"Huh? Are we turning down just VIA Metropolis, or are we blacklisting every Apex mall?"
Jenny still hadn't caught up with what was going on.
“Just hold off on the others," Claire said, then ended the call.
She turned to the manager. "Aaron, right? Since you can't tell right from wrong and only stick up for your own people, you might as well start packing."
Aaron smirked, looking at Claire like she was some kind of joke. "What are you all waiting for? Get them out."
"If we let people like this hang around, how are we supposed to do business?"
"Or do you two want to lose your jobs too?"
The security guards hesitated, but as soon as Aaron threatened their jobs, they moved fast.
Before they could even say a word to Pandora or Claire, a strong voice cut in. "Who exactly are you trying to throw out?"
"Edison?"
The mall manager went pale when he saw his boss suddenly show up.
He was already nervous, knowing his niece had probably messed up, so he just wanted to get rid of these two as quickly as possible.
The older woman looked plain, and so did the younger girl.
Even though both of them had an air of confidence, Aaron figured that didn't matter. He'd seen plenty of people fall from grace. Maybe they were from some rich family that had just gone broke, still holding on to their pride and wanting to buy the latest styles.
His niece could have chosen her words better, but she meant well.
Now that the boss was here, though, what was he supposed to do?
"Aaron, I'm asking. Who are you trying to kick out?"
Claire glanced at Edison. He looked familiar, like she'd seen him somewhere before.
"Edison, they were making a scene in the store, messing with business. I just wanted security to escort them out," Aaron tried to explain, but the more he talked, the less confident he sounded.
Edison's stare was sharp. Aaron felt like he couldn't hide anything.
"And how were they making a scene?" Edison's tone was cold. "They..." The manager couldn't even finish his sentence.
He was stuck, but Jane, the sales clerk, jumped in, her voice full of self-righteousness. "These two wanted to buy new arrivals but could afford them When they realized they couldn't pay, they started saying our clothes were low quality."
"I think they just came here to cause trouble."
"I couldn't just let it go, so I spoke
up. Then they demanded an apomet
and threatened to call the police.. Gontent
"Jane!” The manager saw Edison's face get darker and quickly tried to shush his niece.
Jane flinched at her uncle's sharp tone.
Edison turned to her. "What did you actually say to them?"
Jane shrank back but stood her
ground, "I just told them, if they
couldn't afford it they shouldn
insult our clothes."
Was that really all?
Edison could tell from the way she avoided his eyes that she wasn't telling the whole story.
He turned to the store manager. "Pull up the security footage."
The store manager felt her heart sink. She knew she hadn't handled this well.
Aaron realized he was in serious trouble now.
There was nothing he could do. Edison wanted to see the video, so they had to show him.
After watching the footage, Edison's face was stone cold.
"Aaron, this is your idea of a customer causing trouble?"
"You've completely lost it, driving customers out for no reason."
Aaron got chewed out and could only stammer that it was all a misunderstanding.
"As for this clerk, the store manager will let your higher-ups deal with her. And you, Aaron..."
Edison looked him dead in the eye, his words ringing out clear and final. “You're fired."
Aaron stood there, numb. Deep down, he wasn't even surprised. He saw it coming.