Adrian went back to the hospital with the herbal supplements and handed them to Doctor Arnold. Then, he made his way to Mr. Ben’s ward to discuss an important issue with him.Mr. Ben was stuffing his face with cookies when Adrian arrived. On noticing Adrian’s presence, he placed the cookies on his bedside table. “Adrian, you’re back.” He smiled at him. “A beautiful young woman had been keeping me company for a while. It’s not been long since she left.”Adrian nodded. He guessed the beautiful woman Mr Ben was talking about was Ashley. He took a seat on the chair next to Mr Ben’s bed and regarded him with a curious expression as he realized that he hadn’t seen any of his family members. “Mr Ben, what about your family members? How come they haven’t come to see you?”“Well,” Mr Ben began, his voice tinged with fondness. “My wife and daughters went to spend thanksgiving with my mother-in-law in her hometown. They should be back by next week.”“Oh, that explains it.” Adrian replied in unde
On Regina’s insistence, Adrian took her to Elegantè Couture, a high end boutique in Wibston to purchase the dinner gown. Regina gawked in awe as they stepped into the store. The atmosphere was lively as various high class men and women shopped to their heart’s content. The polished hardwood floor of the boutique glistened under the soft lighting and complimented the walls that were covered in neutral colored wallpapers. Her eyes darted towards the Dinner wear section. “Follow me,” she commanded Adrian as she made her way down the well-lit aisle.“Oh my,” Regina breathed, as she took in all the different gowns displayed beautifully on the clothing racks. Velvet, silk, and satin pieces shimmered in every direction and each gown had a tag displaying its price. Her hands hovered over a velvet sapphire blue dress which caught her eye and just as she was about to graze the fabric with her fingers, a young female attendant, wearing a white and blue uniform stopped her.“Ma'am, please refrai
Regina’s hands fidgeted nervously with the gown in her hands as she discovered its whooping price tag. “It costs seventy-five thousand dollars?! She shrieked, her voice echoing in the boutique and alerting the attention of customers who stared at her like she had gone crazy. To them, $75,000 was merely a trivial sum of money to feel so bothered about.Adrian stared amusingly at Regina’s wide eyes. She was probably feeling so unnerved because she had incurred astronomically more than the spending limit of $5000. “Ma’am, kindly reduce your voice.” The shop attendant said calmly. “You are disturbing our customers.Worry gnawed at the back of Regina’s mind. There was no way she could afford to pay such an amount for a dress, not when Anita was on a budget. How could she have been so careless? “The amount for the damages is $8000, so coupled with the cost of the dress, you would be paying a total amount of $83,000.” the shop attendant continued, completely oblivious to the raging tumult
Anita furrowed as she felt a headache coming on. Today was turning out to be one of the most stressful days of her life. “Mom, what on earth did you do to incite a debt of $83,000!” she scolded, her voice laced with exasperation. “I clearly told you not to not exceed $5,000. What do you mean Adrian has to take the blame and how did it bring about getting a divorce?”Regina flinched at the sharp tone of Anita’s voice. “Well,” she hesitated. “I accidentally ruined a dress worth $75,000 and I have to pay for it as well as damages of $8,000. Since your good-for-nothing husband can’t contribute a dime to help me out, then he should work for the store until he covers the amount of the debt or…he leaves you alone to marry someone capable.”“Work for the store?” Anita reiterated. “Do you even hear yourself, Mom? You’re the one who messed up, so why should he take the blame? I can’t believe you right now!”“B-but…he’s your husband.” Regina sputtered defensively. “It’s his responsibility to loo
Anita had just stepped into Elegantè Couture when her gaze landed on her mother and Adrian standing with three other people in the dinner gown section. She inched closer towards them just in time to hear a woman dressed in designer clothes and heavy makeup speak. “You have to promise to get him divorced from your daughter today. Only then will Jamie settle your debts.”“Excuse me?” A heavy frown settled on her face as she walked closer to them. “And why will I divorce my husband?”Anita’s words cut through the air and every head turned to her direction. Tatiana’s face was filled with surprise at first then morphed into admiration. Jamie’s jaw fell slack and his mouth became dry as he gawked at Anita while Tiffany’s gaze held a bit of envy as she took in her beauty.Regina was the first to react as she rushed to hold Anita’s hand. “Annie, you’re here. Well, we were just talking about how it would be better for you to divorce Adrian and marry his step-brother instead.”Regaining her com
Adrian casually returned to the boutique after transferring the $300,000 to the store’s bank account and was inwardly counting down to Tatiana, Tiffany and Jamie’s humiliation. When he got closer to them, he spotted the look of disbelief on Jamie’s face. “That’s not possible. Try it again.” Jamie sputtered as he urged the shop attendant to initiate the payment with his card after it had declined the first time. Adrian’s lips tugged up, it looked like Doctor Arnold had already executed his orders. ‘Let the show begin’ he mused.“The payment declined again, sir.” The shop attendant said calmly and Jamie broke out in a cold sweat. What was happening? His card had never declined before.Noticing the nervous expression on Jamie’s face, Tiffany frowned. “Babe, what’s going on? Is there something wrong with your card?”“Uh…it’s probably a defect or something.” Jamie scratched the back of his neck. “Let me try making use of bank transfer.” He took out his phone and logged onto his bank app bu
The air in the boutique crackled with a silent tension for a moment before everyone broke out in murmurs and whispers. “This is absolutely humiliating for these people. I would cover my head in shame if I were them.” “Being banned from the most luxurious boutique in Wibston? That’s truly too unfortunate.The customers remarked and gradually continued with their shopping, no longer concerned with the drama.Adrian hadn’t been this entertained in a while. He loved the way the manager had put Tatiana, Tiffany and Jamie in their place. It was so satisfying to behold.Jamie looked like a deer caught in headlights. Not only had his reputation been damaged, but he had lost face in the eyes of his girlfriend and her mother.Tatiana and Tiffany couldn’t bear the weight of the embarrassment they were facing. It was just too much.“Helen, I won’t forget this.” Tatiana gritted out, her tone laced with an underlying promise as she, Tiffany and Jamie were escorted out of the boutique, each led by
The next morning, Adrian had just woken up when his phone buzzed with a phone call from Jonah. “Good morning, young master,” Jonah greeted in his usual formal tone.“Jonah?” Adrian rasped, still groggy from sleep. “Why are you calling me so early?”“I apologize for the disturbance, young master. I just wanted to inform you that you have a meeting this morning with Gary Miller, the chairman of Miller Haven Real Estate,” Jonah explained. “They’re the company which developed one of the estates under your ownership and the reason for the meeting is to discuss further development plans.”Adrian yawned as he slowly processed Jonah’s words. “That’s fine. Text me the location of the company and…next time, can you give me more than a two-hour notice for a meeting?”“Yes, young master.” Jonah cleared his throat to conceal his laughter. “I won’t repeat such mistake…next time.”“Mmm…” Adrian grunted, then remembered that today was Lloyd Davies' birthday party. “Jonah, I need a suit that would be