The Thorne Heiress Unveiling Shadow novel Chapter 22

The air crackled with tension after Evelyn's quiet retort. Aria, momentarily stunned into silence, felt a hot flush of rage creep up her neck. She, Aria Sutton, had just been publicly slighted by the nobody she had kicked out of her house. The hired fashion blogger, Bethany, saw her patron's distress and quickly jumped in to defend her.

"Well, I think a 'fashion risk' is better than looking like you're attending a wake," Bethany said with a sniff, angling her phone to subtly record the confrontation for her blog's live feed. "Aria is wearing actual couture. It's a statement piece. What you're wearing is... a simple black dress."

"Exactly," Aria chimed in, latching onto the lifeline. "What a coincidence, though, Evelyn. Your dress looks so much like mine, with the sparkly bits. Is it from their ready-to-wear line? A cheap copy to try and fit in?" She delivered the line with a look of pity, designed to cast Evelyn as a pathetic wannabe.

Chase took a protective step forward, his expression hardening, but Evelyn placed a light hand on his arm, stopping him. She didn't need a defender.

Before Evelyn could respond, a new voice cut through the air, cool and authoritative as the slice of a guillotine.

"That is quite enough, Bethany."

The crowd parted slightly. The speaker was Diana Vreeland, the legendary editor-in-chief of Vogue. She was a terrifyingly chic woman in her sixties with a severe silver bob and glasses perched on her nose. Her opinion didn't just make or break a brand; it could alter the course of the entire fashion industry. When Diana Vreeland spoke, the world listened.

Diana Vreeland didn't even deign to look at her directly. She spoke to the air, her voice cutting. "The real Dufour Starlight gown has a seamless bodice. The crystals are laser-set. The stitching on your bodice is machine-sewn, and the stones are clearly glued on. A high-quality counterfeit, I'll grant you, but a counterfeit nonetheless. You've been swindled."

She gave Aria one last, withering look. "And you, Bethany," she said to the now-pale blogger, "if you ever want a press pass to another legitimate fashion event, I suggest you learn the difference between real couture and cheap imitation."

With that, Diana Vreeland turned her back on them and gave Evelyn a small, almost imperceptible nod of respect before gliding away, leaving a crater of social ruin in her wake. The takedown, coming from the ultimate, unimpeachable authority, was decisive, absolute, and utterly devastating. Aria stood frozen, the glittering 'one-of-a-kind' dress suddenly feeling like a cheap, tawdry costume.