The Hidden Successor In Disguise

Chapter 4

That morning at Ledger's residence, a van arrived to deliver the wedding dress order. Three people from a fashion store owned by a famous designer.

The waiter invited the three people into the house with a full body mannequin wearing a long white wedding dress. One of them carried the tail end of the dress.

The maid asked them to wait in the living room, then went over to Charlotte who was reading a magazine in the living room. "Excuse me, Miss. There's a dress shop attendant delivering an order for a wedding dress for you."

Charlotte frowned. A wedding dress, of course she thought it was from Jake since their wedding day was just around the corner. Charlotte hurried to where the people from the fashion store were waiting.

Charlotte rose from the chair and stared at the wedding dress in amazement. "Oh, my goodness. I can't believe this dress is in front of me. It's the fancy dress I've been dreaming of for so long."

A white dress with a low cleavage, filled with medium-sized Swarovski around the bust folds. Luxurious white jeweled sparkles with pearls and diamond cuts around the waist, complete with floor length fabric in an A line cut.

Charlotte covered her mouth with the palm of her hand. In disbelief. She circled the mannequin to make sure that the dress in front of her was the one she had seen displayed in a luxury shop window not long ago.

Charlotte's eyes lit up. "This is a very expensive dress. I've seen it worn by a catwalk model at Ellie Winter's designer fashion show."

The white wedding dress was named Desire of love which means the burning passion of love. The wedding is a precious moment of the couple's passionate love.

On the back, there is a small ribbon covered with floral embroidery with diamonds. The fantastic value dress was specially made by a renowned designer whose expertise is undoubted. The fabric fibers are made of silk and embroidered by hand, taking months of work. It was featured in famous magazines in several countries.

"Oh, my God. This must be from Jake." Charlotte waved her hands in appreciation.

"Oh, what's this? That dress is so pretty. Is that Jake's dress for you?" asked Claire who had suddenly walked up to Charlotte because she heard the commotion.

Charlotte nodded her head happily. "This dress is my dream dress, Mommy. It's very expensive."

Claire's eyes lit up at the sparkling diamonds there. "Come on, hurry up and wear it. I'm sure, this dress will suit you perfectly."

The yellow-haired woman gently removed the dress from the mannequin. "Let me help you put it on, Miss."

Carefully, one of the female attendants from the fashion store helped put the wedding dress on Charlotte. While the male attendant brought a long mirror in front of Charlotte, and the other female attendant helped trim the long tails of the dress.

Charlotte looked in the mirror at herself. "I look very beautiful. It matches my fair skin." Charlotte twirled her body in the style of a royal princess.

Claire clapped her hands happily. "That's wonderful. You're so beautiful. Jake really knows what's best for you."

Selena, who had just come out of the room, saw the wedding dress. Charlotte grinned knowing Selena was watching her.

"You see this. The fancy wedding dress Jake gave me. You could never afford to wear this because your future husband is poor!" Charlotte boasted.

Claire laughed. "Of course. The clothes he's wearing must be shabby. After all, he doesn't deserve a fancy wedding dress!"

Selena was silent. She couldn't reply to their ridicule because she thought that the wedding dress she was going to wear was indeed a simple one. Even so, she was also stunned to see such a beautiful wedding dress.

Charlotte grinned. "A poor woman like her is lucky enough to have a simple wedding."

Charlotte and Claire burst out laughing. The sound of their laughter was booming, sounding all the way to the back of the house where Aldrich was.

The curious Aldrich was certain that Charlotte and Claire must be insulting Selena. Aldrich rushed to the origin of the sound. Aldrich saw three strangers she didn't know and a full body mannequin without clothes.

The man was surprised to see Charlotte wearing the same wedding dress as in the photo sent earlier by Jose.

Aldrich looked at them. "That's not the dress for you. It's a dress for Selena."

Charlotte gave Aldrich a sharp look. "Are you kidding me? There's no way this expensive dress is for her! Clearly, this is the dress Jake bought for me!"

"I bought it for Selena." Aldrich's statement took everyone there by surprise.

Charlotte grinned. "Liar, it was Jake who bought it. A poor guy like you wouldn't be able to afford this fancy dress. Don't be an idiot!"

Claire clucked in annoyance. "What a shameless poor man!"

The dress shop clerk frowned, feeling confused. "Wait, so you're not Miss Selena?"

Charlotte rolled her eyes. "I'm not. I'm Charlotte."

The clerk was surprised. "Oh my, this is a wedding dress for Miss Selena."

Claire and Charlotte were shocked. They looked at each other, not accepting the shop assistant's statement. Their pride seemed to be trampled on. It was as if they were recognizing someone else's property, which they thought was Jake's dress.

"Are you stupid? There's no way that dress is for Selena! The big, rich lady in this house is my only daughter." Claire protested arrogantly. She stared intently while pointing an index finger at the female officer.

"Yes, I am the legitimate child of the Ledger family. Only me, not Selena! That woman is an illegitimate child. And she's going to marry that man, the son of the butler in this house. They have no money. Can't afford a dress this fancy!" Charlotte explained angrily.

Aldrich reached into his pants pocket, showing the three clerks a photo of the dress he had received from Jose. "Look, I ordered it to be sent to Selena."

Claire pushed Aldrich's shoulder. "Are you out of your mind? You want to trick us by taking pictures from the internet to make us believe your foolishness?"

Charlotte grinned. "Yes, of course the picture of this dress is already all over the internet because it was shown in the fashion show of the famous designer, Ellie Goulding. What an idiot. Are we just going to take your word for it?"

Aldrich rubbed his face roughly. "Oh my. Take a good look at this photo. You also have a message to give to Selena."

Charlotte chuckled, deeply upset by Aldrich's words. "Look who's talking? You're the butler's son, how can you have money? This dress is expensive. It could cost hundreds of millions because it's hand-embroidered and has diamonds. That's disgusting. What a liar!"

The three shop assistants became skeptical of Aldrich's words. They did take orders for dresses to be delivered to Selena, but hearing Charlotte, made them nod in unison. "In that case, it's clear that this dress is yours, Miss Charlotte."

The male clerk of the shop glared at Aldrich. "You should be self-conscious. A servant like you wouldn't have bought this expensive dress. You're a fraud, claiming to be random."

"Yes, we almost fell for it." The shoulder-length black-haired maidservant shook her head.

Claire and Charlotte laughed. "Of course. Poor bastard! Shameless! After all, an illegitimate child like her wouldn't be fit to wear this fancy dress!"

Selena was embarrassed. She couldn't stand it. Selena left the house, followed by Aldrich. Everyone there laughed mockingly at them.

Aldrich chased after, holding Selena's wrist. "Selena."

Firmly, she brushed him off. "You don't have to lie like that. We're already embarrassed, don't add to it!"

"That is indeed the wedding dress I bought for you." Aldrich looked convinced. "You'll see, I'll sue the store and fire them."

Selena shook her head. "Never mind, you're not imagining things. There's no way you can afford a fancy wedding dress made by a famous designer. That's obvious, you won't be able to afford it!"

Selena wiped her face, holding back tears. "I'm already embarrassed enough, and you're embarrassing me even more!"

Aldrich opened his mouth to explain again, but Selena walked away, leaving him feeling upset.

Aldrich called Jose. "Your job failed. The dress didn't reach Selena. The three store clerks gave it to Charlotte instead."

Aldrich clenched his hands into fists. He couldn't accept what they had done. "Those three shop assistants have insulted me and Selena."

Jose was on the other side, shocked. "Master, should I teach them a lesson to repay your hurt?"

Aldrich nodded his head with a grin. "Give them a lesson. Destroy that designer clothing store. Put them out of business and make it difficult for them to get back on their feet. Destroy them until they can't move!"

Jose nodded his head. "Yes, Master. I will do as you say."

Later that afternoon, Aldrich received a link to the latest news from Jose. It contained the news that the famous designer fashion store had gone bankrupt in the blink of an eye. Aldrich smirked as he read it.