Filed to story: Snatched a Billionaire to be My Husband Book (Cora & Byron)
The romantic atmosphere dissipated, and the uneasiness and sadness that had plagued Cora were replaced by a slight annoyance.
***
Soon enough, Saturday arrived, and both Cora and Sally had the day off.
Cora wanted to find another part-time job during her break. In the past, she had never worried about her livelihood, unaware of the true value of money.
But after the Lane family’s bankruptcy and the abandonment of her relatives and friends, Cora realized the significance of money more than ever. Hence, her focus shifted towards earning as much as possible.
Yet Sally offered her perspective.
“People have limited energy, Cora. Even if you’re in a rush to make money, you need to vent your anger and get this business done first, so you can better move on, right?”
With that, Sally dragged Cora to a luxury shop. This time, they were searching for a pair of high heels to pair with the dress they had previously chosen.
To their surprise, they encountered Mia at the shop. Mia was arm in arm with a beautiful woman and examining a pair of high heels.
“Jane, I’m so grateful you made that call for me,”
Mia patted the woman’s hand.
“Don’t mention it. But these heels are too high for you. You should be careful.”
“Don’t worry! You know I’m not really…”
Catching sight of Cora and Sally, Mia immediately stopped and became inexplicably flustered.
“Cora, Sally, are you here to buy shoes too?”
“Yes! Such bad luck,”
Sally snapped.
Seeing that Cora and Sally didn’t seem to notice anything from what she had just said, Mia breathed a sigh of relief and smiled, ignoring Sally’s provocation.
“Sally, you should really try to grow up and restrain your temper.”
Then she turned to the woman beside her.
“Let me introduce you. This is my best friend, Jane. She works in the cardiology department at your hospital. Jane, meet Cora and Sally. They just started their internship at First Hospital.”
Cora frowned. She had known several doctors in the cardiology department but had never seen this woman before.
Could she be the highly accomplished medical student that Matt had mentioned, who had skipped grades like her?
This woman was stunningly beautiful, with perfectly applied makeup that enhanced her features. She exuded an aura of tranquility, probably a perfect image of ‘first love’ in the eyes of a man.
Mia, standing next to her, looked like a clown in comparison.
While Cora assessed Jane, Jane was also observing her. With her delicate oval face and shimmering eyes, Cora emanated a gentle and pure charm, like a pristine water lily.
Yet her figure possessed a mesmerizing allure, combining purity and temptation, captivating any man who glanced at her.
In Jane’s eyes, besides a fleeting sense of amazement, there was also confusion. Cora’s demeanor and aura seemed reminiscent of someone, but she couldn’t quite place who it was.
Jane didn’t delve deeper into her thoughts, as there were countless people in the world who bore resemblances for no apparent reason.
However, she now understood why Mia had been so anxious and insistent on involving her in the preparations for the engagement. But none of this concerned her, so she greeted them gracefully.
“Hello, I’m Jane. We’ll be colleagues from now on,”
she said, extending her hand. Cora and Sally responded in kind.
With the notion of not making enemies among the hospital doctors during their internship, Sally decided not to further engage with Mia. She picked up a pair of shoes.
“Cora, try these on.”
The shoes were champagne-colored with a delicate ankle strap adorned with diamonds. They looked beautiful, but that would depend on who was wearing them. If the feet were on the wider side, the shoes could look rather tacky.
Mia ignored Sally and Cora and continued to look at the shoes she liked until the exclamation of a shopping assistant caught her attention.
“Oh my goodness, these shoes fit you as if they were tailor-made, miss!”
Unable to resist, Mia followed the shopping assistant’s gaze and saw Cora’s feet, perfectly complementing the shoes, each toe delicate and fair.
“Cora, buy them! Buy them! These shoes, paired with that dress, will make you the center of attention!
You’ll become a captivating weapon wherever you walk!”
In her excitement, Sally inadvertently revealed certain information.
Mia quickly caught onto the phrase ‘center of attention.’
So Cora would indeed be attending her engagement party tomorrow?
True, Mia had invited Cora, but she hadn’t intended for Cora to steal the spotlight!
She wouldn’t allow Cora to dress up beautifully and seduce Eason!
Eason was already indecisive, and if Cora were to captivate him and make him regret his engagement on the spot, where would that leave Mia and her family’s dignity?
Mia immediately handed her credit card to the shopping assistant, who had been marveling at the shoes on Cora’s feet.
“I’ll take this pair. Pack them for me!”
The shopping assistant felt awkward.
“These shoes are a limited edition, and we only have this one pair…”
“Mia! What’re you doing?! You’ve stolen Cora’s fianc?, and now you want to steal her shoes too?”
Sally snapped.
She had been dragging Cora around for days to finally find a pair that caught their eye, and now Mia wanted to snatch it away again? Her fiery temper flared up instantly.
“Steal? You don’t even have the money to buy these shoes,”
Mia sneered at Cora and Sally.
“Who says we don’t have the money?!”
Sally staked her dignity and, ignoring Cora’s tugging at her sleeve, handed her own credit card to the shopping assistant.
Even if she had to live on a shoestring budget for the next few months, Sally would make sure Cora outshone Mia at the engagement banquet!
Little did they know that while they were caught up in the commotion over a pair of shoes, a car had parked across the street.
The window rolled down, revealing Byron’s handsome face.
Carter, sitting in the driver’s seat, reported,
“Mr. Hansen, Miss Lane is in the shoe store, but…
Miss
Yoris also happens to be there.”
Like others, Carter believed that Byron and Jane’s engagement was a done deal, so he reminded
Byron, wanting to avoid any unnecessary conflicts and misunderstandings.
But Byron asked,
“What does it matter to me if she’s there or not?”
Carter frowned, sensing that there was more to Byron’s words.
Byron didn’t say anything more, just gazing at the shoe store across the street.
Through the glass window, Cora and Sally’s trouble was clearly observed.
Byron lightly tapped his fingertip against the car window, his aloof gaze incomprehensible.
Mia looked angry and had even thought about ruining those shoes until the shopping assistant finished processing Sally’s card and said,
“Apologies, miss, but your card’s credit limit is not sufficient…”
Mia instantly rejoiced, exclaiming,
“See?! I KNEW they couldn’t afford it!”
Sally’s face turned ashen.
“How much are these? I can pay with a card plus cash!”
“Seven thousand. Limited editions can be more expensive than others,”
the shopping assistant explained.
Seven thousand…
Sally frowned. With her credit card limit and cash combined, she only had around four thousand.
Cora whispered,
“It’s okay, Sally, let’s go.”
Sally really didn’t want Cora to always lose to Mia, but her wallet simply couldn’t help them much.
Seeing Cora and Sally turn around to leave, Mia was even more convinced that they didn’t have the money to buy those shoes.
“If you can’t afford them, stop making a fool of yourselves! Take them off and hand them over,”
she taunted.
Though Jane didn’t join in, she observed the scene with cold indifference. Clearly, she also held disdain for Cora and Sally, considering them lowly people without money.
Cora felt utterly embarrassed, but she had no choice but to take off the shoes.
Seeing Cora squatting down to remove the shoes, Sally couldn’t stop blaming herself for her rashness.
However, right at that moment, a cool male voice rang out,
“No need to take them off. Just wear them.”
Cora’s gaze shot up in shock as she saw Carter standing before her, still wearing his poker face.
She remembered what Byron had mentioned during their video call about returning on Saturday.
Personally, Cora had nothing to do with Carter, and Carter didn’t seem like someone who would meddle. Byron must have sent him here.