Private Marriage, Secret Love-Chapter 147: The Most Miserable Mrs. Lancaster
Annabelle couldn’t hold back anymore. "I’ve never seen anyone so shameless."
"Alright, didn’t we say we were going to eat?"
"Raina, let’s go up there and tear her apart."
Raina put her phone back in her bag. She’d had it for several years, and it wasn’t worth fixing anymore. The system memory was always full, and she’d just been getting by, constantly deleting things to make space.
"Annabelle, please don’t get involved in my business. It won’t do you any good."
Annabelle still had vivid memories of what happened before, but she tended to forget the pain once the wound healed. She just couldn’t stand seeing Raina get bullied like this. "It’s still too early for dinner. They went to the second floor, so let’s start shopping on the fourth. Out of sight, out of mind."
Raina agreed. Seeing that she seemed to be in an okay mood, Annabelle carefully brought up Miles Hawthorne.
In a high-end women’s boutique, Annabelle held up two outfits against herself. "What do you think?"
"They’re nice."
"What about this one?"
"That one’s nice, too."
Annabelle walked over and pulled her up. "Don’t just sit there. Come try things on with me."
"I wear a uniform to work every day. It would be a waste to buy anything."
"What woman doesn’t like looking beautiful? I don’t believe you really don’t like it." Annabelle insisted on shoving a little black dress into Raina’s hands. "You have such a great figure. It’d be a waste not to wear this."
"This is way too revealing," Raina said, about to hang it back up.
A sales associate next to them chimed in encouragingly, "This dress is incredibly flattering. It would definitely look amazing on you. See, the waist has cutouts, and your waist is so slim. It’s perfect for you."
As they were talking, a "Welcome" sounded from the entrance. Gwen Sharp saw Raina at a glance and quickly stopped in her tracks. "Let’s try another store."
Ethan Lancaster saw her too. Gwen avoided Raina like the plague, afraid Ethan would think this was no chance encounter.
"Why another store? Let’s go in and take a look."
Another sales associate went to help them. Annabelle muttered under her breath, "Utterly shameless. A scumbag and his mistress. Ugh, disgusting."
Ethan sat down on a nearby sofa. Gwen stood there awkwardly, not wanting to try on any clothes at all, but the associate enthusiastically brought over several new arrivals for her to see.
Annabelle gave Raina a nudge. "Go try it on. You’re the only one who could pull that dress off. Go on, blow them away!"
She deliberately raised her voice, and sure enough, Ethan’s gaze was drawn over. He saw Raina holding a dress with nothing but a thin layer of mesh around the waist and thighs. Wearing it would be like wearing nothing at all.
The man unconsciously furrowed his brow. He pointed in Raina’s direction. "That dress. I’ll take it."
The sales associate looked over, embarrassed. "I’m sorry, sir, but we only carry one of each item in our store."
"Has she paid for it?"
"Well, no."
Ethan said to Gwen, "You have a standard figure. This dress will definitely fit you. Go try it on."
"Why?" Annabelle was absolutely furious. "Whoever gets it first, gets to keep it."
"Are you buying it?" 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚
Annabelle gritted her teeth and nodded. "Yes, we are."
Raina glanced at the price tag. It was enough to buy the newest iPhone downstairs. She handed the dress to the nearby sales associate. "Let her try it on."
"Raina, what are you doing?" Annabelle, in her agitation, lightly pinched Raina’s arm. ’How could she back down in a situation like this?’
Raina just felt there was no point in fighting over it. ’What’s the point of spending a fortune on a dress I’ll never wear? Isn’t that just a waste?’
Gwen took the dress and was led to the fitting room. The associate beside them felt very awkward. She guided Raina to the side. "Let me help you find something else."
"The world has really gone crazy," Annabelle said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "Men are always spending money on their women on the side like it’s water, but what about the wife at home? She has to pinch every penny, reluctant to even buy a new phone or a new dress. People are truly terrifying!"
A slight smirk played on Ethan’s lips. Someone brought over a glass of water and respectfully placed it on the table.
Gwen quickly changed and came out in the dress. The effect was just so-so, hardly stunning. Annabelle covered her mouth to hide a laugh. "A clumsy imitation."
Mortified, Gwen turned to go back to the fitting room, but Ethan spoke up. "It looks great. You’re wearing it for me, and as long as I’m satisfied, that’s all that matters."
Raina picked up a little white dress, just holding it in her hands for a look.
Ethan pointed at her again. "I’ll take the one in her hands, too."
"What do you mean by that?" Annabelle was about to explode with anger. Wasn’t this blatant bullying? And who the hell did that Gwen think she was, anyway?
"What do I mean? I just like it, that’s all."
Expressionless, Raina placed the dress into the hands of a nearby associate. Gwen took it and went back to the fitting room to change.
Some styles really didn’t suit her, but Ethan didn’t care. He pretended to casually flip through a magazine while keeping his eyes fixed on Raina, deliberately trying to embarrass her.
Gwen tried on several more items, and Ethan said he’d take them all.
Annabelle gritted her teeth, grabbed a blouse, and shoved it at Raina. "We’re buying it!"
’Even if I have to eat dirt, we’re buying it. I’ll even gift it to Raina. This is a matter of dignity.’
But Raina hung the blouse back up. She picked up a plaid blazer and looked at it. "This one’s nice."
"You have excellent taste. This one is entirely handmade. The highlight is this brooch, fully encrusted with diamonds..."
Annabelle glanced at the price and almost had a heart attack. This wasn’t something she and Raina could afford to buy just to make a point.
Raina held it up against herself. "Does it look good?"
"Y-yes... it looks good."
"I think it’s nice, too."
Ethan tilted his head to look. "That jacket is nice. We’ll take it."
Annabelle nearly coughed up a mouthful of blood.
Raina was now clearly provoked. She picked up several more items in a row. Seeing the anger on her face, Ethan became even more relentless. "Wrap them all up."
Gwen made out like a bandit. At checkout, the clothes were piled into a small mountain. Ethan swiped his card and signed, all in one smooth motion.
Annabelle was so angry she could grind her teeth to dust. He spent so much money without even blinking an eye, while the dignified Mrs. Lancaster couldn’t even try on a single dress. ’What a total scumbag!’
Ethan wrote down an address and told the staff to deliver everything there directly.
He started to walk out with Gwen. Annabelle was struggling to catch her breath when she saw Raina pick up an item and hand it to her. "Didn’t you like this one? Go try it on."
"Who’s in the mood to shop anymore?"
"What if it was fifty percent off? Would you buy it then?"
Annabelle scoffed. "Get real. A store like this never has sales."
"You can get it for fifty percent off." Raina shot a look at the sales associate not far away. "Right? We had a deal just now. If I could help you close a massive sale, you’d give us an employee discount."
"Yes, yes, yes!" The sales associate was grinning from ear to ear; that one sale had practically met her quota for the entire month. "Absolutely fifty percent off. Pick whatever you like."
