Riches in Disguise

I finally took a good look at her outfit. She was wearing the same oversized navy blue T-shirt from class, baggy pants that were worn from wear and tear, and dirty red sneakers. She was right. She did look a bit rough around the edges.

I glanced around and noticed a decent women's boutique nearby. Without thinking much, I led her in.

"Can you help her pick out an outfit? We're going out for lunch," I told the sales assistant.

The sales assistant was clearly experienced and smiled warmly at my request. "Leave it to me."

"William! William, come here!" Felicia called out urgently from the clothing racks.

I thought she was picking out clothes, but when I walked over, she just showed me the price tags. "This light jacket is 3,000 dollars, and this tank top is 1,900! Let's get out of here!"noveldrama

I could not help but laugh as I thought Felicia was such a simple girl. Even if we could not afford it, there was nothing wrong with browsing around.

"Don't worry about the prices. Just go try things on-remember, I've got money," I reminded her.

Felicia's eyes widened, and her face suddenly turned red. "William, d-didn't you say you weren't interested in me? Why are you trying to woo me?"

I nearly choked. "Who's wooing you?"

"If you're not, then why are you sending me gifts on stream, taking me to meals, and buying me clothes?"

Before I could explain this coincidence, Felicia suddenly hugged my waist. "I'm okay with it!"

Wait, what? What was she okay with?

I quickly pushed her away. "That's not what I meant at all. Just try on the clothes. I'm just being a friend."

"Oh, okay." Seeing my firm rejection, she glumly followed the sales assistant.

While waiting on the couch, I scrolled through my phone and came across Lina's Instagram post. The photos showed only her with fancy tableware and food at Black Dragon-no Ryan in sight.

Her caption read, "Back at Black Dragon! The lobster here is still sweet, but I can't handle raw seafood. Street food is still the best. I still prefer street food."

In the past, I would have thought this made her different from other gold-diggers. However, I had already seen through her fake modesty and knew this was just bait to make her less wealthy admirers feel more comfortable. Talk about playing the long game.

Sure enough, her comments were filled with guys fawning over her.

"Let me take you for street food sometime!"

"Yeah, fancy food is bland. Those food trucks are where it's at!"

"You're so beautiful!"

I was getting secondhand embarrassment from reading their comments. These poor guys were just fish in her tank, but at least they had not been caught, gutted, and thrown back like I had been. I was even more pathetic.

"William, how do I look?"

Felicia's voice snapped me out of my thoughts. I looked up and almost choked again from the sexy outfit.

Her figure was on full display—no, actually, it was way too much on display. From where I was sitting, her curves cast dramatic shadows, blocking the overhead lights.