Billionaire Defiant Wife

Chapter 112: Bonding Moment

The neckline of the gown is covered in pearls, and the gown itself is so long it trails on the floor.

"Oh, it's beautiful," Vanessa gushes, "It's tailor-made for you. Mr. Howel must have sent it especially for you."

Though Vanessa is jealous, she tries to ingratiate herself with Janetta. She knows that the skirt is for Avery, and she wants to infuriate Avery and curry favor with Janetta at the same time.

"If you wear this skirt to the party, you'll be the most beautiful woman there," Vanessa continues.

Janetta twirls slowly in the dress to showcase it.

"The dress is very beautiful," Avery interrupts calmly, "Do you plan to give it to me now?"

Avery stands on the second floor and looks down at her sisters from the balcony. She leans elegantly against the rail as she speaks.

"How can you prove that the dress belongs to you?" Janetta asks.

She adores the graceful gown and thinks it looks as if it was made to suit her. She loathes to give it back to her sister.

"My husband sent the dress, so of course it belongs to me," Avery replies as if she's talking to a simple child, "Why would you think that my husband would send a dress to you?"

"I think it looks like it was made for Janetta," Vanessa insists.

"Most designers and fashion experts agree that women look fat when they wear white," Avery says with a smirk, "Are you still sure you want to wear it?"

Janetta is shorter than Avery and not as thin, and it's true that the white gown makes her look bigger than her size. Besides, the dress is clearly slightly too small. It was difficult for her to zip it up, and even now the zipper slightly strains and puckers. Janetta feels infuriated and wants to retaliate.

"Why would you think that Mr. Howel sent the dress to you?" she snaps, "He already sent so much clothing to Gabrielle."

"You're right," Vanessa echoes, "Mr. Howel had several boxes of clothes sent to Gabrielle with the instructions to let her pick whatever she likes. Even if the dress was meant for you, it's just one simple dress. Funny how love results in such strange treatment. Besides, Gabrielle's clothes are all made by famous designers. Even if the dress that Janetta wears belongs to you, it's just some nameless thing by an unknown designer."

Avery smiles to herself. She knows that Vanessa is trying to provoke a fight between her and Gabrielle, in the hopes that they'll turn against each other. Vanessa walks toward Janetta and unzips the dress.

Vanessa looks inside the dress for a label and smiles triumphantly when she sees that there isn't one.

"Clearly, the dress was made by hand, and I can see from here that it took a lot of skill," Avery says, "Surely only a master could have done it. Sister Janetta, don't you know quality when you see it?"

Janetta feels blushes with frustration, unsure about how to answer Avery.

"Even if the dress was made by hand, it's clearly for Janetta or Gabrielle and not you," Vanessa says.

Avery smiles with amusement.

"It's just like the old days," she thinks, "Now that Evan isn't here to intimidate them and protect me they're eager to grab everything they can."

A maid holding a box of accessories interrupts, "Sorry Miss Janetta, Mr. Howel ordered the dress for Mrs. Howel."

Janetta scowls at the maid but makes no move to remove the dress.

"Lady Janetta, please take it off," the maid entreats, "If Mr. Howel finds out that we let you wear it, we'll be punished."

Janetta looks pale as she scowls at the maid in fury. Finally, leaves the room to change. In the privacy of the other room, she slowly pulls the dress down and lets it fall to the floor. Then she begins to trample it underfoot, using her high heels to rip the delicate fabric. She reenters the main room carrying the damaged dress.

"Sister Avery, I'm so sorry," she says with fake guilt, "While I was changing, I somehow tore the dress. It was completely accidental, of course."

She drapes the dress over Avery's arm. Avery spreads the dress and finds that it is torn from the chest to the waist. She quickly grabs her phone and snaps several photos of the dress.

"Mrs. Howel, you can give the dress to me and I can sew it," the maid offers, "It's such a pity that such a beautiful gown is ruined.

"You don't need to sew it, it's fine," Avery says as she looks around the room. She points at the wall near the TV and hands the dress to the maid, "Nail the skirt to the wall and make sure everyone knows that it can't be taken down without my orders."

"What?" The maid asks confused.

Janetta freezes, "What are you doing?"

"It'll be like an exhibition," Avery says patiently, "Everyone who enters the house can see how beautiful the dress is, even if it's ruined."

"I don't understand," Janetta says, "Do you want your husband to see your weakness? What if he thinks the dress tore because you couldn't fit into it?"

"I'm not worried about that," Avery says calmly, "I just want others to see how beautiful the dress was and how tragically it was destroyed."

"Well, I can ask people to fix it," Janetta says, grabbing the dress from the maid.

"No, you can't," Avery replies, "Mr. Howel hasn't seen it yet."

Janetta can't believe that Avery is fighting back and even threatening her.

"Fine, then I'll sew it myself," Janetta snaps.

Avery pretends to consider Janetta's offer and sits down on the sofa.

"Okay, give the sewing kit to her," Avery orders.

Janetta is used to living a carefree life. She has never poured a cup of water for herself, much less done fancy needlework. Instead, she ordered Gabrielle and Avery to do everything for her. The maid immediately brings the sewing kit and threads the needle with a white, silk thread, but Janetta doesn't know how to start sewing the dress. Painstakingly, she stitches the dress together, but her lines are uneven and the rip is still obvious. She ties off the thread and cuts the needle away and then tosses the dress to Avery.

"It's ok now," she says.

Avery carefully examines the skirt.

"It's much better now," Avery says with a sly smile, "If I wear this gown I'll be the focal point of the whole party, and if anyone asks me why the skirt is sewn up like this, I'll tell them it's all thanks to our sisterhood."

"Sisterhood?" Janetta splutters.

"Does Avery think I'm stupid?" Janetta wonders.

"Yes, this gown perfectly exemplifies our sisterhood," Avery says meaningfully, before adding, "When the younger sister's skirt is broken, the older sister helps her sew it. What a beautiful symbol of sisterhood! I'd be honored to show it to others."

Janetta glares furiously at Avery. She thinks Avery just wants to humiliate her and everyone how badly she sewed the skirt after deliberately ruining it.

"I'll do it again," Janetta says.

She grabs the skirt, undoes the old thread and tries to sew it better. However, her untrained work can't compare with that of the master dressmaker. Though Janetta undoes and redoes the stitching over and over, the dress doesn't look good.