Rags to Stardom

Chapter 7

As Ethan drove, he thought about Samantha and what she had said to him. A bad feeling crept within him.

“I looked up the plate number of those hooligans that tried to rob us.” Loretta announced.

“It turned out nothing. The vehicle was stolen some minutes before they stopped us.”

Ethan wasn't too surprised to hear how fast Loretta had found out about the stolen vehicle. She was not just beautiful and smart but she was also a sophisticated tech genius. It was no wonder the red dragons tried to kidnap her a while ago.

Ethan furrowed his brows, “They sound like pros. Can you try pulling surveillance footage from the street?”

“Alright, I'll handle it.” She affirmed.

Loretta’s eyes suddenly fell on Ethan's lottery ticket, “Don't tell me you believe in this game of…..” She stopped before completing her statement as she caught sight of the amount he had staked on the ticket.

Loretta looked at Ethan with shock written all over her face, “You spent five million dollars on it? Wait, wasn't it the money my grandfather gave to you just the other day?” She asked.

Loretta wasn't one to pry into the affairs of others but ever since her father almost lost everything they had to a gambling problem some years back, she disliked even the faintest idea of making money by sheer luck. It was all thanks to Ian's wisdom that they were able to recover and even surpass their previous financial status, making them a first class wealthy family.

Ethan smiled calmly. He knew she was only being concerned as he had observed her personality carefully since he got to know her. He didn't need to take her concern too seriously though since he already knew the outcome of the lottery.

“I am good with numbers, it was part of my training as a business analyst, I thought I told you this already.” He said reassuringly.

“You will be surprised how far one can go with a little faith.” He added with a grin.

Loretta decided to let it go. 

Suddenly an idea came to her mind. 

“We should do some shopping, you know, your ex-wife should see you in a different light.” Without waiting for his response, she handed him a customized platinum debit card.

“This is yours. I had it made for you. You can use it for your shopping.”

Ethan was speechless.

She was caring and considerate, going out of her way to do things that she didn't have to.

“Thank you Loretta. You are one in a million, “ he gave her hand a gentle squeeze as he said so.

She shrugged, “Use it wisely.”

Ethan tilted his head back in laughter, he knew she was referring to his lottery ticket.

They soon approached Mela outfits, it was one of the biggest clothing stores in Cedarwood.

On entering, Ethan and Loretta walked around the store for a few seconds, with Ethan admiring the exquisite outfits that were on display.

A particular outfit caught his attention as he and Loretta stood right in front of it. It was an expensive looking Armani collection that was shielded by an extra layer of transparent glass. From the look of it, it was the most expensive outfit in the store.

Ethan sneered as he looked at the outfit.

A well dressed lady suddenly approached them. She had been observing Ethan since he walked in but because he looked poorly dressed, she had ignored him until she spotted her supervisor at the far end of the store. Besides he was standing in front of the most expensive Armani collection that was said to be crafted personally by Armani himself.

It was said that there were only 10 pieces of that collection in the world.

“Are you here to buy anything or to just look around, she asked rudely.”

To her, such a poor looking fellow had no business being in such a store in the first place and yet he wasn't only wasting her time, but he was also standing in front of their most prized collection with a funny expression on his face.

As Ethan was about to respond, he heard a voice that sounded familiar, “Isn't that Ethan Banks!”

Ethan turned around, the expression on his face showing he wasn't too pleased.

“Baby this is the poor boy I told you about from my school days,” Joshua Kane said sneering.

“Oh, the one who used to wash your clothes for money,” Lisa, his girlfriend responded derisively. 

Joshua sneered, “Yes, I wonder what he is doing here!”

In Joshua's heart he envied Ethan for having such a beautiful woman like Loretta by his side despite his appearance, even Lisa paled in comparison to her.

Joshua had always made fun of Ethan in college, taunting him at every opportunity in front of others, so Ethan was understandably pissed to see him.

“Hey, are you guys running a charity event here today or something,” he asked the sales rep laughing.

Several other customers in the store began making mocking comments about Ethan.

“How can he walk in here looking that way. He must really have guts.”

“Some people are so shameless and he even brought a really beautiful woman.”

“If I were that woman, I would have dumped him already!”

“Who does he think he is to walk in here and stare at such a priceless collection with such disdainful look.”

They all made nasty comments while staring at Ethan.

Ethan smiled calmly, “You have nothing here to offer me, even your most expensive outfit is a fake.”

His comment was like a bombshell, throwing off everyone in the store momentarily.

Even Loretta was stunned at his comment. She had bought most of her outfits in this store as it was one of the biggest clothing stores in all of Cedarwood.

The sales rep quickly responded, “What! Everyone in Cedarwood knows we deal with only authentic outfits. I can see you are too poor to buy anything, so you decided to make up silly excuses just to leave.”

Everyone in the store couldn't help sneering at Ethan. Mela outfits was under the control of lord Howard, of the Jackson's family. The Jackson's family have been in the fashion business for decades and as such are known for having only authentic clothing collections.

Their most expensive collection, the Armani collection, is said to be worth 10 million dollars and all the wealthy families have been trying to get their hands on it.

Infact lord Howard was planning on having it auctioned in a few days to the highest bidder.

Even Loretta found Ethan’s reaction surprising. Although, she didn't say, she thought Ethan was going too far. Afterall there were other ways to put folks like this in their place.

Joshua laughed mockingly, “What does a poor-good-for-nothing know about an expensive designer collection! Even if you worked day and night for three lifetimes, you still won't be able to afford it, so stop with the pretense!”

Meanwhile Ethan's comment had caught the attention of the manager.