At first, I thought it was love, but after a long period of time, I observed that it could be a form of dependence. Anthony took care of her for many years. She was used to being the only woman that he cared about. When this attention towards her had diminished, she could not take it.
Emery had already selected a few sets of clothing when I walked in. She raised a brow and asked, “Did she threaten you?”
I gave a light smile. Eyeing the new clothes that she put on, I inquired, “Didn’t you say you wanted to buy some jewelry? Why are you shopping for clothes instead?”
She shrugged and scrutinized her reflection in the mirror. “I have noticed lately that my wardrobe is understocked. Besides, even though K City is cold, this should not prevent me from being my beautiful self.”
I smiled at what she said. Throughout our whole lives, we girls have been relentlessly pursuing beauty. From being cute as a child to becoming sexy as an adult. As we approach middle age, we evolve once more to become intellectual and graceful. At each stage, women exude different forms of beauty.
After helping her select her clothes for a while, she noticed that I did not intend to get anything for myself. She lifted the corners of her mouth into a smirk and poked fun at me. “I guess Anthony’s vast amount of wealth was accumulated by you being prudent?”
I paused for a bit and shook my head. “No, I just don’t really like buying new clothes. Besides, I have enough of them at home.”
My criteria for clothing was so long as they were sufficiently warm, I didn’t really care about anything else.
Emery was speechless. “You are lucky Anthony protected you well. Otherwise, the media would have recognized you right away as Mrs. Featherstone and criticized your abysmal taste in fashion.”
She wasted no time in picking out a few outfits from the latest collection and ordered, “Go try these now.”
“No, thank… “ My feeble rejection barely got out of my mouth before I was forcefully interrupted by her. “You came out to shop, and you’re not buying anything. Just what are you thinking?”
“But I really don’t need it!” During my four years in R Province, I had already gotten used to wearing one outfit for many years. The joy derived from shopping was not exactly that gratifying for me.
Emery snorted in disapproval. “I suspect that you are not even a woman. A woman’s wardrobe will always be lacking something. Stop dawdling, go get changed!”
Knowing very well I could not win against her, I entered the fitting room and tried on whatever she had picked out for me.
It was a knitted top and a pair of casual trousers. Maybe because I had lost weight, the trousers seemed kind of loose.
Noticing that I was taking a long time, Emery asked, “Are you done yet?”
I opened the door and tucked the top into the trousers. She inspected the ensemble, approved of it, and said, “There! This would be perfect with a camel toe coat. Your long hair can be tied up too.”
With that, she reached out and put my hair into a topknot.
Emery was 170 cm in height, and she was wearing heels, which made her way taller than I was.
After she was done with my hair, she snapped her fingers to summon the sales assistant. “I’m buying those outfits that I selected earlier along with this one. Also, please throw away the clothes that she just changed out of. Thank you!”
I was startled and exclaimed with disbelief, “I can still wear them!”
She gave a nonchalant shrug, and said, “I know, they were all signature garments from high fashion brands a few years ago. However, they are all outdated by now, but you’re still wearing them. Isn’t it better to just wear the latest ones?”
I was speechless.
Those clothes were bought by Anthony four years ago and kept in the previous villa. After I came back from R Province, he had ordered Joseph to get me new clothes, but since this outfit was comfortable, I just wore it all the time and didn’t really think of being fashionable.
After hearing Emery’s comments, I realized that I was indeed quite out of style.
Therefore, I complied with her wishes and bought many things. Right now we had a bit of a problem. I came over by taxi, and she had driven here by herself without a driver.
Looking at the assortment of big and small bags, we were at a loss as to what to do. She considered our situation for a while, whipped out her phone, and called Hunter.
Had I not heard her speaking so gently, I would not have believed that a tough woman like Emery could be as meek as a lamb when speaking to the one she loved.
“Hunter, I am at the mall in the city center. Please come over. There are too many bags and I can’t carry all of them!”
I looked at the bags around us. Women are so dramatic sometimes. It’s just clothes and jewelry. Sure, there’s quite a lot, but it’s actually manageable.
She hung up and noticed that I was looking at her weirdly. “Women need to show weakness at appropriate times,” she pouted, “it’s not that I can’t carry the bags. It’s only because I have him now. So sometimes I can’t open water bottles, lift heavy things, or walk over rain puddles.”
I chuckled at her confession. It seemed that in a relationship, women were the nurturers, while men were the providers.
Seeing that I was spaced out, she blinked a few times and made another call.
“Mr. Featherstone, are you done with work?” The words she uttered successfully brought me back to attention.
I widened my eyes at her. How could she call Anthony?
She ignored my penetrative stare and continued, “The mall in the city center, come and help us carry our things.”
She was the only one who dared to say something like this to him.
She hung up and looked at me with a raised brow. “Mr. Featherstone said he will be here in ten more minutes.”
I was quite amazed at her. After giving her a thumbs up, I found a place to sit down.
Relief enveloped me as I sat down after a long period of walking. Emery started massaging her feet as she plopped down next to me wearing her heels. “I’m not wearing these again next time. My feet are killing me!”
“You can just wear heels that are 5 cm or 7 cm. Wearing heels that are too high will hurt your feet no matter how good the shoes are,” I said.
She tilted her head, propped her chin in one of her hands, and suddenly started laughing. “Sienna, when did you start to consider me a friend?”
“Aren’t we friends now?” I replied blankly.
She shook her head. “No,” she said, “when I told you my feet hurt, you would just brush me off if we were true friends.” She continued, “Instead, you just calmly gave me a suggestion. This shows that you think of me as an acquaintance and not a true friend.”
I was a little dazed. I recalled Macy liked to wear heels. We weren’t rich at that time, and the only pair of heels she had was very high. Hence, it was a pain to wear. Whenever she could no longer walk due to the pain, I would buy her a pair of slippers from a roadside booth. I would be making fun of her while forcing her to change into the slippers. She would change her shoes but complain that they did not suit her classy demeanor.
Thinking about it now made me feel as if these incidents happened ages ago, yet it also felt as if they just occurred not too long ago.
I stood up and said to her, “Just sit here and wait for me.”
There were a variety of choices in the mall. Very soon I was back with a shoebox in my hand. I handed it to her and said with a faint smile, “I have taken note of your shoe size just now. Size thirty-seven should be just nice.”
I could see that she was momentarily stunned. She took the box, opened it, and looked back at me with incredulity in her eyes. “You bought this for me?”
I nodded. “Although I do not know which design you prefer, I think it can still match your outfit. It isn’t from a major brand, but it should still be wearable.”
Her shoes cost an arm and a leg. Truthfully, I was a bit reluctant to spend that amount of money. Ever since I returned from R Province, I had not been working. I did not use the credit card Anthony gave me at all. Instead, I was using my own savings. I intended to get a part-time job after becoming a postgraduate student. This way, my usual expenses would not become a problem.
Emery changed into her new shoes, and her amusement was apparent. “Did you know this, Sienna? You are the first woman to buy me shoes,” she said.
“My brother is a straight man, so he has poor taste. I always buy my own shoes and never allowed him to buy shoes for me. After that, I met Hunter, who is a hopeless straight male as well. For as long as I’ve lived, you’re the only one who has ever bought me shoes.”
I smiled lightly. The two elders of the Moore family were always overseas. Emery was the youngest daughter of the Moore family, so she did not know much about the Moore family’s actual situation.
She only knew that she was siblings with Zachary. As for the rest, she did not really know anything.
“You should just wear this for now, as long as it doesn’t cause pain while walking,” I said. As I looked up, I immediately noticed Anthony among the crowd. With his towering figure dressed in all black and unrivaled handsome features, he demanded the attention of all the shoppers in the mall.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.
Leave a Reply