then you have to call your sugar daddy to pay for it."

She held onto the glasses, refusing to put them down in case June wanted to pick them up again.

June’s gaze moved to Chris. He held a long chain with an open pendant.

"He’s not my sugar daddy."

Her smile widened.

"You don’t need to hide it. From the moment you stepped into the store with Chris Vassari, everyone knows what you are."

At that moment, June looked around to see some of the salesgirls staring at her shamelessly.

Anyone busy wouldn’t have noticed the subtle glances and the way they hit each other while whispering in one another’s ears, but June noticed it because the salesgirl had called her attention to it indirectly.

"Is this how you treat customers?" June asked.

The lady shifted on her feet, holding the glasses tighter.

"Only clueless bitches like you who walk into the store thinking they can afford anything in here."

June’s gaze widened.

So, she wasn’t the first victim of their verbal abuse.

"Look," the lady continued as if she hadn’t just insulted June. "Let me give you a piece of advice. If you walk out of this mall, there’s another mall down the lane with goods and counterfeit items you can actually afford. Something like your cheap shirt and jeans. They may even throw in a bonus for you."

"What about me?"

A deep voice came from behind them.

The lady gasped, turning to see Chris glaring at her.

His hand was empty, but his eyes held the kind of fury June had never seen before.

Earlier, she had seen Chris coming over, but she had kept quiet, waiting for the lady to continue talking.

"Sir..."

She looked from Chris to June, completely shocked that he was behind her.

She hadn’t heard his footsteps. She had no idea Chris had mastered the art of walking without making a sound.

"I didn’t mean to. I didn’t mean..."

June stared at her.

The eloquence she had used in insulting her seemed to have vanished.

Chris waited.

When she kept quiet, saying no more words, June finally spoke.

"I believe you will be able to afford the glasses since I can’t."

Out of fear, the lady had gripped the glasses too tightly and ended up breaking them without realizing it.

Now, as her eyes fell on the broken glasses, she fell to her knees in tears.

Even if she were to pay with her monthly salary for more than a year, she still couldn’t afford the glasses.

"I’m sorry, Mr. Vassari. I didn’t mean to..."

She couldn’t get herself to complete the sentence.

June shook her head and, standing beside her, made a show of linking their hands together.

"Ooh, don’t think my sugar daddy will be willing to pay for you."

Then she leaned towards the girl as if she wanted to whisper to her.

"Let me advise you. Next time, don’t try to judge someone just by the clothes they are wearing. And try to be honest in your workplace."

She nodded violently, that June feared her head was going to uproot from her neck.

"It’s just a pity she learnt her lesson too late, brother. Because I believe she still needs to pay for those glasses."

The lady’s head sprang up as fast as it could, moving from June to Chris.

"Brother!" she repeated.

The news that the Vassaris were looking for their missing daughter was all over the state, but there was no news that they had found her. So, she hadn’t even thought of the possibility that June was the daughter.

And to think she had insulted a Vassari heiress.

This time, she turned towards June, her knees still on the floor.

"I’m sorry, ma’am. I had no idea who you were."

But June didn’t buy the excuse of an apology.

Even after she was caught, she hadn’t thought June deserved an apology just because she thought June was a nobody. But now that she knew she was related to the Vassaris, she suddenly thought she deserved an apology.

A fake one at that.

Chris turned to June.

"What do we do about her?"

"Report her to the manager, and every other staff member who has been insulting other customers," she said. "In fact, I think this store deserves an inspection and possible reform of all the personnel in it."

The anger towards how they must have been treating innocent people drove her to speak, but Chris stared at her as if she were starting the creation of the world.

"I mean, if that’s okay," she added as an afterthought.

Chris laughed.

"Of course. Anything you want, sister."

He mimicked the tone she had used in calling him brother.

The lady tried to hold onto June’s trousers as they turned towards what June supposed was the direction of the manager’s office.

When June finally left the store an hour later, she had a chain of her choice.

The manager had apologized for the behavior of the staff. He also promised to sack the lady, collect full payment for the glasses, and investigate every staff member who had been treating past customers the same way they had treated June.