That evening, Mary put on her new dress, her red heals, and got downstairs to greet her guests. As she expected, Lauren was also wearing red. Mary knew she chose that color on purpose, but she decided she wouldn\u2019t let anything affect her good mood.
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As the night proceeded and everyone had a lot of fun, John asked the guests for their attention. He raised a toast and handed his wife a box wrapped in a huge red bow. Mary was eager to open it, but to her surprise, there was a rag inside. She was left in shock and barely said, \u201cWhat\u2019s this Jon, is this a joke?\u201d\n\n\n\n As everyone was looking at Mary and her reaction, Lauren started laughing uncontrollably, commenting out loud that her brother finally came to his senses and brought the right gift for his stay-at-home wife. She also mentioned that she received an expensive bracelet from John for her birthday, the one she was proudly wearing at that moment.\n\n\n\n \n\n\n\n John smiled as well and told Mary that it was just a little prank his sister convinced him to pull on her, believing the guests would find it fun. He said the real gift will arrive later that night.\n\n\n\n Mary was furious. She felt humiliated and wanted the night to be over as soon as possible, especially because of Lauren\u2019s words and John\u2019s inability to confront his sister for her lousy behavior.\n\n\n\n In order not to make a scene, she placed the rag on the floor and acted as though nothing had happened.\n\n\n\n
