"Miss West, you really have been hiding your light under a bushel!
I was too shortsighted!"
Isabelle Lynch struggled to maintain her composure, but couldn't help grinding her teeth.
Willow West kept her faint smile, as if she didn't even notice the woman's fuming indignation.
"At home, my grandfather often taught us that we, the West Family, are an old, established family!
When we are out in the world, we must be low-key and not act ostentatiously.
There's always someone better out there. One must never be arrogant, nor should one sell themselves short!
As an established family, we must naturally have the dignity of one!"
These words made several of the elders in the audience nod repeatedly in approval.
The West Family was in business, and merchants valued profit.
Willow West had married down, and the Sterlings had bullied her into becoming a laughingstock. Behind closed doors, Ethan West and his wife had been ridiculed by high society to the point of utter humiliation.
