Chapter 23: New Blood
"Here you go," Catherine watched as May handed the boutique gift card to the cashier. The young woman behind the counter took it with a polite nod and began scanning the remaining items. One by one, the pieces they’d picked out were folded, wrapped, and placed into branded shopping bags.
"Next time that Matthew Lindberg walks in here" Elisa uttered as she stood beside them, her arms crossed tightly. "You should block him at the door," she said to the second saleslady, who’d returned after guiding Matthew to the fitting rooms earlier.
To her surprise, the saleslady didn’t reply, she just kept arranging the receipt.
"Hey! Are you listening to me!?" Elisa hissed.
Meanwhile, Catherine’s eyes drifted toward the boutique’s entrance where Matthew had exited minutes earlier, his back straight, face unreadable as he walked out with one of his assistants carrying a pair of branded bags. He hadn’t looked back once. Just walked out like he owned the place.
Technically, he didn’t. Not officially. Everyone knew he was just Lenox’s cousin. That didn’t stop him from acting like the boutique belonged to him. He spent money like it didn’t matter. That part hadn’t changed.
"He’s ridiculous," Elisa said again, still watching the door. "Honestly. Pretending to be some VIP when everyone knows it’s Lenox that actually matters."
"That wasn’t Mr. Lenox Lindberg," the manager replied.
"What?" Elisa turned.
The manager offered a small smile. "Mr. Matthew Lindberg is a VIP client of this establishment."
Elisa frowned. "No, you mean Lenox Lindberg. That’s the name on the membership. Matthew’s just tagging along. He must have lied or showed some fake ID."