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Sara Khan knew exactly which dress she was referring to. "The material of that one is top-notch, and the style is decent," she remarked, "but the embroidery work is quite poor."

"Poor? It looks hand-embroidered to me; the flowers look almost real," Bella Stark noted.

"That's because you haven't seen truly great embroidery. It's such a shame, really," Sara Khan sighed. "In the past, Kay specialized in custom dresses, and the master tailor’s skill was beyond words. The patterns embroidered onto the fabric were truly lifelike, as if they could breathe. Unfortunately, heaven is jealous of genius. The master passed away early without an heir to the craft, and Kay has never been the same since."

Hearing the history behind the brand, Bella Stark realized, "So, you used to be a regular customer here, Sister-in-law."

"Yes. When the Madam was alive, I would frequently commission her to make my dresses. Afterward, the skills of the other tailors never met my standards, so I stopped wearing them altogether," Sara Khan explained.

Bella Stark shared her sentiment. "What a pity. Since nothing catches your eye, let's head out."

Sara Khan hummed in agreement, and the two prepared to leave.

"Ladies, please wait a moment."

Chloe Bishop called out to them just as they were turning to go.

Sara Khan and Bella Stark paused and instinctively looked back. They saw a young woman carrying a massive cardboard box down from the second floor. She set the box down and walked toward them.

"Oh, you were in the shop? We thought no one was here," Bella Stark said upon seeing Chloe.

Chloe gave a small nod and took a deep look at Sara Khan. She then picked up the lake-blue dress they had been discussing and held it up against Sara Khan to gauge the fit.

Sara Khan was confused. Just as she was about to say she wasn't interested in the piece, the girl spoke:

"Indeed. Your skin is fair and your temperament is elegant; you can certainly carry off this lake-blue shade. However, you were right—the embroidery on this is trash. Wearing it would only devalue your status. The frog fasteners are very ordinary too; this specific style isn't suited for a full row of fasteners. A half-fastened style with a zipper would be much better."

Bella Stark was stunned. "Little girl, are you the sales clerk here?"

Who calls the clothes they are selling "trash" right in front of a customer? Does this employee have a grudge against the owner?

"I’m not a clerk. I’m the owner," Chloe Bishop answered bluntly. She continued her critique: "Aside from the color matching you, nothing else about this dress is worthy of your grace. The gold floral patterns use single-sided embroidery. To hide the mess inside, they added a lining, which is just so 'low.' If you ask me, it should use double-sided embroidery on a single layer of fabric. Also, the side slit doesn't need to be so high. As for the length, for a lady like yourself, one or two centimeters below the knee would be perfect."

Bella Stark: "..."

Bella was even more speechless now. It was weird enough for a clerk to criticize the merchandise, but this owner was incredibly sharp. Had she not designed these herself?

Sara Khan, on the other hand, felt like she had found a kindred spirit. She nodded with delight. "You have an excellent eye. But very few people can do double-sided embroidery these days; it’s incredibly time-consuming. Most places use single-sided work now, or worse, they just use machine-stamped patterns."

"Machine-stamped is even lower," Chloe Bishop dismissed without hesitation. She paused for a moment. "Madam, let me design a dress for you. I will design it and make it myself. I’ll use the silk material from this style—I saw a bolt of it upstairs just now that should be enough for one piece."

Sara Khan was taken aback. "You know how to make dresses?"

"I do," Chloe nodded. Then, remembering her situation, she added an explanation: "I just took over this shop today. None of the items here were made by me. I was actually about to pack them all up and throw them away."

"Throw them away!" Bella Stark cried out. She looked around the shop; there had to be at least several dozen pieces. She had touched a few earlier and knew many were pure silk. They say "an inch of silk is an inch of gold," yet this girl was ready to toss them. How eccentric.