"Elise also said that the school is holding a large coming-of-age ceremony, and that you spent a fortune on a particularly beautiful dress for Vivian."
I replied indifferently, "It is her eighteenth birthday, and with so many classmates present, it's fitting that she dresses elegantly for the occasion."
"No way!" she exclaimed.
I was startled.
"I've watched you raise Vivian to be willful and unreasonable, and I've let it go. But being too pretty in adolescence will attract boys; early romance will affect her studies."
I sneered, "So you're aware they're in their adolescence? Adolescents are the most prone to feelings of inferiority and sensitivity. Dressing shabbily does more harm than early romance."
"Elena, I won't allow you to raise Vivian to be promiscuous."
I was enraged.
"Vivian is my child. You have no right to judge or interfere."
"We're neighbors who see each other all the time. Have you ever considered how negatively Vivian affects Elise?"
Elise, poorly fed and dressed, was taught that enduring hardship was a virtue, yet Vivian was confident and beautiful.
Elise always felt like she lived like a rat in the sewers.