“Ms. Payne, one moment, please!” Jennie strode over to Yolanda, her eyes wide with disbelief as she examined the damage. It was true. The coat was ruined. That piece had been her pride and joy, the result of half a month of painstaking work. There was only one in existence, and she had planned to give it to her mentor.
“Ms. Sherwin, what happened here?” the manager asked, his nerves fraying as he, too, noticed the problem. The coat was made of a special silk blend that could only be dry-cleaned. A stain that large and dark was almost certainly permanent.
Jerrold finally turned his attention to Yolanda and saw the mess, his expression souring instantly. If she couldn't pay for it, he knew they would come after him, her boyfriend. He didn’t want to pay, but not paying would damage his reputation as a Lonsdale.
“I… I don’t know what happened,” Yolanda stammered, scrambling to her feet, her face ashen. “It was like this when I put it on.”
“That’s impossible,” the sales associate who had been helping her protested immediately. “That coat was flawless when I brought it out for you. You can’t just lie like that!”
Their store had strict quality control; they would never put a damaged item on the floor.
“Fine, then check the security cameras,” Yolanda challenged, her voice rising as she tried to project confidence. “For all I know, you’re the one who stained it and are trying to frame me.”
“You…” The associate’s eyes welled up with tears at the shameless accusation.
“Since Ms. Sherwin denies it, let’s check the cameras,” Jennie said calmly. She instructed the manager to pull up the footage on a laptop.


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