The Inescapable Celibate Heir Chapter 57: Framed

After hanging around for a bit, the crowd in the store finally thinned out, and Ella and her friends snagged some seats.

Ella stabbed at the dessert in front of her like it was Victoria's face, finally letting out some of her frustration.

Lila took a bite of the mousse and made a face. "I thought this would be amazing, but it's just meh."

Natalia chimed in, "People only line up because it's cheap. If you hadn't offered to treat us, Ella, I wouldn't have bothered."

Seeing Ella's mood darken, Natalia quickly backpedaled. "Don't worry, Ella. In a few days, no one will buy her desserts. This place cost a fortune to renovate, and she'll definitely lose money."

Lila nodded, "Yeah, Victoria's just a student. How could she possibly run a business?"

Ella felt duped by Victoria, spending all that money for nothing. It wasn't just about the money; it was infuriating that Victoria was the one making it! How shameless!

Ella needed a plan to ruin Sweet Haven Corner's reputation.

Furrowing her brows, she quickly came up with an idea.

She leaned over to Lila and whispered her plan.

Lila nodded eagerly and sneered, "She deserves to be taught a lesson!"

Soon, a sharp female voice rang out in the store, "What's this? There's hair in the mousse!"

Ella held up a long hair for everyone to see. "Look at this! This place has terrible hygiene. Victoria, you can't just ignore your conscience for money."

Natalia pretended to gag, "We found hair in our food. It's so gross, I can't eat anymore!"

The customers started murmuring; some thought it was no big deal, while others were disgusted and questioned the store's cleanliness.

Victoria quickly paused the orders and called Charlotte to check it out.

Charlotte looked at the hair in the mousse, shocked. "Impossible! I wore a hat the whole time, and my hair was tied up in a hairnet. This has never happened before!"

Victoria stayed silent, watching the three girls closely.

Ella shook the hair in front of Victoria, "Victoria, we have both witnesses and evidence. You can't deny it, right?"

"Yeah, are you saying the hair fell from us? Then why is it embedded in the cake?" Lila stood up angrily, pointing at Charlotte and scolding, "You're so old, who knows how dirty your hair is. Just thinking about it is disgusting!"

She then threw the cake on the ground, splattering cream everywhere.

Victoria quickly grabbed the hair and brought it close to her nose, examining it carefully.

Ella tried to snatch it back, but Charlotte stopped her. She thought, 'It's just a hair; everyone has long hair; how could they tell whose it is?' So she didn't insist.

Instead, she said sarcastically, "Taking the hair away, are you trying to destroy the evidence?"

Victoria smirked, "I just want to see whose hair this is."

Mira leaned in with concern, "Can you tell?"

Victoria turned to the curious customers, "This hair is curly and yellow, clearly dyed and permed."

A customer leaned in to look, "It really is; it's quite rough. This perm is ruined, and you could ask the hair salon for compensation!"

Victoria chuckled, "This customer is very observant. Unfortunately, all four of us in the store have brown hair, unpermed and undyed, so it's definitely not our problem."

Everyone could see that both Charlotte and the other staff had healthy brown hair.

"Then whose hair is this?" Victoria added.

Lila suddenly felt guilty and touched the ends of her hair. She had just permed and dyed her hair into golden waves a few days ago, but the hairdresser did a poor job, leaving it dry and yellow. She even got half her money back from the hairdresser!

Natalia stepped forward and said, "What do you mean, are you trying to accuse the customers?"

Lila, no longer afraid, said with a wronged expression, "Victoria, you immediately claimed the hair belongs to someone else. Do you have any evidence? This store bullies customers on its first day. Everyone, come see how awfully they treat people here!"

In business, it was pretty common for folks to side with the customers.

Someone in the crowd shouted, "Yeah, if there's no proof, just compensate. People paid money, and this is the service they get?"

Ella and her friends looked smug, thinking, 'Victoria deserves it.'

Victoria casually tossed the hair on the table and glanced at Ella.

"Who said we don't have proof? I forgot to mention earlier; we have surveillance cameras in the store to prevent such incidents."

Charlotte was also surprised. Victoria hadn't told them about the cameras. Usually, small stores didn't install cameras to save costs.

But Victoria had plenty of money.

And with Ella constantly causing trouble, she couldn't afford not to be cautious.

Ella's expression changed. She thought, 'That scheming woman, she is too cunning.'

She quickly pulled Lila and said with a forced smile, "It must be a misunderstanding. The hair might have accidentally fallen from us. No need to check the cameras. Lila, apologize!"

Lila reluctantly bowed her head and apologized, her eyes full of resentment.

She thought, 'Victoria is lucky this time. That cunning woman, installing cameras in a small store; how despicable.'

Comprehending the situation, Mira didn't want to let them off easily and exclaimed, "Weren't you confident just now? Why admit your mistake as soon as you heard about the cameras? Were you trying to frame us and afraid of being exposed?"

Ella waved her hands repeatedly, "Of course not, we didn't do it on purpose. I have classes at school, so we'll leave now."

Before finishing her sentence, she dragged Lila and Natalia out of Sweet Haven Corner.

The customers, having watched the commotion, realized the store's hygiene was fine and spread the story to their friends and family, giving Sweet Haven Corner some free publicity.

After the rush, Victoria finally found some time and sat across from Ryan with a plate of butter cookies.

Seeing his clean plate, she chuckled, "Our desserts are pretty good, right?"

Ryan's face, hidden behind his beard, blushed slightly, "Yes."

His voice was clear and youthful, suggesting he was in his twenties.

Victoria was a bit surprised, "You surprised me."

In her previous life, she had never met Shadow, only knowing the codename. 

Since Shadow manipulated Internet trolls for Ella, she assumed he was a sleazy middle-aged man. She didn't expect him to be so young, just with a beard hiding his face.

Ryan cleared his throat, "You are also completely different from what I imagined."

Ryan never thought "X" would be a woman. Her attacks were so fierce that he imagined her as a tough guy, maybe a soldier or someone who had been to prison. Who would have thought she was a young, pretty girl!

Victoria smiled, "Then it's a tie. If you like desserts, you can come often. I'll give you a discount."

Ryan said, "No need, I have money."

Victoria shrugged, "Whatever makes you happy. I won't refuse if you want to let me earn money. But your look is quite unique, like a pirate from the Caribbean. You stand out in a crowd."

Ryan uncomfortably touched his beard, "Are you saying I'm ugly?"

Victoria nonchalantly said, "I can't see your face, so who knows what you look like."

Saying that, she suddenly reached out and brushed his hair aside, revealing a pair of cute droopy eyes.

"Your eyes are pretty, why cover them? It's bad for your vision."

Ryan was stunned for a moment by her sudden closeness, his heart skipping a beat and then pounding wildly.

He never cared about his appearance, letting his hair and beard grow wild. 

Today, he suddenly felt embarrassed, realizing he shouldn't have shown up looking so disheveled and risking a poor first impression.

Ryan lowered his head and mumbled. "Well."

Victoria didn't hear clearly, "What?"

"Nothing." Ryan had already decided to change his hairstyle and clean up when he got home, giving her a surprise next time. After all, he wasn't bad-looking.