Chapter 175 Not Everyone Is Interested in Their Ex
Francis wore a black coat over his meticulously tailored suit, exuding an innate air of nobility.
The girl beside him clung to his arm intimately, which made them look like a couple.
Their eyes met briefly, but Francis's gaze was indifferent. He quickly looked away from Harper and focused on Lily.
"Go and take a look."
Lily also saw Harper and felt a bit uncomfortable recalling their previous encounters. However, Francis's gentle and doting voice made her happy again.
She wandered around the store but didn't find anything she liked. Instead, she stared at Harper's outfit for a long time.
She asked the sales assistant, "Do you have that outfit?"
The sales assistant smiled and said, "This is a custom piece; there's only one of each design."
Lily pouted. She usually liked bright colors, and this dark green seemed unremarkable. But it looked stunning on Harper.
Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Francis's unwavering gaze on Harper, which made her unhappy.
She didn't want to compete with someone over a piece of clothing, so she took Francis's arm and was about to leave.
But the sales assistant, who was sharp, glanced at Lily and then at Harper, her eyes darting back and forth.
Lily's outfit, shoes, and bag were all custom-made, which clearly marked her as a wealthy young lady.
And the man beside Lily, with his demeanor, was undoubtedly a man of high status, based on the sales assistant's ten years of experience.
The lady who looked great in the outfit had already indicated she didn't want to buy it, likely because she couldn't afford it.
After all, the coat alone cost over a hundred thousand dollars, not something everyone could afford.
So, her sales performance would likely depend on Lily.
She called out to Lily, smiling, "Miss, please wait a moment. I'll ask that lady to take it off for you to try. Is that okay?"
Lily was taken aback. She hadn't intended to humiliate anyone, but since she offered, she agreed.
And Francis's deep gaze at Harper made her extremely jealous.
He had never looked at her that way.
Lily stopped, lifted her chin, and said, "Fine, have her take it off. I won't try it on; I'll buy it for our housekeeper."
That was quite a harsh remark.
Francis's long eyebrows furrowed slightly as he glanced at Lily, his expression unreadable.
The sales assistant beamed and turned to Harper, saying, "Could you please take it off now?"
Molly's head nearly exploded.
What was going on?
This was outright bullying Harper in front of her!
And that woman wanted to buy it for her housekeeper? How arrogant!
She asked the sales assistant, "What do you mean? Did we say we wouldn't buy it?"
The sales assistant looked at Harper. "This lady just said she didn't want it."
"We'll take it." Molly pulled out her card to pay, but Harper tried to stop her but failed.
Molly had already handed the card to the sales assistant, looked disdainfully at Lily clinging to Francis, and scoffed internally, 'The man Harper didn't want is so cherished by this woman.'
The sales assistant gave Lily an apologetic look and went to process the payment.
But soon, she returned to Molly, and said somewhat impatiently, "Sorry, your card has insufficient funds."
Molly realized she had grabbed the wrong card, as it was a different black card from another bank.
She awkwardly said, "Not this one."
She reached for another card, but Harper stopped her.
Harper shook her head. "Molly, don't. I don't want it."
Competing with Francis, who could easily buy an entire mall, over a piece of clothing felt humiliating.
Harper was practical and had no interest in such trivial matters.
She quickly changed out of the outfit and handed it to the sales assistant.
Molly was frustrated, but since Harper insisted, she couldn't argue further.
As they were about to leave the store, they saw Lily pointing to a large section of clothes and saying, "Francis, I want all of these, okay?"
Francis responded indifferently.
Lily smiled sweetly. "Thank you, Francis. You're so good to me."
Francis replied, "As long as you're happy."
Francis's words were particularly gentle, which made Harper momentarily dazed.
Her memory flashed back to the last time he had gripped her waist, forcing her to moan with a fierce tone.
He seemed like a completely different person now.
She smiled silently and realized that his affection could be given to anyone if he wanted.
Lily glanced haughtily at Molly as she walked by.
The next moment, she suddenly stood on tiptoe and kissed Francis on the cheek, saying happily, "Of course, I'm happy."
The sudden gesture made Harper pause, then she turned her head away, and withdrew her gaze indifferently.
Molly's temper flared up again.
She was about to confront Lily when Harper pulled her back and shook her head to signal Molly not to act impulsively.
Molly held back but glared at Francis as they passed by.
Molly blurted out, "Douchebag!"
Outside, Molly fumed for a long time and criticized Francis's quick transition.
She said, "It seems Francis is quite invested in this new fling. He even personally accompanied her shopping. But it's probably because of her status; the Sullivan family has been doing well in the new energy sector recently."
Harper wasn't interested in their affairs.
Molly noticed and asked, "If you don't feel like shopping, should we go home?"
Harper said with a smile, "No, let's keep going."
Molly rarely invited her out, and she didn't want to spoil her mood.
In the brand store, Lily was leaving her delivery address.
The female sales assistant, holding a cup of coffee, handed it to Lily with a smile.
Lily was about to take it when Francis suddenly walked over and asked, "Are you done?"
Lily was startled and missed the cup, spilling it on the floor.
The sales assistant hurriedly apologized, and Lily waved it off, acknowledging it was her own mistake and not wanting to get angry.
Francis suddenly spoke, "Who's your manager?"
A male manager approached and bowed respectfully. "Sir, how can I assist you?"
Francis glanced at the female sales assistant and said coldly, "I'm not satisfied with her service."
The sales assistant panicked and said, "Sir, I didn't do it on purpose."
She looked pitifully at Lily and knew it wasn't her fault.
Lily was also taken aback and pleaded, "Francis, I'm fine."
Before she could finish, Francis's sharp gaze swept over the manager. "How did your store get into this commercial building with this service?"
The manager quickly apologized, "Sir, how would you like us to handle this?"
"Fire her," Francis said and turned to leave.
The sales assistant was stunned. She had just closed a big sale and now felt like a bucket of cold water had been dumped on her.
She was on the verge of tears and wanted to chase after him for an explanation, but the manager stopped her.
The male manager said, "This customer's card is a top-tier black card. I'll send today's service video to headquarters for evaluation. You should go home for now."
Lily's face also darkened. She felt that Francis wasn't standing up for her.
It seemed more like he was taking out his frustration on the sales assistant for a woman who was not her.
She quickly caught up with Francis and was just about to reach for his arm when Francis turned his head, his cold gaze piercing her as he said sternly, "I don't like being touched. Don't let it happen again."
Instantly, Lily's eyes reddened. His words felt like a slap in the face, stinging deeply.
She hadn't actually kissed him; when she was about to touch his face, Francis had quickly dodged. To avoid embarrassment, she had made some noise, but it ended up displeasing Francis.
Francis didn't wait for her and strode forward.
Lily composed herself and jogged to catch up.
Today's shopping trip was something Ryan had worked hard to arrange for her today's shopping. She didn't want to mess it up.
On the first floor, Harper and Molly were browsing the cosmetics counters.
After a while, Molly said she needed to use the restroom, so Harper wandered nearby.
After a few steps, she spotted a wallet on the ground.
It was made of pure black leather with initials on it, and she immediately recognized the owner.
Harper didn't want to pick it up at first, but thinking about the personal information it might contain, and the potential threat if someone like Francis had his privacy leaked, she decided to pick it up and hand it to the service desk.
But after a few steps, she saw Francis standing by the railing, on the phone, with Lily nowhere in sight.
She walked up and, out of habit, tugged on his sleeve.
She was about to speak, but before she could, Francis impatiently shook her off.
"Don't touch me," he said angrily.
Francis's action caught Harper off guard.
His strength was terrifying, and Harper, unprepared, was thrown to the ground, the wallet flying out of her hand.
Her palm stung with pain, and Harper winced, feeling the skin had likely been scraped. Her ankle throbbed with sharp pain, probably twisted.
Francis turned, still looking annoyed, but his expression changed when he saw Harper on the ground.
He reached out, but before he could touch her, Molly, just out of the restroom, rushed over and pushed him away.
She had seen Francis throw Harper to the ground and was furious.
Molly glared at Francis and shouted, "Francis, you're such a jerk! How can you push her even after divorce?"
At that moment, Francis's face turned pale. He wanted to approach, but Molly blocked him.
Lily, just out of the restroom, heard Molly call Harper Francis's mysterious ex-wife and was shocked.
She was afraid that Harper could make Francis change his mind.
After all, Harper was indeed stunningly beautiful.
She rushed over and shouted at Molly, "What makes you push him?"
Molly, feeling sorry for Harper, retorted, "I'll push this scumbag all I want."
Lily looked at Harper with disdain and said, "So you're Francis's ex-wife? How shameless can you be? You're divorced, yet you keep showing up at his office. I hope you can have some self-respect and stop clinging to him. It's pathetic."
Amidst the noise, Harper felt dizzy for a moment.
The scene before her seemed to rewind and froze at the time when Francis had treated her this way for Chloe.
She squinted and stared at him for a long time.
At this moment, Francis overlapped with that past image.
It turned out Francis had never changed; she was the one who had been foolish.
Molly sneered, "Nonsense. The man you cherish is just trash Harper discarded. But such a disgusting man suits you perfectly!"
Their argument drew the attention of almost everyone in the mall.
"Molly, stop."
Harper's voice suddenly cut through, not loud but enough to silence the quarrel.
She limped forward, picked up the wallet, handed it to Lily, and said with a faint smile, "He dropped his wallet. I picked it up to give it back. Don't misunderstand us; not everyone is interested in leftovers."
With that, she pulled Molly away and left without a glance at Francis.
Harper's feet hurt, making her walk stiffly, but she didn't want anyone to see her distress, so she tried to walk steadily.
As she walked away, Francis's face darkened ominously.
Lily handed him the wallet and muttered, "Francis, your ex-wife's friend is so fierce. It seems your ex-wife isn't any better. It's a good thing you divorced her."
She felt a chill and looked up to meet Francis's cold, dark eyes.
"Lily, who are you to be so presumptuous?"
His voice was devoid of emotion, making Lily shiver.
She stammered, "Francis, I..."
Francis didn't want to hear her speak, his gaze icy. "She never clung to me; I clung to her."
Lily's face turned pale, her heart shattering, her voice trembling with tears.
Lily said, "Francis, how can you say that? Ryan said I was to be your wife."
"It's not up to him."
Francis, who was uninterested in her, took his wallet and said coldly, "Leave. I don't want to see you again."
Upon seeing Harper's swollen ankle at the entrance of Centurion Tower, Molly was furious and began cursing Francis..
She knew the more Harper walked, the worse it would get, so she helped her to the entrance, saying, "I'll get the car. Wait here."
As dusk fell, the streetlights flickered on.
Harper stood at the entrance, feeling a complex mix of emotions.
Suddenly, she felt something cool on her face. She touched it and realized it was a tear.
Before she could think more, Molly's car lights appeared.
Panicking, she quickly wiped her tears away.
In the car, Molly tried to cheer Harper up with funny stories and lighten the mood.
"That car behind us, doesn't it look like Francis's?"
Molly said, glancing at the rearview mirror.
Harper looked and saw a silver luxury car behind them.
But with the streetlights casting shadows, she couldn't see who was inside.
Francis had many cars and often switched them so that she couldn't be sure.
Molly couldn't see clearly either and decided to ignore it.
She reminded Harper, "Harper, I can't stay with you tonight. Lock your doors and be careful, okay?"
"Okay." Harper nodded.
Just then, her phone chimed.
It was a message from Keith, asking about the book translation.
Harper had no recollection of Keith mentioning this.
She glanced at the silver car behind them, her mind racing, and replied, "Are you free now? I want to discuss something with you at my place."
Keith quickly replied, "Sure, I'm nearby. I'll be there in five minutes."
"Wait for me at the entrance," Harper replied.
After arriving at her apartment, Molly left.
Harper went upstairs and saw Keith waiting at the door. She opened it and said with a smile, "Come in."
Keith had just sat down when Harper accidentally spilled coffee on him.
Then, Harper looked at him and asked, "Do you want to take a shower?"
Log in with Google Account
Chapters
Favorite
Settings
