Chapter 16 I've got a necklace

　　Louisa's POV 　　"Louisa, you look... Amazing! Unbelievably stunning!" 　　Jackie looked at me and said. 　　Leah stared at me with amazement. 　　Both Jackie and Leah were wearing long white chiffon dresses. 　　They looked so rich, so elegant, so sophisticated, so... different from their everyday look that I couldn't even recognize them at first sight. 　　The limousine we were sitting in cruised silently forward. Nobody told me whose limo was. I wanted to ask, but I didn't even bother. I knew no one would tell me anything. 　　It must have something to do with Lucas. No one had ever made so much impact on me the way Lucas did. I couldn't fathom why. Was it his looks? His body? His shit-eating smile? Or his power and wealth? 　　My heart failed to steady to its regular rhythm at all. 　　I shook my head. What was that? Did I get a sudden rush of adrenaline attack even by thinking about Lucas? 　　I looked up to give a sigh and I saw stars on the ceiling of the limo, which was kind of weird, because if a person could afford a fucking extravagant limousine like this, why would he use hand-placed fiber-optic stars to decorate his car roof? Why not use lots of two-million-dollar diamonds? 　　Feeling dreadful by my vanity, I took a glance at the strikingly dazzling blue star sapphire on my neck. It looked almost opaque until sunlight poured into the car. A shining six-pointed star emerged on its surface. 　　"I feel like I'm wearing a dumbbell on my neck," I said. 　　"It's 1,502 carats. I've only heard of it, but I have never seen it. My mom told me that Luna was wearing it on her wedding day." Jackie said with excitement. 　　"Luna?" I frowned. 　　"Aha... I mean..." Jackie stuttered, looking panicked. 　　Leah shook her head and sighed. 　　"Louisa, I know you've got lots of questions. But we're really not in the position of telling you anything. But we do need your help now. Please just show up at the party and stay there for a while. Then, after midnight, everything will be explained to you." 　　"By whom?" I asked. 　　"By Lucas, of course," Jackie replied. Then, she looked outside and said, "Aha, we're here! Redwood Mansion!" 　　The car door was opened silently by the chauffeur and Jackie helped me to get out of the limo. 　　I looked up and saw a giant castle-like mansion standing right in front of my eyes. I had never seen a grand residential place like this, so I was dumbfounded. 　　"What?" Jackie asked. 　　"All these rooms... for one family to live?" 　　"Well, technically speaking, it's for one person to live," Jackie shrugged. 　　I turned back rigidly and wanted to sneak away, but Jackie stopped me. 　　"Where are you going? The door is this way," she said. 　　"No. No. No. I don't want to have anything to do with anyone who lives in a house like this," I murmured. 　　This shit is way out of my league. If there was a perfect time to call it off and run away, it would be now. 　　Leah explained patiently, "Life, in general, is hard, no matter what kind of house you're living in. You'll see." 　　Moments later, we were on an all-white porch. In the middle was a redwood table, and on it stood an enormous bunch of flowers in all colors. On the walls, there was nothing but a giant black geometric pattern. It looked familiar, but I couldn't remember where I had seen it before. After I walked through the double doors, I realized that it was exactly the same pattern on Lucas' fucking lighter. 　　It was a wolf's head. 　　Damn. Does Lucas have a thing with wolves? Is he keeping a fucking wolf as a pet or something? 　　As soon as the double doors closed, I found myself standing in a huge space. 　　Well, "huge" was just too small a word to describe it. It was an endless factory-sized patio. 　　To the right, there was a line of servants, standing absolutely still like dummies. 　　When they saw me, they bowed and greeted me - 　　"Good evening, Miss Louisa Reid. Welcome to the Redwood Mansion." 　　I was shocked by their uniform movement and speech. 　　If Jackie hadn't held my hand, I would have fled the scene. 　　To the left, I could see an open-air buffet with bottles of bubbling champagne and sizzling steaks on the grill. 　　Jackie picked up a glass of champagne and handed it to me. 　　"No. I don't think I should drink anything tonight." I licked my lips. 　　"Have some. The dinner will start in a few minutes." Jackie winked at me. 　　"I'll go and inform Lucas of your arrival." Leah said and quickly disappeared behind a door. 　　People who stood next to the grill were chatting with each other. But when they saw me, their loud voices suddenly ceased, replaced by whispers - 　　"Who's that gorgeous girl over there?" 　　"She's so tall and elegant." 　　"I can't believe her height is the only thing you see. Can't you see her necklace?" 　　"Is that her? The girl who everyone is talking about?" 　　"It must be her. Or else Luna wouldn't lend her precious necklace to her." 　　Among their discussions, I heard a familiar voice - 　　"Oh, mine. Seriously?! Is that Louisa Reid, the stable girl?!" 　　I followed the voice and saw Jessica standing next to a door, dressing up in her tailored dress, which, by the way, was made by the finest tailor in London. 　　What she was wearing appeared to be so ordinary compared to what I was wearing, because, after all, a gem on my dress was worth two million dollars. Dah. 　　And the expression on her face. It's priceless. 　　With Jackie's lead, I ignored Jessica and lifted my chin, and walked into the crowd. 　　My eyes roamed for Lucas, but that asshole was nowhere to be found. 　　Feeling slightly disappointed, I took a sip of the champagne. 　　I wished I could say that the drink was crispy and fruity like a pretentious expert, but I couldn't. 　　All I could think of was that this liquid tasted like something that I could never afford in my life. 　　Poverty made me speechless. The story of my life. 　　Suddenly, Jessica showed up in front of me, holding a glass of red wine in her hand. 　　Her stupid face looked red and white at the same time. 　　"Hey, stable girl." She intentionally raised her voice. "I just want you to know that you look awful wearing an expensive dress and jewelry like that. Before I call security and let them escort you out of this mansion, you'd better take the stolen dress and the necklace off and disappear right now."