Chapter 21 Etiquette Class
Early the next morning, right after Sephora finished breakfast, the etiquette teacher Christine had arranged for her arrived.
Sephora hadn’t expected Christine to be so quick. Just yesterday she’d mentioned the idea of etiquette lessons, and today the teacher was already here. Sephora instantly felt a wave of regret. She really needed to find a way to get rid of the teacher.
The etiquette teacher looked to be in her forties. Her hair was neatly coiled into a bun at the back of her head, and she wore a sleek black dress. Her face was stem and composed, the kind of person you could tell at a glance wasn’t to be trifled with.
As soon as the teacher arrived, Christine hurried forward to greet her with enthusiasm.
Her name was Abbey Mack, the same etiquette teacher who had previously instructed Bridgette.
“Ms. Mack, I really appreciate you coming. My daughter, Sephora, grew up in the countryside and only recently returned to the family. She’s never had any exposure to proper etiquette, and she’ll be attending a formal event soon. I’m hoping you can give her some intensive training.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll teach her well. You won’t be disappointed.”
“Oh, Ms. Mack, I trust you.”
“It’s been a long time, Ms. Mack,” greeted Bridgette.
Chapter 21 Etiquette Class
She recognized Abbey and came over warmly to greet her.
Abbey remembered her well. Bridgette had always picked up things quickly and was so complimentary, qualities that left a good
complimentary, qualities that l
impression.
“It has been a while, Bridie. What happened to your face?”
“It’s nothing serious. I just accidentally got slapped.”
Bridgette didn’t say outright who had hit her, but her gaze drifted meaningfully toward Sephora. The implication was clear.
Abbey wasn’t a fool. She quickly put two and two together and figured out who had delivered the slap. Her brow creased slightly in response.
What a rude country girl! She dared to use violence. No wonder Christine had brought her in for etiquette lessons.
Since Christine trusted her, Abbey wouldn’t let her down.
Abbey had a sterling reputation. Most young ladies from prominent. families had studied etiquette from her
After a few more polite exchanges, Christine and Bridgette left Sephora to lead Ms. Mack back to her room for the lesson.
“I’m Abbey Mack. I’ll be your etiquette instructor. For the next few days, I’ll be teaching you the basics.”
She broke the awkward silence with a curt self–introduction.
Then, without wasting any time, she launched into the lesson..
“We’ll start with posture. When standing, you must lift your head, keep
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Chapter 21 Etiquette Class
your chest up, stomach in, hips tucked, jaw relaxed.”
in, and shoulders
As she spoke, Abbey demonstrated the posture, then instructed Sephora to imitate her exactly.
She took a few books from the bookshelf and placed them on Sephora’s head, then slipped a sheet of paper between her knees.
“Good. Now stay in that position for two hours.”
“What? Two hours?”
“Yes, two hours. If the books fall or the paper slips, you’ll get an extra fifteen minutes added for each mistake.”
At that moment, Sephora would’ve rather died.
Lying down for two hours? No problem. Standing for two hours, with books on her head? That was pure torture.
At first, she couldn’t keep her balance. The books kept falling off with a loud thud.
As a result, her punishment time grew from two hours to four.
By the end, Sephora felt like death itself. Her legs were numb and stiff by the time it was finally over.
She realized she couldn’t go on like this. If she didn’t fight back, Abbey would just keep finding new ways to torment her.
She made up an excuse to leave the room. When no one was watching, she slipped into the kitchen and grabbed a handful of salt from the cupboard, secretly dumping it into a water glass.
Chapter 21 Equrtle Clas
Carrying the doctored water, she calmly returned to her room.
“Ms. Mack, you’ve worked so hard! Here, have some water.”
Abbey thought her teaching was starting to pay off. At least Sephora. was learning to be polite.
Pleased, Abbey took the glass and drank.
The moment the salty water hit her mouth, she spat it all out in one explosive spray.
“Oh no, did you drink too fast? Here, let me get you a tissue.”
She handed her a tissue, but not just any tissue. Sephora had sprinkled pepper on it in advance.
Abbey, with water still glistening at the corners of her mouth, instinctively grabbed the tissue and began wiping.
The moment she touched her lips, a burning sensation spread across her skin, and she began sneezing uncontrollably.
“Ouch…” Abbey pointed at Sephora, her face burning with rage. She couldn’t even utter a full sentence.
“What’s going on?” Christine, hearing the commotion, rushed in.
Abbey’s face turned even darker with humiliation. She, of all people, had never been treated like this before. Furious, she stood up and snapped,
“Mrs. and Ms. Levine, I’m sorry. I can’t teach such an unruly student. Please find someone else.” With that, she grabbed her bag and stormed
out.
Chapter 21 Etiquette Class
“What exactly did you do to drive her away?”
Before Sephora could answer, Bridgette chimed in. She had been watching closely the whole time.
Abbey spit out the water that Sephora fetched. There must be something wrong with the water.
“I don’t know what Sephora put in Ms. Mack’s drink, but she barely took a sip before spitting it all out…”
Christine was even more furious now. Abbey was well–connected in the upper class. This accident made it unlikely for any other teacher to accept Sephora as a student.
“Is what Bridgette said true?”
“Yes.” Sephora didn’t hesitate. She owned up to everything without hesitation.
Seeing no remorse on her face, Christine burst into rage. She slapped Sephora hard across the cheek.
Sephora couldn’t hit her mother back.
She stared at Christine in disbelief. She hadn’t expected Christine to actually raise a hand against her. And Christine, after the slap landed, stood frozen, realizing she’d let her emotions get the better of her.
“Sephie…”
Before Christine could say another word, Sephora turned and ran back to her room.
Watching from the side, Bridgette couldn’t have been more delighted
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when she saw Christine slap Sephora.
