Chapter 3 The Person In The Fitting Room

• I walked out of the hospital like a zombie.
• The doctor's words kept replaying in my mind.
• I couldn't believe it and checked the report several times.
• That blurry little mass in the image was my child.
• To give birth or to terminate?
• My hand involuntarily covered my abdomen. Despite the shock and even the shame, I felt a hint of reluctance.
• My brother's death had made me realize how fragile and vulnerable life is.
• Thinking about the unborn life inside me, I felt, for the first time, the joy and anticipation of becoming a mother.
• I took a taxi back home in a daze and carefully hid the ultrasound report.
• When I opened the door and saw my father there, my expression darkened instantly.
• What was my father doing here?
• He looked at me with disdain and impatience, as if he had been waiting for me for a long time.
• He said coldly, "Go change into something else."
• I instinctively frowned and asked, "Why?"
• "Since you are going to marry into the Reid family, you will have to meet the young master of the Reid family." Blake Monroe glanced at me up and down, "Are you planning to meet him looking this shabby? Do you want to embarrass me?"
• He remained cold and ruthless, making my heart ache.
• He was the one who had sent my mother and me to a struggling country and never cared about us again.
• Where would I have gotten the money to dress up?
• All our daily expenses came from the hard-earned money my mother and I made through odd jobs.
• If we had money, how could my brother have died due to delayed treatment?
• If we had money, I wouldn't have to sell my body.
• My hands clenched into fists at my sides.
• It seemed like my father also realized this, looking at me with a slightly embarrassed expression. "Forget it. Let's go. The people from the Reid family must be here already, so we shouldn't keep them waiting."
• "Aria..." My mother looked at me with worry.
• "Mom." I gave her a reassuring look to ease her concern.
• "Hurry up," my father urged impatiently.
• He even pushed me, afraid that I might change my mind.
• After eight years, all the bonds of blood and family had been worn away by time and trivial matters.
• Seeing how shabbily I was dressed, especially knowing I was about to meet someone from the Reid family, my father finally took me to a high-end women's clothing store to buy me a decent outfit.
• Standing at the entrance of the upscale clothing store, I couldn't even remember the last time I had set foot in a place like this.
• Back in Nicaragua, the money my mother and I earned was barely enough to get by.
• As soon as I entered the store, a staff member came over to greet us, and my dad pushed me forward, saying, "She can try on clothes."
• The staff member glanced at me and probably knew my size, saying, "Follow me."
• She handed me a light blue long dress and said, "Go try it on in the fitting room."
• I took the dress and walked towards the fitting room.
• "Damien, do you have to marry a woman from the Monroe family?" Suddenly, a woman's voice came from the next room, sounding somewhat aggrieved.
• I felt curious. The Monroe family?
• I peeked through the door crack and saw a woman cuddling a man's neck, coquettishly saying, "Can't you just marry me?"
• The staff member suddenly reminded me, "That room is VIP. You can't go in there. Go to the room on the right."
• In this high-end clothing store, the fitting rooms were all separate rooms.
• The VIP fitting room was even more upscale, with an inner room for trying on clothes and an outer room for friends to wait or rest.
• "Oh." I took the clothes and headed towards the room on the right.
• As I changed clothes in the fitting room, I couldn't stop thinking about the man and woman from earlier.
• Their conversation seemed to involve the Monroe family.
• Could that man be...
• I thought I was overthinking it. It couldn’t be that coincidental.
• After changing clothes and coming out of the fitting room, I looked towards the left fitting room and saw that the door was already closed.
• "It suits your style very well," the staff member praised me.
• Indeed, the staff in high-end clothing stores have a good eye. Just by looking at me, they could pick out the right clothes.
• Looking at myself in the mirror, wearing the light blue long dress, my skin looked even fairer.
• The tie around my waist outlined a slender figure, a bit too thin, but my cheeks were already quite delicate.
• My dad also thought it looked good on me, so we went to pay.
• It was only then that I realized the dress cost over thirty thousand.
• But my dad remembered that I was going to meet the Reid family, so he paid with a pained expression, his voice cold, "Let's go."
• I had long felt his ruthlessness, and his coldness at that moment still made my heart ache.
• I lowered my head to hide my emotions and followed him into the car.