Quentin Grant said, his expression unchanged, "Some sights are meant to be appreciated with the heart, not just the eyes."
"Your fiancée told my mom that I set her up, and I got hit for it," she explained.
He turned his head to look at her. "She drank that drugged wine herself. Nora Ainsworth, you can choose to be the woman behind me, and I'll take care of her for you."
Nora Ainsworth knew what he meant. She fell silent, then asked, "What do you take me for?"
He was dismissive. "What do you think? I just see you as a woman named Nora Ainsworth, not as my fiancée's sister."
"I already agreed to be at your beck and call! What more do you want? You're taking this too far!"
"Is being at my beck and call the same as being my girlfriend?"
Nora Ainsworth felt his logic was completely flawed. In a huff, she turned her head to look out the window, ignoring him.
The car gradually drove into the bustling city, its neon lights a brilliant, intersecting mesh against the night. Seeing the lights, she immediately wrapped her arms tightly around herself.
He parked in front of a women's boutique that was still open, but he didn't get out. Instead, the window curtains were drawn shut. Even the front windshield was covered, plunging the small space into pitch darkness.
"Wh-what are you doing?"
Feeling him move closer, Nora grew anxious.
"Have you forgotten? How I risked everything to save you? How are you going to repay me?"
Nora's breathing grew ragged. As she felt him getting closer and closer, she hardly dared to breathe.
"You already took advantage of me and saw everything! Now you're trying to take a mile!"
"With a scrawny little body like yours, there's really nothing to see. Look at you, scared stiff."
He turned on the car's interior light and, sure enough, saw her eyes filled with resentment.
"Keep glaring at me and I won't buy you any clothes."
The threat worked. Nora certainly didn't want to go out naked. If the media snapped her photo and it hit the news, her already-bad reputation would be destroyed, and her life would become unbearable. She didn't want to suffer such a humiliation.
"I'll stop glaring. Just go buy them quickly, okay?"
He hummed. "Give me three kisses, and I'll go buy them right away."
Nora cursed him inwardly, 'Shameless scoundrel,' but had no choice but to obediently give in. She leaned over and gave his right cheek three kisses, and only then did he get out of the car.
She finally breathed a sigh of relief as she watched his retreating figure. He was an imposing man, well over six feet tall. A man like him was truly one of heaven's favorites: a privileged family background, devastatingly good looks, and a firm grip on the nation's retail market. From every angle, he possessed the ultimate weapons for attracting women.
In less than two minutes, he came out of the store carrying a set of clothes.
Opening the car door, he handed them to her. "Try this on."
Nora took it, but when she saw the price tag, she had to look several times to confirm that it really said 880,000.
"This dress is 880,000?"
"If you don't wear it, I'll return it."
The corner of her mouth twitched. "If you return it, does that mean I won't have anything to wear?"
"Of course."
She scrambled to put it on, asking as she did, "You're not going to make me pay you back for this, are you?"
He smiled without a word, finding her cautious expression quite genuine.
"Who was it just now who said we'd settle the cost of the clothes separately?"
Nora's hands froze. 'I really should have kept my mouth shut,' she thought. "Did I say that?"
'Are you kidding me? This is 880,000, not 88! Never mind that she lived frugally; even if she had 880,000, she would never buy a dress this expensive.'