Vanessa comes up with a gambit

Vanessa approached the stage, stopping every so often to (not-so-discreetly) scratch herself.

There's no way she could stop, the itching was just getting so bad! Then an idea sprung into her head. It wasn't a particularly good one, but when your skin is crawling so bad you want to jump out of your clothes regardless of who will see you, well, your standards dip a little.

"Follow my lead, and maybe, just maybe we can still pull out a win tonight," Vanessa whispered to her mother and the maid. She hopped up on stage, her scowl turning to a smile as she took the microphone from Lauren.

Vanessa quickly scratched herself, trying to play it off as an effort to smooth out her dress. Her mother and the maid quickly followed her up and stood behind her, using Vanessa as a shield to cover up their own efforts to scratch themselves.

"Thank you all for coming here tonight," Vanessa said energetically, even as she scratched at her belly through her dress. "as you know, our dear, departed Aunt Audrey was a kind and giving woman, who was always quick to help out the less fortunate..."

The crowd seemed to murmur in agreement. Vanessa had no idea if any of that was true, but it sounded good.

"But I think we can do better!" Vanessa said as her hand slipped under the shoulder of her dress and fiddled at her bra. The crowd grew quiet, confused at what she was saying... and doing. "Aunt Audrey's galas were a great way to help people 50 years ago, but this is 2018! Galas like this are expensive and wasteful!"

The crowd was growing agitated at Vanessa's words, Lauren was furious and tried to yank the microphone away, but Vanessa was too quick.

"How many thousands of dollars were spent on the catering for tonight? This dress I'm wearing? It cost me $15,000 (we'll technically she had the dressmaker bill it to Lauren)," she said, tugging on her chest to emphasize her point (and also scratch at her itchy nipples). "All of that money could have been put to better use by giving it directly to charity, instead of spending it on this!"

Lauren was **** for the microphone now, and was angrily whispering at Vanessa, but just couldn't manage to get it away from her.

"Which is why..." Vanessa paused as she dug at the dress's straps along her back, "I'm giving it to charity!"

The crowd let out a collective gasp at this announcement as Vanessa began to remove it, freeing her body from the painfully itchy garment and letting her scratch at her freshly exposed skin.

Lauren was confused and stunned by this turn of events.