Sharon Dalton's eyes widened innocently. She stared at Aurora Sterling with a look of hurt disbelief, as if Aurora's words had been a grave injustice.
Aurora Sterling simply smiled at her. "Sharon, I didn't say anything. Why are you overreacting?"
Sharon Dalton bit her lip. "But, Aurora, you were looking right at me when you said that. Weren't you implying that I was the one trying to stir up trouble?"
"Well, were you?" Aurora Sterling asked, her gaze calm as she looked at Sharon Dalton.
Sharon Dalton froze for a moment. Although Aurora Sterling appeared serene on the surface, her eyes held a piercing intensity, as if they could see right through her body and into her soul. In that instant, under Aurora's penetrating gaze, Sharon Dalton felt flustered, as if any lie she told would be immediately exposed.
"I... of course not! I didn't!" Despite her inner panic, Sharon Dalton lied.
Aurora Sterling raised an eyebrow slightly, then nodded and gave a brilliant smile. "Of course I know you didn't. You're my best friend, like a sister to me. You're always on my side. How could I not know that?"
With that, Aurora Sterling smiled and ushered Miss Miller and the other girls forward.
Sharon Dalton finally let out a sigh of relief. Looking at Aurora Sterling's naive expression, she comforted herself. 'I must be overthinking things. How could that idiot Aurora suddenly get smart?'
With that thought, Sharon Dalton relaxed and trotted to catch up.
The young ladies hadn't said where they wanted to go, so Aurora Sterling just led them on a pointless tour. They wandered around, but there was nowhere interesting to see.
The girls were clearly growing impatient. Miss Miller shot Aurora an annoyed look. "I mean, Aurora, isn't there anything fun to do at the Sterling estate? Every family has a garden and a pool. Did we really need you to give us a tour of this?"
Just then, Sharon Dalton suddenly chimed in, "Oh, Aurora, is that a limited-edition bracelet you're wearing? And that dress—it must be one-of-a-kind, right?"
Hearing Sharon Dalton's words, the other young ladies looked at Aurora's expensive attire with envy. It was common knowledge that Mr. Sterling and his recently deceased wife had doted on their daughter, Aurora, the most. Anything she asked for, they would give her; they wished they could give her every good thing in the world. It was just that Aurora had never appreciated her good fortune and was always causing trouble.
Now, seeing the limited-edition pieces Aurora was wearing, they were truly green with envy.
Aurora Sterling shot Sharon Dalton a knowing glance, then smiled at the other young ladies. "How about I show you all my dressing room? I have a lot of things in there even nicer than this."
Hearing Aurora's offer, the girls' interest was instantly piqued—after all, what girl isn't interested in beautiful things? One by one, they all cheerfully agreed. Though they still looked down on Aurora, their expressions had softened somewhat.
Sharon Dalton stared in shock at Aurora, and at the other socialites who were, for the first time, smiling at her.
'Has Aurora really lost her mind today? Doesn't she hate it when other people go into her dressing room? Sharon had snuck in once before and gotten an earful from Aurora.'
Sharon knew perfectly well that Aurora didn't like people in her dressing room, which was precisely why she had deliberately steered the conversation that way.