Chapter Two
Barnes–Max, as he insisted Scarlett call him, given that they were engaged–was generous enough to give her a few days to get to know his friends before he unleashed the media on her. And so the day after she got engaged to a man she didn't know, she found herself in a bridal salon with a bunch of women she didn't know. Apparently, Max's housekeeper, Vanessa, had a granddaughter who was getting married soon. Max was footing the bill for her wedding dress.
The bride had astonishingly bad taste. She wanted lace and ruffles and beading and a train six feet long and a puffy princess skirt and a sexy corset top. Any one of the elements by themselves, or even a few together in moderation, would have been fine. But all together? Scarlett was horrified and it took all her control not to slap some sense into the young woman.
"So you're Max's fiancée?" one of the bride's friends or cousins asked her, while they were waiting for the bride to change into her normal clothes, having chosen the 'perfect' gown. "It's funny that he has never talked about you before."
Scarlet gave her a practiced smile. "I like my privacy, and Max understands that."
"Oh, I completely understand. I hate it when people are all pushy about things that are none of their business. So where are you from?"
Vanessa, whom Max had told the truth of the engagement the previous night, leaned across the younger woman to grab Scarlett's wrist. She was grateful for the interruption–until Vanessa spoke.
"I have the most wonderful idea, my dear. While you're here, you should try on a dress or two yourself."
"Oh, I couldn't," Scarlett gasped, horrified. What was Vanessa after, asking her to do something like that? Did she want to expose the relationship as a fraud? "This is about your granddaughter. I don't even know y’all that well."
For some reason, Scarlett found people responded positively when she said 'y’all'. This time was no different and the gathered women tittered and smiled. But they still insisted she try on a gown, especially when they heard she hadn't been giving her wedding details that much thought. Scarlett couldn't believe that they would derail the actual bride's moment, but when she also insisted that Scarlett try on a dress or two, courtesy demanded she acquiesce, and Scarlett was bustled off to a dressing room.
Once she was in the dressing room, Scarlett let her frustrations out with a few choice swear words, and that helped her feel better. A couple of dresses were presented to her by the bridal consultant, picked out by the party who were eagerly waiting to see her in them. Scarlett managed to squeeze herself into one of them but had to send the bridal consultant back to see if she could find the other one three sizes bigger.
Scarlett sighed unhappily as she peered into the mirror. She was in a mermaid dress that looked like it had been vacuum sealed around her body. The awful ice-white shade did nothing for her already too-pale completion. A gentlewoman she might be, but she was not going to wear white when she eventually married. It looked awful on her.
A knock on the dressing room door brought her out of her thoughts. She opened it, expecting the bridal consultant. Instead, she was greeted by the sight of an older Vietnamese gentleman wearing a tailored dark brown suit and carrying a polished cane in his hand.
"Hao!" Scarlett squealed in delight, throwing her arms around him.
If she was the 'gentlewoman thief', Hao was the quintessential 'gentleman thief'. Every one of his collections went off without a hitch, and in his fifty years of business, he had never once taken so much as a ring that could not be replaced. Scarlett had been lucky enough to run into him at the start of her own career, and he had taught her everything she knew.
When she pulled back, however, she saw that the usual smile on his face was not present. Her arms dropped to her side.
"What's this I hear about you engaging yourself to Maximillian Barnes? Have you no shame, turning into a common confidence scammer?"
"Certainly not!" Scarlett narrowed her eyes at her old mentor. "Where did you hear about my… engagement, anyway?"
"I have my sources. It will be all over the tabloids by tonight." Hao folded his hands over his cane. "If you are not running a confidence scam, then what exactly are you doing, Scarlett? Have you turned against the greater good to drown yourself in diamonds? Or do you think you will break the institution from the inside?"
"You have it all wrong, Hao," Scarlett said, folding her arms. Her lower lip stuck out, like the teenager she was when Hao first found her. She wasn't proud of it, but for some reason, she always felt like a child around her mentor, and inevitably slipped back into the role.
"I do, do I?" Hao looked at wedding dress she was wearing pointedly. "So you are just trying on that ridiculous costume for fun, are you? You do know that that single gown could feed half a dozen families for a month?"
"More than that," Scarlett protested. "You've underestimated its value."
She wasn't helping her case any and dropped her arms to smooth down the tight skirt. Her fingers caught on the jewels spaced throughout the intricate embroidery. It felt suddenly decadent to be wearing such a ridiculous gown and she dropped her head, ashamed.
"Why don't you tell me what it is you are up to?" Hao's voice was even as he gazed at her.
With a sigh, Scarlett explained the events of the previous night and the deal she had made with Max. Saying it out loud made the whole thing sound even more preposterous than it had up until this moment, and Scarlet ended by sitting in a provided chair, the tight wedding dress making it hard to breathe. She felt like she was going to burst out of it at any moment.
Hao had been quiet as she spoke, and once she was done, he shook his head. Disapproval was coming off him in waves and Scarlett felt even more ashamed than she had when she had started. This pretense, even though she was not the one to suggest it, was certainly not the action of a woman who considered herself to be well-mannered and full of social grace.
"I don't care if it is ungentlewomanly," she muttered in a petulant tone. "Sometimes a woman must fight against social constraint. Can I call myself a strong woman if I do not forge my own path from time to time?"
"I cannot say that I am pleased with this course of action, Scarlett. It would have been better had you not allowed your hubris to overtake you. But as you said, you must forge your path from time to time. As long as this Barnes does not take liberties you are unwilling to give, then I can't say anything more on the subject."
Scarlett glanced up through her lashes, hoping to see Hao's gentle smile. It was there, and she got to her feet again, embracing him to show her thanks.
"If you do end up taking this… masquerade too far, don't forget to invite me to the wedding." Hao winked at her, earning a laugh. "And whatever else you might do for the ceremony, do not wear a dress that looks like this. It's all wrong for you, my Scarlett, all wrong. It shows none of your elegance, and it's so… boringly traditional. You need something with a bit more spunk."
"And not white," Scarlett added. "Blue or black."
Hao tilted his head, nodding his approval. "Blue. An elegant navy blue. Perhaps with some contrasting embroidery."
Scarlett clapped her hands. "Yes, that would be perfect."
"Well, I must be off." He patted her cheek affectionately. "A gentleman's work is never done."
Scarlet embraced him again, not wanting him to leave. Everything had happened so quickly that, until this moment, she hadn't had time to really process what was happening. Now that she understood exactly what she was doing, it was frightening. She wanted Hao to come back to Max's mansion and solve the problem like he had so often done in the past. But, as she had said, she needed to forge her own path, and this was certainly one of those moments. So she released him and stepped back.
"If I do get married," she said, smiling because there wasn't anything else to do, "you will have to walk me down the aisle. You're the closest thing I have to a father."
Hao squeezed her hand. "It would be my honor."
With a smile and a final doff of his hat, he slipped from the dressing room. Moments later the bridal consultant was back, and Scarlett plastered a smile onto her face, determined to play the excited bride to the best of her capabilities.