Just as Hailey Tang reached for the car door handle, intending to bolt, Ethan Yu suddenly leaned over from the driver's seat.
Startled, she instinctively leaned back, pressing herself against the seat like a trapped animal. "What are you doing—?"
But instead of pulling any stunts, Ethan simply reached across her and buckled her seatbelt with practiced ease.
Click.
Hailey blinked. That was it?
Yet he didn't move away.
He stayed close—too close. His breath brushed her cheek, his eyes gleaming with a dangerous kind of amusement.
"Hailey Tang," he said in a low, teasing voice, "you always pull this kind of stunt. Are you trying to hint at something? Want me to make a move?"
Hailey narrowed her eyes and smirked. "Exactly. I'm hinting you should hurry up and do something."
His eyes darkened like a brewing storm. "And what, exactly, do you want me to do?"
"Fall in love with me," she said, voice sweet and sharp. "I want you to be so crazy about me that you lose sleep at night. Then, once you're completely obsessed—" she leaned in just a little, her voice a dangerous whisper, "—I'll dump you. Hard."
Ethan chuckled, though there was a flicker of something unreadable in his gaze. "You seem to hold quite a bit of resentment toward me."
"Something like that," she said lightly. Enough to haunt me through death and bring me back just for revenge, she thought but didn't say aloud.
Suddenly, Ethan's hand reached up and cupped her chin, tilting her face toward him. His voice dropped to a husky murmur. "Then you'd better get used to that resentment, because I don't think it's going anywhere—this lifetime or the next."
Her pupils shrank slightly. Was he saying he'd never fall for her? Never give her the satisfaction of rejecting him?
"Perfect," she said with a cold little smile. "That's exactly what I want. Stay away. Don't you dare fall for me. If you do…" She leaned in just a bit, eyes locked on his. "You're gonna get hurt."
Her warning, meant to sound fierce, came off more like a kitten hissing at a lion. Ethan merely smirked, clearly unbothered, and sat back in his seat.
Without another word, he started the car and drove off.
He brought her to a luxury shopping district nearby. The streets bustled with people dressed in designer brands, and high-end storefronts gleamed under the lights like a jewelry box left open.
The car rolled to a stop outside a Chanel boutique.
Hailey frowned. "What are we doing here?"
Ethan got out, circled the car, and opened her door. "Come on."
Inside, the boutique smelled of perfume and expensive leather. The lighting was warm and flattering, the kind that made everyone look ten percent more attractive and fifty percent richer.
"Pick something. Anything," Ethan said, casually throwing himself onto a velvet couch like he owned the entire store. "You've got ten minutes."
She blinked at him. "Seriously? You brought me here just to buy clothes?"
"What else?" he raised an eyebrow. "You refused to wear what Lin Xin'er picked, didn't you? So now you choose."
He motioned at the staff nearby. "Bring out everything that suits her. Focus on dresses."
"Yes, sir!" The store attendants sprang into action, clearly recognizing who he was. Hailey noticed one whispering excitedly to another—no doubt they'd seen his face on a magazine cover or two.
Big spender alert.
In no time, a flood of new-season dresses—silk, chiffon, velvet, and lace—were brought out and displayed like offerings at an altar.
"This way, miss," one of the attendants beamed. "These are the latest arrivals—just released this week. You'd look stunning in any of them."
Hailey didn't move. She just stood there, staring at the dresses. Her hands were clenched at her sides.
Then Ethan added casually, "If you like them all, just say the word. I'll have them wrapped up."
Her head snapped toward him. Their eyes met.
He looked calm. Too calm. Like this whole thing was routine for him—buying a girl a small wardrobe's worth of high-end fashion, just because she refused to wear someone else's pick.
But for Hailey… it wasn't routine at all.
Her heart twisted.
In her past life, Ethan had never taken her shopping. Not once. Even when she'd begged him to come with her, he'd shoved a credit card at her and told her to stop being annoying.
A birthday? A date night? A quick dinner? He had never been bothered. He'd never cared.
She used to beg for crumbs, and now he was handing her the whole cake.
What the hell was going on?
"Why are you doing this?" she asked, her voice lower now, more careful.
Ethan didn't answer. He just leaned back against the couch, legs crossed, arm draped casually over the armrest, and gave her a look that said: Don't ask stupid questions.
Hailey turned away and walked toward the dresses. She ran her fingers over the fabrics but didn't pick any up.
She wasn't sure what made her feel worse—that he was suddenly being generous, or that she didn't trust it.
Still, she grabbed one of the simpler dresses—a soft cream slip with lace along the hem—and held it up. "This one's fine."
One of the attendants beamed. "Would you like to try it on?"
Ethan didn't wait. "Wrap it. And the rest too."
"Right away, sir!"
Hailey turned to him, exasperated. "I don't need all that—"
"I didn't ask if you needed them," he said calmly. "I said pick what you want. If you're not going to pick, then I will."
She stared at him.
This wasn't how it was supposed to go.
She was supposed to torment him, not the other way around.
And yet, here she was, standing in a luxury store, watching her former heartbreaker buy her ten thousand dollars' worth of dresses like it was pocket change.
Was this his revenge?
Or something else entirely?