Chapter 81


    Chapter 81: Glowing


    Moana


    I was still utterly shocked that Edrick wanted to take me out shopping so soon after the tabloid incident,


    but the next morning, he was waiting for me in the living room when I came out of my room. He was


    dressed well, although much more casually than normal in a white Polo shirt and trousers. He had a


    mask and a pair of sunsses in his hand, and I realized that he would be mostly unrecognizable


    dressed like this in public with his face covered.


    As I walked up to him, however, I noticed that he had a second mask in his hand. He held it out to me.


    “You’ll have to wear this,” he said. “Now that people have seen your face, you’ll have to be more


    cautious in public.”


    Admittedly, I felt a little bit hurt that we still had to be so secretive, but I finally understood where he was


    coming from and took the mask without fuss. As we walked over to the foyer, I also made sure to grab


    my sunhat along with my purse; the hat would cover my easily recognizable hair, at least a little bit.


    Edrick seemed pleased with this decision, and we put our disguises on before we even stepped out of


    the elevator in the lobby. With his mask and sunsses on and dressed so casually, he really did look


    like apletely different person.


    Edrick drove us to a shopping mall that I had never been to — a different one from before. This one


    wasn’t an outdoors strip mall like the one that he took me to for baby supplies, but was rather arge


    indoor mall. As we stepped through the big ss doors, I felt awed by the massive fountains, lush


    greenery, and big ss ceilings. All of the other people walking around seemed to be wealthy; even the


    groups of teenagers strutting around were dressed impably well in designer clothing, and I felt


    rather out of ce in my simple dress and sandals.


    Edrick and I walked around for a bit before stopping at a children’s clothing store first. The prices were


    expensive, so I only picked out a few things: a simple cotton dress, a light sweater since summer would


    being to an end soon, and a few little onesies for the baby. Edrick was mostly quiet the entire time,


    asionally wandering off to look at some things on his own before returning to me. When I was


    finished, I approached the counter and dug into my purse for my wallet.


    “I’ll pay,” Edrick said, pulling his wallet out of his pocket and extracting his ck credit card from one of


    the slots.


    I shook my head vehemently and put my hand up to stop him, ignoring the cashier’s confused nces


    as she rang up my things and folded them neatly.


    “It’s alright,” I insisted. “I want to pay myself.”


    Edrick frowned, but didn’t say anything else until we walked out of the store.


    “Why wouldn’t you let me pay?” he asked.


    I shrugged. “I want to purchase some things for our baby as well,” I replied. “It doesn’t feel right letting


    you pay for everything.”


    “It’s all the same, isn’t it?” he asked. “I do pay your sry, after all.”


    At Edrick’s words, I felt my face get a little hot. Every so often, I was reminded that he did indeed pay


    my sry. It was a little embarrassing, being paid by the father of my child, but I didn’t say anything.


    Edrick didn’t bring it up again, either.


    Next, we went into a high-end women’s clothing store. The prices here were even more exorbitant than


    the first store, and as I looked at the price tags, I immediately felt out of ce. Even the sales


    associates gave me some odd looks; I didn’t even want to touch the clothes for fear of getting them


    dirty or damaging them and having to pay for them.


    “Good afternoon,” one of the sales associates said with a warm smile. “Can I help you find anything


    today?”


    I opened my mouth to respond, but before I could, Edrick chimed in. “Yes,” he said. “She needs a nice


    dress for an event. Something a bit loose and fit for a pregnant woman, but nice nheless.”


    The saleswoman’s smile widened. “Oh, congrattions!” she said, ncing at my belly. “I think I know


    of a few styles that will look lovely on you. If you’d like to go and wait by the fitting rooms and take a


    seat, I’ll bring them to you. Let me just take some measurements first…” She grabbed the measuring


    tape from around her neck and took measurements around my bust, my belly, and the length from my


    shoulder to my ankles before directing us over to the fitting rooms. I felt even more out of ce now; I


    had never been to any store that took measurements for clothes.


    Edrick and I waited quietly by the fitting rooms while the saleswoman ran around and gathered several


    dresses. As she approached, I could already tell that they were all of the highest quality, and I knew I


    wouldn’t be able to afford any of them.


    Before I could protest, however, the saleswoman showed me to a fitting room.


    “Let me know if you need any assistance,” she said with a smile.


    I nodded, then nced over at Edrick, who was standing nearby with his arms folded across his chest.


    “I’d like to see them all as you try them on,” he said, momentarily moving to run a hand through his hair.


    Even through his mask, he seemed a little ufortable at the prospect of watching me try on clothes,


    but I agreed to his request nheless.


    The first dress I tried on was already beautiful. I stepped out of the fitting room to show Edrick, who


    silently nodded and asked me to show him the next one. This went on for awhile as I continued to try


    the increasingly luxurious — and expensive — dresses on, until I eventually came to thest dress.


    It was simr to the simple ck dress I wore at the bar on the night we met. The material was a high


    quality silk, smooth and heavy, and cool to the touch. It hugged my curves in all of the right ces, but


    the silhouette was just right around my waist so it didn’t emphasize my pregnant belly too much. I felt a


    gasp catch in my throat as I looked in the mirror and noticed how the skirt flowed when I moved and


    how the sage green color of the dress enhanced the glow of my pregnancy, but then I saw the price tag


    and felt my stomach drop. It was over one thousand dors!


    “Everything alright in there?” Edrick called through the door.


    “Um… Yeah,” I said, clearing my throat. I sheepishly opened the door and stepped out.


    I couldn’t see Edrick’s facial expression beneath his mask, but I swore that his eyes widened for a split


    second when he saw me. Without a word, he raised his finger and gestured with it in a circle to indicate


    for me to spin. As I did, I felt my face getting hot and was d that I had a mask on to hide it.


    When I was finished, he nodded quietly.


    “You like that one?” he asked.


    I nodded, but knew I couldn’t afford it. “Yes, but… It’s very expensive,” I muttered. “I can’t afford it. I


    think we should try another store.”


    Edrick shook his head suddenly. “Absolutely not. Consider these dresses as workwear provided by


    your employer.”


    My eyes widened. “No,” I insisted, “you don’t have to do that. Really.”N?velDrama.Org: text ? owner.


    The Alpha billionaire merely shrugged. “Nonsense.” Before I could protest, he waved the saleswoman


    over, who scurried over with an even wider smile on her face. “We’ll take all of the dresses she just


    tried on,” Edrick said nonchntly.


    My face went pale with shock. He was going to buy me not just this dress, but all of them?