I froze in place and realized James had brought our parents and a bunch of relatives to this private room for his newborn son's one-month celebration. Melanie was busy showing off by recording videos on her phone. My face appeared in the frame when her camera panned to the door.
"Janina? What are you doing here?" Melanie put down her phone and frowned at me.
Upon hearing this, everyone in the room turned their gaze towards me, standing at the doorway.
"Janina, have you no shame? You knew we were having a banquet here today and followed us just to scrounge a meal!" Greta rushed over and scolded me as if I were the plague.
"Who said I was here to scrounge for food?" I replied calmly.
"What are you here for if you're not here to scrounge? Begging? This is a high-end place reserved for the wealthy. If you're hungry, go dig through the trash outside. That's where you belong," she said, crossing her arms and looking at me with utter disdain.
The other relatives also frowned and glared at me, their expressions filled with disgust as if I were an annoying fly.