Chapter 15
Chloe’s eyes lit up as she smiled, “Thank you, sweetheart. I love you more and more every day.”
Her friends were overjoyed and immediately started showering her with compliments.
Those discounted pieces still started at tens of thousands of dollars. Even though they were last year’s designs, they still looked impressive when worn. The girls cagerly went off to browse and choose.
Chloe continued to cling to Dylan and asked in a syrupy tone, “Sweetheart, I can’t tell which one suits me. Can you pick one for me?”
Dylan nodded and carefully started looking through the clothes.
Chloe took the chance to walk over to Olivia. With no one else nearby, Chloe dropped the act and mocked, “Dylan’s never bought you a single gift, has he? That’s pathetic. You schemed your way into marrying him, and still ended up with nothing.”
Olivia said with a half–smile, “Yeah, I’m really jealous of you. He buys you clothes, shoes, and bags worth thousands of dollars all the time, and sometimes even splurges tens of thousands on a single gift. You’re so lucky.
“He never gives me anything like that. All he does is throw cold, hard cash at me to humiliate me. The least he gives is more than a hundred grand, and the most has gone over a million. I’ve been so miserable.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Chloe’s face turned red with anger. The words caught in her throat so hard she almost couldn’t breathe.
She didn’t dare throw a fit in public, so she held it in and stormed off to grab a few more items to vent her frustration.
Early in the morning, Julian had come to inspect one of the malls under the family’s name.
The Astorne Family wasn’t just East Nytherra’s top military family–it was also one of the most powerful financial groups, controlling the entire region’s economic direction.
Every high–end commercial district in each part of the city belonged to the Astorne Family.
After finishing his inspection of the shopping complex, Julian was about to head to the next location. But on his way out, he happened to catch a glimpse of a familiar figure in a high–end women’s boutique across from him.
There were quite a few people in the store. The others were all busy browsing, and the sales staff were focused on them.
Only Olivia stood alone off to the side, seemingly isolated. From time to time, someone would glance at her with mocking or provocative eyes.
Julian stopped in his tracks. The air around him instantly grew heavier.
The mall’s director broke into a cold sweat, his mind racing to figure out if he had messed up his earlier report.
Julian turned to Noel, the major general who was accompanying him in plain clothes, and ordered, “Send someone to that boutique and find out what’s going on.”
Noel followed his gaze, saw that he was looking at Olivia, and instantly understood. He headed off immediately to carry out the order.
Soon, Noel got a general understanding of the situation and came back to report, “My lord, the people in that store all came together, but the beautiful lady by the door seems to have a conflict with another woman who’s quite pretentious,
“The rest of them are friends of that pretentious one. She’s buying a gift for each of her friends–except for the beautiful one.”
Julian quickly grasped what was going on. He thought, ‘That pretentious one is probably Olivia’s husband’s lover.
He glanced into the store and could only see a man and a woman walking arm in arm, talking to each other. Their backs were facing his direction, so he couldn’t see their faces.
Julian didn’t wait for them to turn around, nor did he have anyone take photos. He and Olivia had made a pact that they wouldn’t investigate each other’s lives. Unless they ran into each other by chance, he wouldn’t go looking.
Julian murmured a few quiet instructions, then cast one last deep look in Olivia’s direction before turning to leave for the next location.
Inside the store, the manager–who had been personally assisting Dylan and Chloe–suddenly received a phone call.
Right after she hung up, she urgently gathered all the store staff. Then, in perfect sync, they walked over to Olivia, clearly thrilled, and said in Auralian, “Miss, congratulations. You’re the first customer who stepped into our store with your left foot today.
11/2
A
“You’ve triggered our super–secret prize. You can choose any item in the store, with no limit on quantity or price. Anything you like is yours to take.”
12/2
W
