Chapter 7

While everyone was focused on Yvette, Yasmin shot a glance at the manager, who immediately understood what she had to do. The manager discreetly slipped a woman's watch into Yvette's backpack, which she had left on the couch. Upon seeing this, Yasmin smirked. If she could frame Yvette for theft, her reputation in the city would be ruined. As expected, the manager soon kicked up a fuss. "Not only did you hurt our employee, but you also stole from our store. This is outrageous!" The manager was fuming. She held up Yvette's backpack and revealed the watch to the crowd. Yasmin bit her lip, her face masked with shock and disappointment. "Yvie, how could you do this? I know you grew up in the countryside and haven't seen many of these things, but stealing is unacceptable!" The crowd's disdain for Yvette intensified. "So, she's a country bumpkin. No wonder!" "Yeah, go back to the countryside! We don't want you here!" "Exactly, get lost!" The manager grew even more arrogant amidst the yelling. She pointed at Yvette and sneered, "This is a high-end store. Don't come in if you don't have the money. This is no place for poor people like you!" "Who are you calling poor?" Having overheard the commotion, Yara stormed out of the fitting room furiously. "What kind of lousy store treats their customers this way?" Upon seeing Yara, the manager quickly changed her tone, trying to appease Yara. "Mrs. Murray, there's been a misunderstanding. Our store believes that the customer is always right. However, she assaulted our employee and stole from us. Such behavior can't go unpunished." "Shut up!" Yara's anger flared. "Stop talking nonsense. My dear Yvie can have anything she wants. Why would she need to steal your lousy stuff?" Yvette could have the family's billion-dollar fortune if she wanted. The manager was left speechless by Yara's words. But after receiving a warning glare from Yasmin, Yara quickly continued speaking. "Mrs. Murray, I'm not making things up. She injured our staff and stole from the store. Everyone here saw it!" "That's right, all of us saw it!" The crowd nodded in agreement. Yasmin grew more smug by the second. She spoke, "Yvie, they'll forgive you as long as you apologize to them sincerely!" She was determined to frame Yvette as a thief. "Yasmin, what are you talking about?" Yara spoke to her sternly for the first time. "Yvie would never steal. There's no need for an apology!" As she finished speaking, Yara turned to comfort Yvette. "Don't be afraid, Yvie. Mom's got your back!" A warmth spread through Yvette's heart, and the coldness in her delicate features softened slightly. Upon witnessing Yara defend Yvette, Yasmin's resentment grew. She said, "You're right, Aunt Yara. I must have misunderstood her. I also believe that Yvie would never steal. Let's check the surveillance footage to clear things up!" The manager had already been bribed, and with the surveillance footage in their hands, they could edit it however they pleased. "Yeah, that's right. We can check the surveillance footage now, Mrs. Murray!" The manager immediately complied, rushing to the computer to pull up the footage. Of course, the video recordings had been edited to remove any instances of the staff's provocation, leaving only clips of Yvette's actions. "Look at this, she sprayed disinfectant into someone's eyes. This lady has such a wicked heart!" "Yeah, stealing and assaulting people—terrible!" Despite the crowd's condemnation, Yvette remained unfazed. Her voice remained cool as she spoke, "There's something wrong with video." "How could there be anything wrong with it?" The manager retorted defensively. "Everyone saw it happen. Stop talking nonsense!" "You tampered with the footage." With those words, Yvette brushed off their protests, showing no interest in arguing with them. She then strode confidently to the computer, ignoring the manager's feeble attempt to stop her. The manager's nervousness was obvious. A mere glance from Yvette was enough to intimidate her into backing off. How could a country girl like her possess such a dominating presence? Yvette was focused on the computer screen as her agile fingers swiftly danced across the keyboard. Observing this, Yasmin couldn't help but smirk triumphantly. A staff member had already deleted those video clips under her instructions, so there was no way Yvette could retrieve them now! "Yvie, since you grew up in the countryside, maybe it's best not to mess with the computer. You don't want to break it by accident, right?" Yasmin's tone oozed with sarcasm. But before she could finish, Yvette withdrew her hands, her tone nonchalant. "I'm done." The deleted surveillance footage was fully restored and began playing automatically. The manager and staff members' faces paled in an instant. They began to panic. The recovered video clearly showed the staff's rude behavior. She tried to spray the disinfectant into Yvette's eyes first, only to get a taste of her own medicine. As for the theft accusation, it was total nonsense. The footage showed the manager slipping the watch into Yvette's backpack, trying to frame her for it. "Gosh, so that's what happened! We've been blaming this poor girl all along!" "I can't believe your store would stoop so low, trying to frame an innocent girl! That's just disgusting. I'm never stepping foot in here again!" "Yeah, us too!" The crowd realized they had been manipulated and felt the anger rising within them. They had sympathized with the staff members before, but now they were furious. The manager and staff couldn't even lift their heads, feeling guilty and panicked. They hadn't expected Yvette to recover the deleted footage. They were in big trouble now. The video froze at the moment the manager pointed at Yvette and called her poor, causing Yara to tremble in anger. "Not only did you try to frame my dear Yvie, you also insulted her! I think you'll find it hard to stick around in Jubilife City after this!" The Murray family was the wealthiest and most influential family in Jubilife City; making someone disappear from the city was a piece of cake for them. "We made a mistake, Mrs. Murray. We've messed up. Please forgive us just this once…" The manager and her team looked to Yasmin in desperation. They just did what she told them to, didn't they? Plus, Yasmin even said that Yvette was just some unwelcome and poor relative of the Murray family. Why was Mrs. Murray defending her like this?