As the Shelby brothers and their cousin, left the shop to continue with their daily routine, their wives, Linda, Esme, Grace, and Gina, remained in the dressing room, trying on a variety of dresses for Ada Shelby's upcoming wedding. They eagerly awaited the opinion of the ever-so-stylish and experienced Polly Gray, who would undoubtedly have valuable insights and suggestions to offer.

In the mansion of the Shelby family, Polly Gray held sway over all who lived there. As the owner and ruler of the estate, her words carried great weight and everyone listened intently to hear what she had to say. Despite the respect and obedience she commanded, there were always whispers and rumors that circulated behind closed doors about her true motivations and intentions.

Some believed she was a benevolent leader, looking out for the best interests of those under her care. Others whispered that she was manipulative and power-hungry, willing to do whatever it took to maintain her hold over the mansion and its inhabitants. Whatever the truth may be, there was no denying that Polly Gray was a formidable force to be reckoned with, and her words held great power within the walls of the Shelby mansion.

"Look at us," Linda spoke up, "putting on a dress show for Miss Polly Gray to approve of what we'll be wearing." Linda couldn't help but feel a bit nervous. Polly Gray was known for her hard taste

Esme fixed her dress, standing in front of the Esme, standing by the mirror, fixed her dress, smoothing it out and adjusting the hem. The disappointment hit her, though. The dress was nice, but Polly had thoughts. "Isn't she going to pay?" Esme asked, her voice tinged with frustration. "She had to humiliate us for the money she's giving for it."

"Guys, is it true that she will be bringing a band?" Grace asked, doing her hair. Rumors were flying, but she wasn't sure. She glanced at her pals, curious. As she waited for a response, she looked around the room at her friends.

"I mean it's possible," Gina said with a hint of doubt in her voice. "After all, Ada was always the favorite," She added, her eyes narrowing

"Yeah, it's true," Linda began, rolling her eyes, "Arthur told me that a woman is leading the band." She couldn't help but feel a little jealous as Arthur had been talking non-stop about this woman. Linda knew that jealousy was a pointless emotion, but she couldn't help feeling it. She wondered what this woman was like and how she had managed to become the leader of the band. Perhaps this woman had something that Linda lacked. She sighed and shook her head

Grace turned to Linda, asking, "Is she pretty?" Linda nodded, saying Arthur spilled the details. She added, "Well, I hope she is also efficient in her work and can quickly complete her tasks and leave Small Heath. It's a small town, and people tend to get bored quickly."

"Relax, Thomas isn't going to run away," Gina laughed, trying to ease Grace's jealousy. She had known Grace for years and knew that she had a tendency to get jealous easily. Gina herself had never been one to get jealous and she couldn't understand why Grace was so insecure in her relationship with Thomas. And oh dear if only she knew

Esme frowned as she stepped out of the dressing room to show Polly her dress. She looked at the others, with a whisper "I hope she'd like this dress," she frowned, "I'm tired of it."

Polly stood in front of Linda, and with a concerned look, she said "I have to say that dress makes you look hideous." She then moved on to Grace and added "This dress does not look good on you at all." She then turned to Gina and scoffed "I know Michael likes you in blue, but this dress is not his favorite color." Finally, she stopped in front of Esme and said "This dress makes you look shorter than you are." After delivering her comments, Polly made her way out of the shop

"Ladies," said one of the shop workers, "Miss Polly has chosen four dresses, one for each of you. Please feel free to try them on and see which ones you like best."

Grace, who was growing increasingly frustrated, turned to the others and asked, sighing "If she already made up her mind, why are we wasting our time trying on all these dresses?"

Gina scoffed as she grabbed the dress from the worker. "Told you'll she just wants to torture us," she muttered under her breath. Looking around the store, she couldn't help but feel a sense of frustration.

Linda shook her head and let out a sigh, her frustration evident. "Sometimes I wonder if we're living in a world where privacy is no longer valued," she said. "I mean what next? guards on our rooms?"

"Why guards her nephews are enough, they tell her everything" Linda scoffed, shaking her head

Grace looked at the others and spoke, "Let's not be too hard on her. At least she took the time to attend the parents' meeting at school for us."

Gina appeared to be frustrated as she pulled the dress out of the bag. "I'm just so sick of her," she frowned, her eyes rolling in exasperation. "It's like she's actively trying to change the way I raise my kids. Every time I propose an idea, she shoots it down. It's like she's waiting for me to say yes, just so she can say no. I mean, I appreciate that she cares about my children and wants the best for them, but sometimes it feels like she's overstepping her bounds."

"Same, I can't even dress in a night dress fearing she'll come any seconds to our room again" Linda spoke

"One time she entered my bathroom while I was in the shower, scolding me for my kid's low marks at school" Esme shook her head at the horror memories

"She's a maniac, but hey, at least she pays," Gina rolled her eyes. Taking the dress the worker has handed her

_________________________

"Jules, hurry up!" Juliette called her sister, the grocery bags in her hand and she struggled to keep them studying. And almost knocking them down, almost...

But Thomas Shelby came to her service, the hero of Birmingham, or the devil the same thing. Jules saw him from far away and decided it was better to stay in the store than face the devil himself

Juliette flashed a fake smile, that she made sure to reach her eyes. Her eyes blinked and nothing but innocence came from them. "Thank you" she whispered

Jules shook her head, but couldn't help but smirk. Her sister was good at manipulating, and confusing people, which made everyone under her command, even the one who denies it, eventually fall for her charm. And it seems that Thomas Shelby slowly does

"We don't want the band leader getting all tired before the big wedding happens now do we?" Thomas offered to take the bags, sticking his hands up

Juliette shook her head. "Well, we don't want small heath to talk about how a woman let Thomas Shelby take her grocery bags tomorrow, now do we?"

Jules bored eyes, turned around to see things more interesting, and was confused when she saw the four, of Shelby's wives leaving the shop that was across the street from the grocery shop. "What are you trying to do, Julie?" She whispered to herself

Grace's laughing died off when she saw her own husband standing with a woman, in the middle of the street. While she flashed a smile, he was staring at her steadily. The women beside her cringed, feeling awkward by just standing there. Grace turned and gave them a lazy smile before walking down the street and rushing to her husband's side. Linking her arms with his and holding him close by her side

Juliette thought. What took her so long? As she backed away making distance between the lovely birds and herself. By the look on Thomas's face she could see how annoyed he was at that very moment and by the look on his wife she could see how she was the same annoyed. The difference was, that he was annoyed by his wife for sticking at him literally, and she was annoyed by the way Juliette looked like she owned this place like she owned her own husband

"Misses Shelby isn't it?" Juliette offered her hand, which she received nothing at all from her, that was fair enough, she guessed.

"Oh? So you know who I am?" Grace sarcastically replied, staring at her with a smile, not a friendly smile

"Of course" She widened her eyes, trying to hold back a laugh. By the look at how Grace literally grabbed her husband as if he was a six-year-old trying to run around, who wouldn't know who she was? "It's really nice to meet you"

"hm," all she did was hum, glancing from toe to her forehead, "Who are you?"

"A band leader," She mimicked Thomas, no one called her that before, but supposedly around here they do. "Juliette Monet"

"French?"

"oui"

"Nice" She whispered scratching her nose, nervously. "How long will you stay around here?"

"Not for long, sadly" happily. What Juliette wanted to say, but she bit her tongue back. That wasn't her plan, why wasn't Grace questioning her husband? Come on Grace be smart! The thought of Juliette screaming at Grace

"Well, don't stick out for long here, this town doesn't suit you. It will never do" and I will make sure this town doesn't suit you either, Grace. And every single Shelby and Gray along. Juliette mind spoke holding back a smirk. "Unless you're a whore"

"Well, if I wanted it to suit me, It would've been so" Juliette replied, flashing a smile, fake one obviously. Okay, Grace isn't smart enough and she's ruining everything so she has to back away and run before she commits a murder. Great another plan ruined by Shelby, as if her life wasn't enough for them to ruin already.

Jules luckily senses her sister getting tense up. And no one understood Juliette better than her little sister. So she decided to brag in and save her. "Julie, let's go we have a lot of work to do"

Juliette turned to her sister and nodded, "The job is calling" She took a step back ready to storm off without taking a look back. "It was lovely to talk to you both misses and Mister Shelby" With that she left with her sister

_________________________

"Well that was interesting" Jules muttered making her way to the couch as her sister angrily walked back and forth

"Grace had one job," Juliette complained. "All she had to do was question her husband, but no she turned to me"

"Why did you want her to question her own husband about you anyway?" Jules raised an eyebrow, as she emptied the grocery bag on the counter

"There is something between them, they haven't been on a good term for three months, I wanted to know why" Juliette replied.

What she meant exactly, was that she made her way all over the grocery store that was in front of a really fancy dress shop which was where the Shelby's women would be, and was one hundred percent sure that Thomas Shelby followed her.

Her plan was neat and calculated, but Grace had to ruin it. She was supposed to question her own husband about the woman, and with that Juliette would've caught something, she would've known if whatever happened between them was big or small, and how would she use it to her own benefit

"Let me guess this out" Jules without taking her eyes off of the apple juice chuckled, "us being in the same grocery store and the Shelby's being in the shop in front of it wasn't just coincidence"

"No, it wasn't" Juliette muttered, "nothing I did or will do going to be a coincidence, I didn't wait for fifteen years for a plan to be ruined by a Shelby"

"How come you didn't tell me about your brilliant plan?"

"I try to, this morning I was going to explain it to you, but what did you say when I was about to?" Juliette smiled and walked to her sister, mimicking her way of frowning this morning. "I don't want to talk about any Shelby it's seven am!"

"Sod off!" Jules shoved her sister's shoulder and took a sip of her juice. "What do you think happened between them?"

"I have no idea" Juliette muttered, and pushed her hair out of her view exposing her bare neck. "But whatever it is, it's big. We need to figure it out. They're hiding something"

"Maybe Thomas cheated on her? Or the other way around" Jules offered a question

"Maybe, but it can't be that small"

"You're considering cheating small?!"

"yeah in their world there are many big things that could ruin two relationships" Juliette explained, huffing. "And cheating doesn't conceder a big one"

"Like what?"

"Over-control, Dishonesty, Intimidation, money issues" Juliette pointed out each one of them casually until a word came from her mind, and her eyes suddenly widened. She whispered  "Betrayal"

Jules raised an eyebrow, "Betrayal?"

"One of them betrayed the other"

"Who do you think"

"I'm not sure" Juliette muttered, shaking her head. "But it's sure as hell it wasn't Thomas Shelby"