"Who needs your..."
Shirley was about to snap back, but Claire held her back.
She looked at the two girls calmly. "If you insist on being so generous, then thank you."
Lucinda choked on her words.
She definitely had no intention of being generous!
SUNNY was famous for giving out lavish promotional items.
She might not make a purchase herself, but she knew Rose definitely would.
She had been hoping that once Rose bought her clothes, she could sweet-talk her into handing over the free gifts.
That was the whole reason she had agreed to go shopping at SUNNY with Rose in the first place.
Rose, however, felt a surge of smug satisfaction at the idea that Claire was desperate enough to accept their free handouts.
It gave her a twisted sense of superiority over Claire.
"If you want them, Claire, just tag along with us."
"The freebies don't mean much to me. If you like them, they're yours."
Lucinda opened her mouth to protest, but a sharp look from Rose shut her up.
In the end, she had to swallow her complaints.
Shirley couldn't fathom what Claire was thinking. Why would she ever care about some cheap promotional gifts?
Edison's pregnant wife was literally the head of SUNNY's Solenia operations, and Edison himself managed the VIA Metropolis!
Claire merely traced a finger lightly across Shirley's palm.
If they wanted to play the part of generous benefactors, they might as well let them put on a full show.
Alright, Shirley understood now.
The two of them followed Rose and Lucinda into the SUNNY boutique.
Rose hadn't expected them to be quite so shameless.
Lucinda was instantly regretting her big mouth. "Rose, you don't think they actually
want the free gifts, do you?"
Rose rolled her eyes. "This is entirely your fault."
Well, Lucinda didn't have a defense for that.
Claire and Shirley, meanwhile, looked perfectly at ease.
Lucinda was annoyed, but she knew she had to stay in Rose's good graces.
Knowing that Rose desperately
wanted to flex on the James
cousins, she smiled brightly. "Rose, I heard your old family estate was demolished for redevelopment. Did you get a massive payout?
The moment she brought it up, Rose instinctively glanced back at Claire and Shirley.
They definitely heard that, right?
She feigned nonchalance. "Honestly, I never expected the West End to get redeveloped."
Rose remembered living in the West End as a child, forced to trudge to school in heavy rain boots whenever it stormed.
The drainage system there was atrocious, and even a light drizzle would leave the streets severely flooded.
She had loathed it, yet she'd had no choice but to make the daily trek.
She used to resent her grandparents for being poor and trapping them in a place like the West End.
She also resented her parents for not working harder, bringing her into the world only to suffer through such hardship.
From a young age, she had mastered the art of sucking up, hoping people would take pity on her cute, obedient act and offer her treats and favors.
Whether that manipulative streak was innate or learned, she didn't know.
Later, through her endless fawning, she had managed to secure wealthy godparents. Leveraging their connections, her parents finally started a successful business.
Once the business took off, her parents moved them out of the West End.
Her grandparents, however, had lived there their entire lives and refused to leave.
As a result, they never sold the West End property.
Her grandfather didn't just live there; he maintained a small vegetable patch, and
the old couple spent their days growing and selling produce.
They refused to live off their son's
wealth. Even when hisset
swelled to millions of dollars the old couple faithfully manned their little vegetable stall.
Rose's mother had tried countless times to persuade them to sell the house and
land and move in with them, claiming it would be easier to take care of them.
The two elders absolutely refused.
They saw right through their daughter-in-law's intentions.
It wasn't that she actually wanted to live with them.
She just couldn't stand visiting the West End for every holiday.
The traffic was horrendous, and on rainy days, she always ended up covered in
mud.