One in the middle frowned, maintaining a condescending look directed at Selina. "You don't look like a wealthy lady. How did you get inside?"
"Mr. Zane invited me, and I expect my presence shouldn't disturb you." Selina answered confidently.
They let out a mocking laugh at Selina's bold claim, clearly seeing her as an outsider.
"You must have stolen someone's card and now have the nerve to lie about being invited." The middle one commented.
"Someone as respectable and influential as Mr. Zane would never associate with a low-life girl like you!" another girl scolded bitterly.
"Maybe she's just here for free food," the third girl spat.
Selina saw that these women were troublesome, and she wondered how she had attracted their attention despite her efforts stay unnoticed.
Even if she was starving to death before, she had never attended an event just for a free meal. Neither had she begged for it.
"First, I didn't steal the invitation card from anyone. Second, I'm not here to meet your imagined scenarios. I'm here to celebrate Mr. Zane's return," Selina retorted calmly.
The middle one waved her hand dramatically in front of Selina's face, as if to ward off what she considered the stench of Selina's supposed lies. "What relationship do you have with Mr. Zane that would warrant an invitation?" she interrogated.
Selina remained silent.
"Who knows? She might be here to entice him into some transactional relationship that will elevate her pathetic life." Another girl sneered in response to Selina's silence.
"Unfortunately for her, we won't let her dirty trick work."
"We don't need to do anything because she's too ugly to even catch his attention."
They all chuckled.
Selina glanced past the girls, realizing that this conversation was harming her sense of belonging. She didn't want trouble, knowing that arguing with them would only waste her strength and escalate into a fight.
Once things got heated, she was certain that everyone in the room would side with the troublesome women since she was different. She didn't want to embarrass herself, her family and Zane.
Instead of replying, Selina picked up her purse and present as she spun around, intent on finding a quiet spot away from them.
The women exchanged mischievous glances. They didn't like Selina's presence there, and the thought of Zane being the one inviting her there irritated them to the core.
In a swift motion, one of them shoved a hand against Selina's back. The impact caused her to stumble uncontrollably as she fought to regain her balance.
It was too late; she lost her footing and crashed onto the table's surface.
Shatter!
The sharp clang mixed with a thud pierced the lively atmosphere, drawing curious and confused glances from everyone in the room.
For a second, the entire room seemed to freeze. But the ruthless whispers of the guests cut through.
"Who is she?"
"Can't you tell? She looks like a kid from a lower class,"
"Did someone bring a charity case?"
"Is she drunk or just desperate for attention?"
The guests exchanged amused chuckles, their disdainful gazes fixed on Selina's hunched figure on the floor.
"You have four eyes but could only use two. Watch carefully," the middle girl taunted.
The girls kept laughing mockingly behind Selina, their jeers igniting a surge of rage that boiled through her veins. She remained frozen, staring at herself amid the shattered glass and the ruins of her present. She grasped her dress, her fingers clutching it tightly like a soothing source to stay unfazed in the humiliating air threatening to swallow her.
Tears threatened to gather in her eyes, but she refused it, not even a trace of it. She wouldn't allow herself to look weak, like a plaything under their disdainful scrutiny. She wouldn't give them that pleasure.
Just then, Selina heard her father calling her name urgently.
"Selina!" Hudson called out.
Selina lifted her gaze and saw him storming in her direction, with Leah and Clarissa trailing behind.
When Hudson drew closer, he knelt beside his daughter and wrapped a hand across her shoulder, helping her to her feet.
"What happened? How did you end up in this state?" Hudson asked, his voice dripping with concern as his eyes scanned her body for a bruise. He breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing that she was unharmed.
Selina locked her furious gaze on the girls. Their expressions had now turned neutral, as if clueless about the humiliation they had just put her through.
"They were angry because a lowly person like me attended the party. They pushed me," she answered, anger shooting through Hudson's calm demeanor, boiling deep in his veins.
The girls straightened their expressions into something serious.
"What do you mean, we pushed you? She's lying." the middle girl retorted, glaring at Selina as if that would make her swallow back her resolve.
Hudson's expression changed in an instant as he scowled at the girls. "What is wrong with you? Were you raised this way? Apologize to her."
"What?" the girls exclaimed in unison.
"We won't apologize to her. We did nothing wrong," the middle girl said defiantly.
"Don't accuse us when you weren't even here."
"Is there proof we pushed her?" another added.
"After all, she doesn't belong here," the middle girl mumbled.
Hudson raised a finger at them. "You little brats…" he trailed off, holding back his rage as he clenched his fist. "I will make you pay for humiliating my dau—"
"Hudson." Leah quickly interrupted, stopping him from proclaiming Selina as his child. "You can't act and speak recklessly in public."
She wouldn't let that happen, no matter what, not even a slip of the tongue out of anger.
Leah swept her gaze across the room, noticing the guests now casting curious glances about Hudson's connection to the girl. Everyone knew Hudson to be calm and reserved. No one had seen him this furious before over something.
"I'm sure this is a misunderstanding. Girls will be girls. Maybe someone bumped into another, which caused the accident," Leah said coldly, attempting to change the atmosphere.
Seeing Leah on their side, the girls nodded in agreement.
"You're right, ma'am. We barely touched her."
"She slipped."
Leah held her head high, shifting a grim expression toward Selina. "Must you always overreact to everything? You must learn to get along with people and not to cause them trouble with your clumsiness."
"Mother, Selina isn't clumsy, and neither is she a liar," Clarissa snapped, locking an angry gaze onto the girls. "This girl must have done it on purpose to humiliate her."
The girls frowned, glaring back at Clarissa.
Leah curled her lips into a slightly ridiculous smile. "No one will be interested in humiliating Selina because she has no face to save publicly."
"No matter what, Selina deserves an apology." Hudson insisted, ignoring Leah.
The guests and girls frowned at Hudson's stubbornness and protectiveness toward Selina, as they believed he was unrelated to her. They wondered what kind of connection he had with her.
"Why are you so furious about something that shouldn't be your concern, mister?"
"Who is she to you?"
"He has no relationship with them," Leah answered quickly before Hudson could speak.