Chapter 17 - Shopping Spree

Lina walked hand in hand with Wade and stood at the center of the mall.

She turned around and saw the different names of luxury brands from all over the world.

"Wow!" Was all that she could say.

Wade was happy looking at her spellbound reaction.

"I brought you here because I know that you would like this place. This place has all the brands that you frequent."

He said with a 'I know you the best' look.

The mall was called 'Phoenix Mall'. It was the go to place for all the rich aristocrats because to enter the mall they needed a membership card.

This membership card was both limited and expensive even for the top families.

But many of them splurged on getting the membership because they could find every famous luxury brand here.

They also loved exclusive things that they could show off.

"How did you get your hands on them?" She would have doubted the authenticity of the card, but they were let into the mall without any complications.

"I know you won't spend so much money for the card. Did you steal it?" She whispered, looking around if someone heard her.

Wade just pushed the black card into her hands.

"My name is etched into the card, who would I steal it from?" He rolled his eyes.

"How did you get your hands on them?" She asked, admiring the beautiful black card.

"My friend owns the mall, so he gave me the card. But I rarely use it. Now that you are here, you can use it anytime." Wade shrugged.

"Wow! Your friend sure is generous.Thank you, I'll make good use of the card." She put the card in her pocket.

She clung to his arms and dragged him to the first clothing store that caught her eye.

The store had *NEO* written on it.

She pushed the door in and entered, she glanced around to see the type of clothing available.

The shopping assistant who was sitting at the reception area, ran up to the new customer who had entered.

She blushed when she saw Wade's handsome face.

'Concentrate on the woman!' She admonished her behavior.

"Good day ma'am, how can I help you?" She spoke in a polite tone.

"I'm just looking around. I'll call you if I need something." She smiled and walked to the clothes displayed.

The assistant was disappointed that she couldn't look at Wade from a short distance and walked away silently.

Wade sat on the couch provided and stared at Lina who was seriously deciding what to buy.

Lina walked through the store and then calling the assistant, she pointed to the violet dress that immediately grabbed her attention.

"Ma'am, you have a really good eye for fashion. This is one of our best pieces. Let's get you to the trial room so that you can try it out." The excited assistant guided Lina to the room.

'This dress may look ordinary just being displayed on the mannequin, but this is one of the best designs that boss made! He even personally stitched this dress.' She was lost in her thoughts as she waited for Lina outside.

After a few minutes, Lina walked out of the dressing room, clad in the violet dress.

The dress ended just above Lina's knees. Not too conservative yet not too slutty. Just the right length that she was comfortable in.

The dress completely covered her neck and had silver sequins which made it look like she had an intricate necklace on.

The round neck dress had loose slit sleeves which made it look comfortable and glamorous at the same time.

Satisfied with the assistant's surprised expression, she walked to show the dress to Wade who was fidgeting with his phone.

He looked up when Lina cleared her throat.

"Not bad. Not too short and doesn't expose much skin. We'll take it." Happy with how the dress looked on her, he turned and ordered the assistant.

"You're paying!" She then gave a mischievous smile and turned around.

The smile on Wade's face immediately fell when she turned to walk to the dressing room.

Before she could even take a step further, she was stopped.

"Stop right there! You aren't going to buy this dress!" He said.

"But why? You just agreed!" Lina argued.

"That was before I saw the back of the dress! Or should I say the lack of the back of the dress." He showed an evil smile.

The dress was completely backless and only had a few strings to hold it in place at her lower back.

"Did you think you could fool me by covering your back with your hair? I can even see your entire tattoo from here!" He said as she too turned around to look at herself in the mirror placed nearby.

Lina saw the beautiful tattoo on her back, a lone wolf standing on a cliff, howling at the moon.

It covered her entire back and took her 3 sessions of 6 hours each to get that tattoo done, with Wade right next to her holding her hand the entire time.

Wolves symbolize power and the ability to withstand even the harshest conditions to survive.

She thought that it was very touching and got the tattoo on her 21st birthday.

"You don't know how guys will look at you with so much skin showing!" He continued when he saw her lost in thought.

"Do you seriously expect me to cover up just so that guys don't stare? They will do that even if I walk around covered from head to toe!" She was a little angry at him.

'I know he has good intentions but this is starting to piss me off!'

"How about this? I'll wear this only when I go out with the family. Is that fine?" She tried to work with him.

"Fine." Though he was reluctant, he agreed to her condition.

'Psych! I lied! I'll just make sure you don't know about it.' She then laughed like an evil scientist in her mind.

Lina soon took off the dress and gave it to be packed. It didn't need any alterations as the dress fit her perfectly.

Looking at the bill that was given to her, she saw the amount and quickly passed it to Wade.

"You promised to pay!"

Shaking his head, he handed over his credit card to the lady at the reception.

'6 million for a simple dress? This is daylight robbery!!" Weeped Wade, while looking at his card being swiped.

'I don't even spend this much for months and she already spent it in an hour!'

"Spendthrift" He mumbled.

"I heard that!"

Then she walked out the door, leaving Wade the job to carry her shopping bags.

---

She walked around for some time and bought everything that her eyes were attracted to.

Lina rarely went shopping, but when she did , she always did it right. She bought whatever she wanted and did not care about the bill.

'Perks of being rich.' She thought just like a typical rich kid.

Walking to the next floor, she saw a jewelry store. Being a jewelry designer herself, she wanted to scope out her competition.

She looked up and saw the name *TALIA'S*

'Maybe that's the designers name?' She thought then turned to see that Wade had given the job of carrying the bags to one of the shopping assistants present at the mall and was busy on a call.

He saw Lina stop and look at him.

"You carry on, I'll catch up with you." He mouthed the words and Lina nodded then entered Talia's.

She moved about the glass displays and was about to touch one which had a pearl set inside.

"May I help you?" Came an arrogant voice from behind.

Stopping the hand which was about to touch the glass, Lina frowned.

'I don't like the tone she just used.' Lina then turned to look at the young saleswoman standing in front of her with her head held high.

'Is something wrong with her neck?' Lina tilted her head adorably but her move was misunderstood by the saleswoman.

'She thinks she can act cute in front of me? Looking at her clothes she looks like she doesn't belong here. That cute move of hers might work on her sugar daddy but not on me. Hmpf!' The woman judged her, looking at her from top to bottom.

'Oh I get it now! She's judging me for my clothes. The previous store's saleswoman did not give me such looks so I thought it would be the same here. Maybe I was wrong.' She shook her head.

'But I'm wearing all branded clothes which might even be more expensive than a few pieces in this store!! It isn't my fault that she doesn't have an eye for fashion.' She then rolled her eyes.

The belt she wore itself was more expensive than the pearl set she just saw.

The saleswoman's eyes darkened when she saw Lina shaking her head and then rolling her eyes.

"If you don't have anything to do here, please leave! We don't entertain people who can't purchase our pieces. What if you damage them? Can you even pay for them? Looking at your clothes I think the answer is No!" She ranted.

'Damage the pieces that are placed inside the glass barrier? Is she dumb?' Lina looked at her with a weird expression.

Her loud voice attracted the manager's attention.

"What's wrong, Sophia?" Said the Lady in her mid thirties

"Manager, this lady tried to touch the display but when I tried to explain to her our store's policy of not touching them, she started throwing a tantrum and threatened me." Sophia, the saleswoman immediately cooked up a story.

'Now that's the type of people needed in the film industry as screenwriters. What is she doing here, selling jewelry? She isn't even doing a good job at it!' Lina thought.

From the corner of the store, someone was watching everything that was happening, secretly.