Dorothy was mad at Credence. She really did not understand why he would coax her and Belle to a photography shop despite knowing that Belle was in bad health.
But the moment she walked into the store with Belle in her hands, she was immediately shocked by the enthusiastic shouts coming from the two rows of staff members who had lined up to greet them.
“A warm welcome to Mr. Scott, Mrs. Scott, and their little princess from the Vantage Wedding Boutique and all its staff!”
“We wish the princess a healthy, long, and prosperous life!”
“We hope that Mr. Scott and his wife will be happy together for the rest of their lives, and may your happiness increase with age and love deepens with time.”
Dozens of employees shouted the catchphrase at the same time. It was such a magnificent scene!
The first and second sentences seemed normal, but what was the third sentence about? They wished for her and Credence to be together until they got old?
Dorothy thought for a while before she understood the general idea. This exaggerated greeting was either the store owner’s ridiculous idea or Credence’s.
She thought that the latter was more likely to be the case.
Dorothy did not expect Credence, a man who did not understand romance, to actually prepare something like that for her. When she looked down, she saw how brightly her daughter was smiling. It was a cute and energetic smile that she had never seen before. All of a sudden, her mood turned bright as well, as if a thunderstorm had just ended.
The female manager of the store was about 40 years old. She had short, neat black hair, and she wore a black business suit. The manager brought Dorothy into a changing room with a professional smile on her face. It made her very comfortable to be around.
“Mrs. Scott, we have prepared 20 sets of clothes for you based on your body figure and skin color. We think that these are the best clothes which can adequately complement your unique temperament. Feel free to pick the outfits you like. After that, we will give Mr. Scott matching sets based on what you have chosen. You’ll look like the perfect couple that way.”
The word “couple” made her feel as if a smooth stone had been flung into a hidden lake. Ripples of complex feelings rose in her heart at that.
When she was madly in love with him, he had never admitted to anyone that she was his wife on any public occasions that they have attended. Now, after they were divorced, he was beginning to do things like that to make her fall for him. Why did he suddenly have a change of heart?
Dorothy felt that the current Credence was even more unfathomable than before. She had no idea how to react to his gestures.
“Whatever,” she thought. She supposed she should just take things one step at a time.
For now, the only thing in her mind was treating Belle’s condition. She would not think of other things, nor would she covet for anything else.
She looked at the endless number of beautiful dresses displayed in front of her and thought that she might go through some of them just enough to make her daughter happy. But when the manager showed her a beautiful wedding dress, she could not take her gaze away from it at all.
Her mind was blown. She was so shocked that she could not even utter a single word.
It was clearly the same wedding dress that she had had her eye on the day before she got married to Credence back then. She had dragged Germaine with her, and the two had searched through every wedding store in Talco City to find the best and most suitable wedding dress for her.
After that, she would tell Germaine about her preferences, and Germaine would secretly pass them on to Credence.
She thought that maybe the man would satisfy her small request and buy her a wedding dress that she actually liked so that she could wear it on the day of her wedding. However, after waiting for a long while, she did not receive any response from him.
On the day of their wedding, she had only worn an especially simple-looking wedding dress. When she had rushed to the wedding ceremony, she was then sent to a locked room. Rosalie had taken her spot instead and accepted the toasts and congratulations by Credence’s side.
At the thought of her pathetic wedding, Dorothy felt a dull pain in her heart.
Back then, Credence had absolutely no feelings for her at all.
Since he did not love her, he had not cared to fulfil any of her needs, let alone pity her.
Now, that exact same wedding dress was right in front of her. Was this some sort of compensation? She thought bitterly.
For some reason, Dorothy was not interested in the beautiful wedding dress in front of her anymore. She reached out and casually pointed to an unremarkable grey dress and said, “That will do.”
The female manager was well aware of the situation. She noticed that Dorothy did not speak for a long time, even her face had turned glum. So, she did not insist on her customer wear the most luxurious dress in the room. She walked towards the grey dress and gently took it off the hanger before handing it to her, “Here you go, Mrs. Scott. This way, please.”
Dorothy kept her thoughts to herself. It would be better to not mention anything so as to not cause trouble. She did not think they would listen to her anyway, even if she asked them to stop addressing her like that. Therefore, she merely took the dress and entered the locker room quietly.
The manager’s eyes glinted at the oddness of Dorothy’s behavior. She intended to go out and report the situation to Credence. The moment she turned around, she was shocked to find out the man in luxurious clothing was already standing behind her. She did not know how long he had been there or how much he had heard.
She calmed herself down and told him respectfully, “Mr. Scott, I can tell that Mrs. Scott liked that white wedding dress a lot. She was staring at it for quite some time, but for some reason, she chose the least eye-catching dress in the end.”
Credence’s eyes darkened. He nodded slightly and said, “I know. Can you give us a moment?”
It seemed that he had laid it on too thick.
He thought that if he found the wedding dress that she had once favored, she would be happy. However, he did not expect it to backfire so significantly.
A woman’s heart was really as unfathomable as they said. It was difficult to understand or even grasp what they were feeling at most times.
After a few moments of silence, Credence’s eyes swept over the empty fitting room. He walked over, stretched out his long and slender palm to gently push open the flower-carved door.
He was greeted with the sight of Dorothy’s back facing him. She was still attempting to put on her dress, but when she moved her hands to her back to pull on the zipper, she realized that it had stuck to her bra strap. She could not pull it up, nor pull it down, making her sweat with anxiety.
When she heard the slight creaking of the door, thinking that it was the manager from before, she hurriedly asked for help. “Hi, could you help me with my zipper?”
It was silent for a long moment, as Dorothy did not hear the manager’s response. However, she could feel that someone was gradually approaching her. The person had stretched out and fiddled with her troublesome zipper.
When she felt the touch, she could immediately sense that something was wrong.
The familiar cool breath mixed with the scent of cigarettes had made its way into her nostrils.
The fingers on her back were now roaming around the exposed skin on her back. The roughness of those fingertips made a jolt of electricity shoot through her entire body, into her bones and blood all the way to the deepest part of her heart.
That man’s hand was recklessly fiddling her back.
She felt a raging fire burn in her heart, causing her to tremble in anger.
When she finally calmed herself down and managed to subside her trembling, Dorothy turned her head around and glared, “Credence, are you done?”
“I’m done.”
The man finally showed some mercy and let go of her. He zipped her zipper up to the collar of her dress. Suddenly he leaned his head on her shoulder and smiled softly, with a hint of laziness and gentleness in his voice, he said, “I’ve been looking at the time, you’ve been trembling for approximately five minutes and fifty-eight seconds. It seems that your back is quite sensitive! Are you trying to seduce me by revealing so much of your back?”
To hell with seducing him!
Who wanted to seduce an uncouth man like him?
Dorothy almost swore in anger. She turned around and glared at the shameless man with a gloomy expression, “Credence, can you stop being so shameless all the time? I’m not going to take this family photo anymore if you keep this up.”
She turned around and ran out of the fitting room angrily, only to see her daughter running towards her with a large grin. She was wearing a little golden crown and a white dress which made her look like a real princess. When she saw her mother, Belle pursed her lips and smiled, “Wow, Mommy, you look so beautiful! So insanely beautiful. I can’t believe you’ve let that rotten Daddy that abandoned us take advantage of you.”
Credence had just changed into a new suit that matched Dorothy’s dress. When he stepped out of the fitting room and heard what Belle said, he felt as if he had taken a bullet to the knee and his heart ached.
He had just been dissed by both Dorothy and his daughter and it didn’t feel good.
Seeing Credence’s gloomy face after hearing her daughter’s words, Dorothy let out a small smile. She felt glad and her anger had been vented.
It seemed that taking photos with him would not be that difficult of a task, after all.
Credence raised his eyebrows as he felt his heart being tickled when he realized Dorothy was staring at her angrily yet coyly.
After they took their family photo, Dorothy suspected that Credence must have somehow bribed Belle into what followed next. Her daughter insisted that she wanted Dorothy and him to take another set of romantic photos together.
Dorothy could not resist her daughter’s coquettish pleas and obeyed her.
After the two of them took their photos, the man’s affectionate gaze throughout the entire process made her feel uncomfortable. She rushed back into the fitting room and changed back into her original clothes quickly. After that, she picked Belle up and almost ran out of the store.
It was not until she returned to the back seat of the black Maybach that she heaved a sigh of relief.
She had a weird feeling that Credence had changed into a completely different person. He was essentially a stranger which made her feel weird and anxious. She was unsettled by it.
In the store, Credence smiled joyously as he watched Dorothy’s slender body get into his car hurriedly.
He then took out his phone and gave Benjamin a call, “I have sent some photos into your email. Take a break from whatever you’re working on and help me with something extremely important, pronto!”