"Miss Carter!" Samantha wanted to shove the dress into Gloria's hands.
Gloria found the dress revolting, and she waved her hands in the air involuntarily.
Then something unexpected happened. While struggling, Gloria pushed Samantha too hard and made her fall to the ground.
Everyone quieted down instantly.
Gloria opened her mouth and wanted to apologize. She didn't mean to. She just didn't want the dress. She felt bad and asked, "Are you OK?"
She walked over and offered her hand, trying to help Samantha up from the ground.
Samantha didn't fall hard, but she landed on the ground in an embarrassing way.
Two buttons of her shirt fell off, revealing half of her fair bosom.
Samantha looked down at her neckline and pulled a long face.
"Miss Carter! This is too much!" She screamed and stood up. Unfortunately, she stood up too hastily, so her shirt split further.
Everyone was stunned, including Gloria.
Samantha, in a trance, quickly buttoned up her coat and stared at Gloria with a sullen face.
"I'm sorry," Gloria apologized.
"What's the point of saying sorry?" Samantha shouted at Gloria angrily. "You're just one of the women that Alpha Patrick plays around with! Alpha Patrick has brought at least eight women here for me to do their styling in the last three years. Let me tell you what most of them put on white dresses. Alpha Patrick only loves Gabrielle. All the other women are nothing but her substitutes. Don't get greedy. Consider yourself lucky."
After hearing these words, Gloria felt as if she had been struck by lightning. She could not even hear other sounds anymore.
Her hand shook in midair as she tried to pull Samantha up. Then, slowly, she reached aside for the white dress.
She felt bitter in her mouth, and she had the urge to cry. Her eyes were sore, but she had no tears to shed.
Her entire body trembled in pain. How could she not be in pain?
They were guided by the Moon Goddess, but her mate fell in love with another woman and even made her a substitute.
It took her three years to turn herself into a cold and numb person, and now Patrick made her see the reality. She should never expect any changes from him.
She thought that she wouldn't mind. However, she was wrong about it.
'How cruel of you, Patrick,' Gloria thought, the corners of her mouth trembling. She couldn't utter a word.
Everyone in the room realized that Gloria seemed to have changed after Samantha said those words. It seemed that Gloria was crushed.
Just as Samantha was about to continue her sarcastic remarks, Gloria slowly picked up the dress and said in a hoarse voice, "Get out."
Samantha somehow felt humiliated. She thought, 'I'm a stylist, while Gloria is nothing but Patrick's pet.' She said angrily, "Miss Carter, do you think you are the Luna of the Black Thorn Pack? What makes you think you can say that to us?"
"Get out," Gloria ordered.
Everyone expected Gloria to embarrass herself and be humiliated by Samantha, as she had been before. No one expected that she would pick up the scissors on the table.
"What are you going to do?" Samantha bellowed anxiously.
They were all worried that Gloria would destroy the dress. None of them noticed that she was trying to ease her trembling body.
Gloria glanced at her hands that were holding the pair of scissors and the dress with a self-deprecating look in her eyes.
During those three years in werewolf prison, she was tormented physically and they made her think low of herself. No matter how much grief she felt in her heart, once she felt terrified, her body would start shaking uncontrollably.
Gloria took a deep breath and said in a hoarse voice, "Get out, if you still want your job."
Everyone looked at each other, yet no one moved at all.
"And tell Beta Damon not to pull any tricks like this," she continued.
"I don't know what you are talking about," Samantha's expression changed, and she could not help but defend herself.
"Patrick doesn't like white. He prefers pink," Gloria said in a hoarse voice.
"What?" Gloria's words made Samantha confused, but soon she understood it.
Samantha realized that she made a mistake. Gloria was not a pushover at all. The expression on Samantha's delicate face changed, but she did not dare to say anything.
"Let's go." Samantha looked into Gloria's eyes for a while, and then the former gave in.
Gloria turned around, picked out a dark blue dress from the closet, put it on, put on high heels, and walked out of the bedroom.
She walked step by step and thought, 'I never stop loving Patrick. It's just that loving him has brought me too much pain, so I hypnotized myself and pretended I didn't love him anymore.
I could have been lying to myself like this forever, but Samantha's words destroyed the shield I had built around myself for self-protection.
Moon Goddess, please tell me. Please teach me how to face Patrick.
Gloria, what's the point of going on with your life?'
Such a thought emerged in her mind. She stood at the top of the stairs and closed her eyes.
She hung her left foot over the stairs.
Damon stood downstairs, looking at the woman on the second floor without blinking. Although he was surprised she wasn't wearing a white dress, it didn't bother him. He just wanted Gloria to be miserable.
Damon thought, 'Judging from her pose, she is going to jump, isn't she?
Gloria deserved to die and she should have died long ago.
Three years ago, no, it was four years ago. If Gloria had suffered everything that Gabrielle suffered, then Gabrielle would still be alive.'
Damon stared at Gloria, who was on the second floor, and the venom in his eyes engulfed her like a poisonous snake. Inside, he expected her to jump.
Gloria saw the viciousness in the eyes of Damon, who was waiting by the stairs.
Her rosy lips, outlined by the makeup artist, curved into a smile. She planted her left foot firmly on the next flight of stairs, and she saw the loss in Damon's eyes.
She thought, 'Beta Damon, I wasn't upset enough to jump. You must have been very disappointed, right?'
There was a smile on her lips, but her heart ached.
When she was young, Damon took care of her like a big brother, but none of that would ever happen again.
Gloria walked down the stairs step by step. The dark blue dress she was wearing made her look even thinner.
She passed Damon without glancing at him.
"I can't bear your hatred," Gloria said those words to Damon four years ago, and she repeated the same words today.
At the same time, Patrick walked over from the corner. He frowned when he saw Gloria's dress. "Your lip color is too bright."
He reached for her lips, wiped off a layer of lipstick with his thumb, looked at her lips, and said, "This is better."
He wanted Gloria to himself. After all, in his eyes, she was so beautiful and he didn't want others to see it.
When Patrick saw her face, he frowned again. "The foundation is too thick."
He immediately pulled a long face and called the makeup artist over. "Can you do your job or what?"
The makeup artist did what Damon told her to do, so she did it on purpose.
The makeup artist trembled in fear. "Alpha Patrick, please forgive me. I will redo the makeup for Miss Carter now."