She Wanted My Luck, I Gave It To Her

Chapter 3

Ella's POV:

My family may have been comfortably well-off rather than truly wealthy, but I'd held this position for five years and finished as the company's top performer every single year.

Why wouldn't I be able to afford a few designer pieces?

"Don't think I haven't noticed. You're broke, yet you still love pretending you're rich."

Marie folded her arms across her chest, her eyes filled with undisguised contempt.

The coworkers around us watched with obvious interest, every gaze fixed squarely on the two of us.

"You'd all be smart to stay away from Ella! Someone this obsessed with keeping up appearances will stab you in the back the moment it benefits her!"

I had originally planned to ignore her. There was no point wasting my breath trying to prove anything to someone like Marie.

But the moment she started trying to turn the entire office against me with lies...

That crossed the line.

I set my handbag firmly on the desk and stood up.

"This dress and this handbag were both purchased directly from the brand's boutique. If you don't believe me, come with me after work. We can verify my purchase history and loyalty account right there."

"Fine! And if there's no record, don't blame me for embarrassing you in public! It'll also be the perfect opportunity for you to meet my fiancé."

The moment she mentioned her fiancé, her face lit up with smug pride. She could hardly wait to show off the wealthy man she'd risked her life to save.

What she considered the greatest prize imaginable... was something I had already learned wasn't worth having.

After work, we arrived at the luxury boutique.

Caleb Ferrell was already waiting outside. Marie immediately slipped her arm through his and leaned affectionately against him.

"Darling, this is the cousin I told you about. The one who's always barely getting by."

Caleb looked me up and down. It was exactly the same look he'd given me in my previous life. I ignored his lingering stare completely.

Walking past both of them, I approached a sales associate and asked her to pull up my purchase history. Once the associate displayed my complete transaction record, Marie immediately found another excuse.

"So what if there's a purchase record? You probably borrowed money through online loans just to afford these things!

"Ella, I'm only saying this because I care. If you weren't born into wealth, don't pretend you were. You'll bury yourself in debt trying to keep up appearances.

"And then what? You don't have someone like Caleb to support you the way I do."

After saying that, she deliberately planted a loud kiss on Caleb's cheek. I had to suppress the urge to cringe.

Ignoring them, I walked to the display counter and pointed to a handbag behind the glass.

"I'll take this one. Please wrap it up for me."

Before I could say anything else, Marie shoved me aside and snapped at the associate.

"I want that bag. It's mine."

The associate maintained a polite smile.

"I'm very sorry, ma'am, but this customer selected it first. Would you like to look at some of our other styles instead? This particular handbag also requires a qualifying purchase before it can be sold. I'd be happy to show you some other options."

Marie's expression darkened instantly.

"Are you saying I can't afford it? Don't be ridiculous! If it just requires a qualifying purchase, then wrap up every handbag on that entire wall behind you.

"Will that be enough? How dare a sales associate look down on me? My fiancé could buy this entire boutique if he wanted to."

She was acting so arrogantly it was almost painful to watch.

I knew she had never had money before. But I hadn't expected her to throw away such an outrageous amount simply to outdo me.

If she insisted on proving herself... I was more than happy to let her.

"Go ahead. You can have it. I'm not interested in fighting over a handbag."

The associate smiled politely, called over several coworkers, and had every handbag from the display wall carefully packaged.

Quite some time later, she returned with the final receipt.

"Your total comes to five hundred thousand dollars. How would you like to pay?"

Marie's eyes widened. "How much did you say?"

Standing beside her, Caleb's expression turned deathly pale.

"Five hundred thousand dollars. Will you be paying by card or digital wallet?"