Chapter 4

Selena had never been in a relationship before. It was the first time a guy held her by the waist, and her body was rather sensitive. She felt as if she had been electrocuted. Although she wanted to avoid Elliott's touch, her instincts told her she had to make the most of this opportunity.

Where else could she find a rich young heir with 200 million dollars to throw around?

Thus, even though her body trembled, she allowed Elliott to hold her without squirming away. With her holding his arm and him holding her waist, the two looked like a lovey-dovey couple who were caught up in their own world.

Ivan and Anne, who were about a dozen feet away, stared so hard that their eyes nearly popped out.

Cursing inwardly, Ivan couldn't believe that Elliott had an arm around Selena's waist. Words couldn't describe how stormy his expression was.

How was this possible?

Ivan had to ask himself that question in silence. He couldn't accept this reality—that Elliott, the guy he looked down on, could easily throw an arm around the waist of Selena, the woman of his dreams.

Anne, on the other hand, was consumed by jealousy. She balled her fists, clenching so hard that her nails dug into her palms.

"We can't just leave things the way they are, Ivan! We must humiliate him and make him a laughingstock in front of Selena!"

Hearing that, Ivan nodded and muttered, "Yes, you're right. We have to settle the score. Later, I'll get you whatever he gets her. Let's see how much money that broke-ass Elliott has."

"Okay! You're the best, Ivan. I love you!" Anne said.

While the two secretly plotted over how they were going to ruin Elliott and Selena's relationship, Elliott came to an abrupt stop and turned around to look at them, asking, "We've broken up, Anne, so why are you still following me around? I don't want to see you."

He repeated the words Anne had said to him earlier.

Anne's expression darkened, but she scoffed and retorted, "Don't be so full of yourself, Elliott. We're here to shop. Ivan wants to buy me a new outfit."

"Oh? Go ahead, then," Elliott said before turning to Selena and addressing her on purpose, "By the way, what's your name?"

"My name is Selena Witt, Eli," Selena replied.

She was startled by his question, but it didn't surprise her. She hadn't told Elliott her name yet. Ivan did call her Selena just now, but he didn't use her full name, so it wasn't unexpected that Elliott didn't know it.

"Selena Witt? What a beautiful name! What do you want? Come. I'll buy you anything you want."

"Thanks, Eli!"

Ivan and Anne were both speechless. They couldn't wrap their heads around the situation. Elliott and Selena had been all over each other, but Elliott didn't even know Selena's name. Clearly, the two had only just met!

What the hell was happening? How could this be? Even the god of love himself couldn't possibly get a woman to fall into his arms as quickly as Elliott could, right?

Anne felt as though Elliott had turned into an entirely different person, but moments later, she shook her head. There was no way. He was nothing but a poor sucker who had probably just become a lot more shameless!

"Eli, why don't we look at some shoes first?" Selena suggested without paying any attention to Ivan or Anne.

She was a quick-witted young woman, and she was aware of the history between Elliott and Anne. Since Ivan and Anne had followed them, and since Elliott said he didn't want to pretend to be poor anymore, the best way to help him maintain his dignity was to spend his money, not save it.

The more money she spent, the more satisfied Elliott's ego would be!

"Alright. Let's take a look at some shoes," Elliott said.

He took her by the hand and led her toward the boutiques.

Standing in place, Ivan and Anne were both burning with jealousy as they watched the other two leave.

"Come on! Let's shop for some shoes, too!"

The two continued tailing Elliott and Selena, who stood out in the mall as they walked hand-in-hand. It wasn't their clasped hands but their attire that caught the attention of others.

Based on her outfit, it was obvious Selena came from a fairly well-to-do family. Meanwhile, Elliott was still donning the yellow vest that belonged to the delivery service he worked for, which made it obvious he was a deliveryman.

There was no way for a deliveryman and a gorgeous woman walking around together not to grab attention. All of the passersby kept glancing over and whispering among themselves.

"Hey, look at that! That delivery guy is dating such a pretty young woman! I have faith in love again."

"I know, right? It's so rare to see an example of pure, earnest love in today's materialistic society."

"She's so pretty, and she must be a good person, too. She doesn't mind that he's just a delivery guy."

Many of the deliverymen who passed by also saw what was happening and gave Elliott a thumbs-up.

"You're amazing, dude!"

"You're my inspiration, my man!"

They became even more motivated, fully believing that by working hard themselves, they could win the heart of the woman of their dreams, too.

Elliott simply smiled at them. They could see his vest, but they couldn't see his bank account. Nevertheless, he didn't burst their bubble. After all, perhaps with the sense of hope they had, they might actually land a pretty woman of their own.

Moments later, Elliott and Selena stepped inside a Gucci boutique, which carried a pair of canvas shoes that Selena fancied.

When three of the sales assistants saw a deliveryman bringing in a pretty young woman to buy a pair of shoes for her, they all mocked him on the inside.

Since he had no money, he shouldn't bother putting on a show. He could barely earn a few thousand dollars a month making deliveries, so how could he afford to fund the woman's lavish lifestyle?

They assumed he was just trying to show off by coming into the boutique and would scrounge up an excuse to back out of buying anything.

It would be a waste of their time to entertain such customers, so none of the three sales assistants was willing to attend to Elliott and Selena, leaving them to their own devices.

Summer Little was a sales assistant trainee who had only started working three days ago. She was also the only one who came forward and cheerfully introduced the boutique's offerings to Elliott and Selena after seeing that the other three weren't moving.

"Summer has no experience. One look, and I can tell that guys like him are just braggarts. They have no money to afford anything here, so they'll just end up looking around without buying anything!"

"Exactly. It's a waste of our time to tend to customers like him."

"It's fine. Thanks to them, Summer will get a taste of what the real world is like. The next time customers like him show up, she won't bother entertaining them, either."

Not only did the three more senior sales assistants not approach Elliott and Selena, but they even mocked Summer who did.

Soon, Ivan and Anne entered the boutique as well. They were a lot better dressed, especially Ivan, who was all decked out in luxury brands. Clearly, he looked like a rich man.

The three sales assistants fought to be the one who got to help them, and the duo also pretended to browse around.

When Selena found a pair of shoes she liked, Summer helped her try them on. The shoes fitted her perfectly and were fairly comfortable, too.

"Let's go with this pair, Eli," Selena said.

"You have impeccable taste, miss!" Summer said. "This is the latest limited edition from this season. There are only 100 pairs available in the entire world! It complements your elegant style wonderfully."

"Only 100 pairs in the world?" Elliott checked.

"That's right. Every pair is carefully handcrafted by a master artisan. You could even say it's a work of art," Summer explained.

Anne came over and said to Summer, "I want a pair of these shoes, too."

"Huh?" Summer was caught off guard.

"Why are you just standing there?" Ivan snapped as he approached. "Do as she said. We want a pair, too."

"Of course. There are two pairs available in Mountshire, but the other pair is currently at our branch outlet in Monument Park. We could have that pair brought over."

"That's fine. Ring it up for me," Ivan said impatiently.

Summer was stupefied. Were they going to buy the shoes without even trying them on first?

She swiftly processed the sale and came back to ask, "The original price is 9,888 dollars, but it is currently on sale for 8,888 dollars. Would you like to pay by cash or card?"

Once again, Ivan and Anne were dumbstruck.

What kind of shoes cost over 8,000 dollars? Wasn't that daylight robbery?

Anne looked at Ivan, who scratched his head and said, "Let's forget about it, Anne. Those shoes look fairly basic to me anyway."

"But… I rather like them," Anne protested.

"I don't. You don't look good in them!" Ivan declared.

Evidently, the shoes were too pricey. He didn't want to spend that much money on them.

"Alright, then," Anne said with a helpless expression.

Despite not purchasing the shoes, they didn't leave. They wanted to see Elliott make a fool of himself, too. How was he going to pay for a pair of shoes that cost 8,888 dollars?

The three sales assistants were a little disappointed to see that Ivan didn't end up buying the shoes.

Meanwhile, Summer asked Elliott, "Sir, would you like to pay by cash or card?"

"Card," Elliott replied. "But hang on. Don't finalize the transaction just yet."

Hearing that, both Ivan and Anne sported scornful expressions. It was as they expected. The poor sucker Elliott didn't have the money for the shoes, either.

But alas, the next words out of Elliott's mouth left them thunderstruck.

"Didn't you say there were only 100 pairs of these limited-edition shoes available worldwide? We'll take them all. Help me count how much that'll be."

"Huh?" Summer blurted out in absolute shock.