“Sorry, Miss Thomas. I’ve bought this necklace.”Esme continued browsing and found two more sets that she liked. “How much are these two sets?”When the staff presented her the price tags, Esme’s eyes widened after she did the math. “300,000 dollars?”“You are correct, miss.”“But her necklace doesn’t even cost 50 thousand! Why are these ones so expensive?!” Esme felt that the staff could be in cahoots with Fia to mess with her!The staff frowned. “Miss, you are looking to purchase a set of jewelry. This lady here only bought a necklace.”“But isn’t hers a premium, limited collection? Then it should be the most pricey one!” Esme argued.The staff shook her head and said, “No, you got it all wrong, miss. Fia, the designer of this necklace, is not famous yet. Although her designs are labelled as premium, their prices are not as expensive as the existing popular designers’ works.”Seeing Esme staring at her in disbelief, the staff sighed and said, “If you don’t believe me, you c
After the other customers were sent off, only Fia, Sophia, and Esme were left as customers within the store. Seeing this, Esme became anxious and wanted to leave. As she was prepared to leave, the manager called out to her loudly as he was typing on the keyboard, “Miss, please wait for just a short while! I’m still processing your refund!”Esme stopped in her tracks—300,000 dollars was no small amount to her at the moment. It was Peter’s money. This man was quite eccentrically abusive so she did not want to upset him. So she decided to wait for the refund while being watched by Fia and Sophia.A few minutes passed and the refund was not successfully processed yet. Esme asked, “Is it done yet? I’m in a hurry!”“Soon! Very soon, miss! Don’t you worry. It’ll be just a few minutes. I lack the full authorization so I have to talk to the higher-ups for access,” the manager said.Esme took a few tissue papers from her handbag to wipe off the sweat that was rolling off her face. A few mi
Sophia’s playful demeanor reminded Fia of her best friend, Eileen.“Sure, I’m down with it. But wouldn’t it be… sexual assault if you strip her butt naked?”“Nah, it’s fine. As an excuse, I can claim that I was merely trying to compare to see whose butts are thicker and prettier. Leave it to me!” Sophia patted her own chest and walked to Esme. She was not someone who liked to waste time.“Hey, Miss Thomas. Do you want to go to the washroom?” Sophia asked Esme with an earnest tone.Esme did not really want to go to the washroom. However, there was no news from Peter about the 300,000 dollar refund. So she thought going to the washroom was a good idea too because she could give him a call in a toilet cubicle.Ignoring Sophia, Esme asked the staff, “Is there a washroom nearby?”The staff said, “We have a staff washroom in this store. Usually we don’t allow customers to use it but we could allow you in as an exception today.”“Show me the way.” Esme did not bother to thank her.Sop
When she came back from the washroom, Esme was surprised to find a piano placed in the middle of the store with Conrad sitting nearby. She turned and looked at Conrad. “What are you doing here?”Conrad glanced at her coldly before sipping a cup of tea that was served to him by the store’s staff. “I’ve heard you are quite free lately. Were you learning piano?”Esme swallowed her saliva and scanned her surroundings with caution. Fia and Sophia were not in the vicinity. She was afraid that her secret would be uncovered if there was no mole on her bottom. So she asked Peter to manually plant one for her this morning. Sophia probably saw the mole when she pulled her pants down earlier. So her secret was still safe.Still, she did not understand why Conrad brought the piano over. “I had a friend who loves playing the piano. So I knew one thing or two about the piano… and I don’t want to do research anymore after coming back to Fortuna. So I tried learning to play instruments on my own
”Hang on… This song is called ‘Mariage d'amour’? Marriage?!” Sophia was pissed when she learned that. “What a shameless wh*re! What’s she doing, playing this song for our boss?!”She stood up from her seat, preparing to rush back to the store. “I can’t just sit by and let him be charmed by this b*tch! I’m going to beat her up!”Fia pulled her back to her seat and said, “They’re not facing each other alone. There are other staff members of the store there. Tiger’s over there too.”“Indeed. Tiger is a really good and disciplined man. He would definitely not allow Sir to succumb to her seduction,” Sophia answered. Fia nodded. She did not want to go back there either. If she was there, she would definitely feel dejected and disgusted. She hugged Sophia’s arm and asked, “Have you ever fallen for anyone before, Sophia?”Sophia shook her head, “No. I focus on my work all the time. I don’t have time for romance.”“Well, from the way you are, I believe you won’t allow yourself to be hurt
Esme was stunned upon hearing that. Maxwell Corporation is a place to do work and business, not for playing music. What did he mean by that?Was he really that fond of her piano skills? Or was he mocking her? She really could not tell. He and Britney Thomas were not enemies. He never liked to socialize with people but also never liked to cause trouble to others. “Mr. Maxwell, I don’t quite understand what you meant,” she said cautiously.Conrad took a glance at the manager and gave him an order, “From henceforth, our stores will not let Britney Thomas through the door and do business with her.”“Understood, sir.” The manager obliged immediately. Esme was glad to hear it. Did this mean that Conrad was frustrated when he saw her being indecisive to play piano at his company earlier? So his frustration burst into anger, which led to him banning her from shopping in his stores!Without giving it much thought, Esme said, “If you want me to play in your company, of course I will do i
“Maybe he accidentally did it out of anger because they were in a fight…”Peter didn’t have the time to explain to the onlookers around them as he quickly ran down the escalator and picked Esme up.“Mr. Hall…” Esme cried out to him in fear as she lay in his arms. She grabbed his hands tightly as she said, “My belly… It hurts…”Peter’s body tightened as he ran out with her in his arms, a grim expression plastered on his face. He mumbled, “Don’t worry. I’ll take you to the hospital right now.”“If… If I died… You’ll be free…” Esme mumbled with broken words as she extended her hand and held Peter’s face. Tears also began to fall as she continued, “But… I feel so sorry… for our child…”The memories of when he first met Esme appeared in his mind as he could no longer keep his cool.All his recent suspicion and anger toward her had disappeared.He simply wanted her to be alive.“Mr. Hall… I… I do love you. But after experiencing so many things… I have too much hate in me… I didn’t li
Tiger and Silas quickly got back to work. Meanwhile, Sophia was showing her displeasure at her boss’s actions.“You shouldn’t have been alone with that wh*re.”Conrad frowned and glared at Sophia. “You said you saw her mole. What color is it?”“What color could a mole be? Of course, it’s black!” Sophia grumbled.“The mole that’s on Britney isn’t black, it’s red!” Conrad said.“What?” Sophia was slightly stunned. “Who told you that?”Conrad didn’t want to continue the topic. “Locate Fia using her phone.”“…Sir.” Sophia quietly showed him Fia’s purse. “She doesn’t have her phone.”Meanwhile, after entering the alley and reaching another street, Fia took a taxi to Gryphonheart Hospital. Gryphonheart Hospital.Peter had just witnessed Esme getting sent into the surgery room. He waited outside, worried. With no one else to talk to, he gave his sister a call.“Sally, something happened to her.”Sally originally wanted to ignore her brother, but when she heard the worry and guilt