Rags to Stardom

Chapter 8

The manager was taken aback by such a strong statement from such an ordinary looking man.

Not wanting to jump into any conclusions, he approached Ethan carefully, “Such a strong statement should be backed up by proof, young man! Can I know who you are?”

On hearing this, Joshua blurted out, “He’s a nobody. He’s the divorced live-in-son-in-law of the Gray's family. I even heard he recently got out of jail.”

There were mocking comments from other customers in the store at that point.

“So he was the useless son-in-law of the Gray’s family. He must have really been a burden to them.”

“How did he get out of jail so quickly? Such a fellow should never have been let out in the first place!”

Ethan ignored the comments as he responded to the manager’s question, “He is right, I'm not anyone important.”

The manager furrowed his brows. Initially, he felt Ethan was someone important who was an expert in authentic fabrics but now it turns out that he was just a nobody that had just recently been freed from jail.

“Then you have no business making such a statement. This clothing is beyond you! I should have the security throw you out!”

The sales rep couldn't help commenting as well, “I knew he was only here to cause trouble. He probably came here to show off.”

Joshua sneered, “Show off with what? You should allow the security throw him out after I teach him a lesson or two.”

He had just recently learned taekwondo and saw this as an opportunity to show off his fighting skills. Besides, his girlfriend loved watching him fight as it was one of the things that gets her in the mood.

On hearing this, four burly men showed up and surrounded Ethan.

Loretta couldn't help feeling scared for Ethan. Although she had seen him fight before, none of the men he fought were as menacing as the burly security men that Mela outfits had.

She pulled Ethan's hand gently but Ethan remained where he stood, his demeanor unchanging.

Joshua's girlfriend noticing Loretta’s action laughed viciously, “You should listen to her before you get beaten. My boyfriend has a black belt in taekwondo and was the best in his class.”

Joshua couldn't help smiling with pride.

Ethan didn't appear moved at all, “So what is he waiting for then. I haven't got all day!”

Joshua became furious at Ethan's statement. Without hesitating, he took the bait, launching a move that made everyone scream with excitement.

In their hearts, they already saw Ethan on the floor, battered and injured.

As Joshua launched his favorite move at Ethan, there was a subtle sound and in less than two seconds, Joshua was in pile of clothes, in pain.

No one could explain what had happened as Ethan hadn't even moved from the spot where he stood.

The burly men, seeing what had just happened moved in to attack Ethan but suddenly, a door opened and a middle aged man roared, “stop!”

It was too late, as before he could stop them, they had eagerly rushed at Ethan.

In less than four seconds, all four men were on the ground, pain etched on their faces.

Ethan had dealt each of them with heavy kicks like they were nothing, leaving everyone else in shock.

Even the manager was surprised at how fast he had taken down all four men that he had personally hired.

The manager immediately turned to the middle aged man that had tried stopping the security men from attacking Ethan, “Lord Howard, I'm sorry….”

Lord Howard stopped him with a wave of hand before he could finish and turned to Ethan, “What did you just say about our Armani collection?”

Lord Howard had heard Ethan's remark through the security monitor in his office. Something about Ethan's remark coupled with the way he took down all four security men, told lord Howard not to underestimate him.

At that moment, Joshua and his girlfriend reappeared, both of them looking at Ethan with disdainful expressions written on their faces. 

Joshua spoke through gritted teeth, “You wretch, I promise you, you will pay for this…..”

He was about to continue speaking when he heard whispers from other customers about how Ethan had defeated the security men a few moments ago.

Since he now knew what happened, he decided to stay silent, scheming a revenge plan in his heart.

Ethan paid no attention to Joshua's threats as he responded calmly to lord Howard’s question, “It's not an original Armani and I can prove it to you.”

Since Ethan's senses were exceptionally sharp because of the medallion, he had spotted the fake outfit from even a mile away.

Initially, Ethan never intended to prove that it was a fake but seeing lord Howard, he quickly changed his mind.

Lord Howard was taken aback by Ethan's bold claim. His family had made a name in the fashion world mostly due to their ability to offer only genuine clothing to their customers. 

Lord Howard had also hired the best evaluators to specially authenticate the clothing, since there were only few of the collection in the world, so it was only logical for him to doubt Ethan.

"Alright, go ahead. Prove that it is a fake.”

Since lord Howard himself had spoken, Ethan asked the manager to bring out the clothing.

As the manager handed him the clothing with a disdainful look, Ethan casually pulled out a piece of the diamond, shattering the entire outfit in the process.

As he held the diamond in his hand, he crushed it between his fingers like it was nothing, leaving lord Howard in shock. 

“Diamonds are impossible to break. These are just crystal replicas.”

Since real diamonds were impossible to break, it was obvious that the outfit was a fake. An authentic one had real diamonds crested on them, making them extremely priceless.

The crowd in the store were all amazed as no one had suspected that such an outfit was a fake.

Lord Howard knew that his family would have faced great embarrassment if the outfit had been auctioned and discovered to be a fake. An event that his family may never have forgiven him for.

Lord Howard immediately instructed the manager to give Ethan any outfit of his choice. He also gave Ethan a gold card that would enable him to shop in Mela outfits for free.

Just as Ethan and Loretta picked out the perfect outfit and were about to leave the store, suddenly Ethan’s phone beeped.

It was a text message.