Memories Of The Night

As soon as Claire sees Katrina, she flashes a gentle smile on her face. "Come, Katrina," she says. "Let"s look around."

Claire takes Katrina to the most expensive and upscale shopping mall in the city, where various luxury brands from all over the world are gathered. All the prices are naturally high, no less than ten thousand dollars each.

Ordinary people wouldn"t dare enter the mall. Inside, the price of a simple skirt is equal to a year"s salary of an ordinary person, to the outrage of regular people.

Upper-cla.s.s people like Claire naturally need the highest and most expensive brands to match their status. It"s no surprise to Katrina that Claire must be used to shopping in these kinds of stores.

Since Claire invites her to go shopping, she follows the older woman into the store even though she can"t afford anything inside. I just won"t buy anything. I have enough clothes anyway, Katrina thinks as she trails behind Claire.

Meanwhile, Claire is content to enjoy herself.

The shopping mall is big enough, and each floor caters to a specific market. The ladies" section consists of elegant and fas.h.i.+onable clothes that are perfect for women in their forties and fifties like Claire.

Claire picks a fancy full-length black dress. After she finishes trying it on, she turns to Katrina and asks, "Katrina, how do I look?"

"The style is simple, but the cut is slimming and emphasizes your lovely figure," Katrina compliments. "Aunt Brook, you look great in it!"

"Since it looks good on me, I"ll take it," Claire decides before turning to the saleslady. "Pack it up, please."

The saleslady smiles and scans the dress before packing it. "That will be $39,000, madam."

Claire takes out her card without hesitation and carries the shopping bag to the next shop. She is keen on fitting items that catch her attention, asking for Katrina"s opinion now and then.

Katrina replies honestly without exaggerating, always going straight to the point. If it looks good, she will praise Claire. But if something doesn"t look right, she will point out the flaw in the item.

After two hours, Claire spends hundreds of thousands of dollars on clothes. It seems that in her eyes, the amount is not much at all, as long as it makes her happy.

But this is not the case for ordinary people. A regular person would be shocked to see such a scene.

Every time Claire pays the bill, she secretly observes Katrina"s reaction. Despite seeing the high prices on the tags, the string of zeros doesn"t seem to shock her. Katrina looks calm the whole time.

The scene puzzles Claire. Katrina cannot possibly afford to buy any of the clothes in the mall on her salary. Considering her usual consumption, she cannot afford to come to this kind of shopping mall.

But for some reason, she is able to remain calm throughout the whole day. In other words, she must have been to a fancy place like this before.

Who brought her? Claire wonders. The only possible person would be Marcellus.

Claire has privately investigated Katrina"s ident.i.ty and background.

Though Katrina is the adopted daughter of the Anderson family, she is not favored or accepted. They don"t give her money to spend as they do their own daughter. Her colleagues and friends, all ordinary people, can"t afford to bring her to a place like this.

But Marcellus is different, and he is her boyfriend. Because he loves her, he must spoil her and want to give her the best of everything. He must take her to upscale shopping malls and buy her expensive and beautiful clothes from luxury brands.

The realization makes Claire uncomfortable.

She wants Katrina to see the gap between her and the Brook family. She wants her to realize that she doesn"t deserve Marcellus and step aside.

But if she calmly accepts Marcellus taking her to fancy stores and buying her expensive clothes, there"s no chance that she will let go.

Now, she will hold on to Marcellus tightly and take the opportunity to marry him, to acquire endless wealth and glory to enjoy.

When Claire gave Katrina the diamond bracelet, she was completely unwilling to accept it. Her genuine refusal made her think that she was not a girl who could be tempted by money so easily.

Now it seems that Katrina is not unlike any other girl.

After buying clothes, Claire takes Katrina to the section for young ladies. Its collection is filled with more colorful and stylish clothes than those in the previous section.

Looking at the beautiful clothes in front of her, Claire smiles and says, "Katrina, which one do you want? If you like anything, I will buy it for you."

Fl.u.s.tered, Katrina waves her hands in refusal. "Thank you, Aunt Brook. But I have enough clothes."

"Come on," Claire urges, "You can"t accompany me the whole afternoon and buy nothing. If Marcellus finds out, he will think that I"m mistreating you. Go on, don"t be shy."

She picks up a white dress at random. "What do you think?"

The attendant standing nearby pipes in, "Madam, you have a delicious taste. This dress is the new item that our store just released yesterday. It"s a must-have in the latest collection."

Claire hands the dress to Katrina. "Katrina, try it on."

Katrina would be rude to refuse again. She obediently takes the dress to the fitting room.

As she puts on the dress, she notices the price tag. The five-figure price makes her heart tremble.

Katrina knows that five and six-figure clothes are nothing to the rich. When she was in Hadley and Aaron took her to the shopping mall to buy clothes, the high prices always shocked her, but this time is no surprise.

But Aaron forced her to accept the clothes back then. She can"t let Claire pay for this dress, or she will owe a huge favor that she cannot afford.

Although this may be just a simple dress to Claire that isn"t worth much, Katrina will feel guilty if she accepts it. She wouldn"t know how to return the favor.

I need to find a way out of this, Katrina thinks as she steps out of the fitting room in the dress.

Claire lights up at sight. "Katrina, you look so beautiful!" She turns to the attendant and says, "We"ll take it."