Not A Small-Town Girl

Group, the mall’s true proprietor.

"See to it that Danielle has a great time shopping, and give her whatever she wants," David had instructed. That one directive had Cecil dashing to the mall in a panic, afraid of messing up.

Danielle raised an eyebrow, feeling a warm flutter in her chest. ’He must have pulled some strings,’ she thought.

"As the general manager of this mall, don’t you think it’s unacceptable for sales associates here to discriminate against customers? And this lady has acted like a lunatic, hurling insults and grabbing every item we set our sights on," Juniper complained to Cecil.

"Who are you calling a lunatic? You little bitch," Hope snapped, tossing aside the grace expected of an heiress.

"Who are you calling a bitch?" Juniper shot back.

Hope snorted. "Who else? Of course-" "Enough," Cecil interrupted, his expression hostile as he looked at Hope. "This is not the place for your antics. Effective immediately, you are banned from this mall."

Hope’s face fell. This was the largest luxury mall in Soufield. Being blacklisted would be a scandal in high society and might even tarnish her family’s reputation. Shocked and livid, she protested, "You can’t do this! Do you know who I am? I’m a VIP customer-I’ve spent millions here."

"I don’t care if you’re our top spender," Cecil replied firmly. "You’ve offended Miss Darling, and that’s enough for me to blacklist you."

"What? Is she sleeping with you too? No wonder you’re defending her," Hope said sharply.

’Is she crazy? This young lady is Mr. Charrington’s fiancée! She could land me in trouble. Cecil shuddered at the thought. "Watch your words," he warned.

"Fine. If you’re blacklisting me, I want a refund on my purchase. I just spent 8 million dollars in this store," Hope demanded.

"This isn’t Amazon with a thirty-day return policy. These are luxury goods. We don’t offer refunds on non-defective merchandise," Cecil said firmly.

"Are you kidding me?" Hope pointed a finger at Danielle and snarled, "You set me up. You made me spend 8 million dollars and got me banned from the mall. You’re just a shameless woman who slept around-"

Before Hope could finish, Danielle slapped her across the face.

Clutching her face, Hope stared at Danielle in disbelief. "You bitch! How dare-"

Danielle slapped her again, this time harder.

"How dare you hit me? You just messed with the wrong person," Hope hissed before lunging toward Danielle.

Danielle sidestepped Hope easily and delivered a powerful kick to her abdomen, sending her