Chapter 169

That night, Aaron seemed preoccupied with something. Instead of pestering me nonstop before bed like he usually did, he squeezed me close to him like a pillow all night.

I’d rather be Aaron’s pillow than have him folding me up like a pretzel in various sex positions, so I didn’t complain. After all, Cinder and I were planning to go skiing the next day.

But to my shock, during breakfast the next morning, Cinder suddenly announced, “I’m a little tired today, I don’t want to ski.”

She blinked over at me. “Olive, why don’t we go shopping instead?”

Enter title…

I’ve never really liked shopping, and there was a big financial gap between me and Cinder, so I couldn’t shop at a lot of the stores she liked. But when I looked into her expectant face, I couldn’t say no. I was guessing she wanted me to follow her around and carry her bags while she shopped, so after thinking about it for a while, I nodded and agreed.

My attention was completely focused on Cinder, so I missed the way Aaron’s fingers were trembling, and the way his eyes lit up when I nodded.

After breakfast, Cinder hurriedly dragged me straight out of the house.

She drove fast, and in less than half an hour, the two of us were in the city. But instead of driving us to a shopping mall, she took us to a luxury spa in a fancy, ornate building.

I was a little taken aback. Why did Cinder bring me here?

Cinder had already gotten out of the car. She walked around to the passenger side and knocked loudly on the door. “What are you staring at? Get out of the car!”

What did she want me to do? I pushed open the door, confused. As soon as I got out of the car, Cinder grabbed my arm and charged ahead into the building.

She snapped her fingers briskly at the blonde woman who approached us as we walked in. “We’ll get your best facials, and we’d like our hair and makeup done, too.”

We? Cinder’s wording only confused me even more. “Why do I have to do it too?”

Something seemed off about Cinder today. Ever since the moment she decided she didn’t want to go skiing, she’d been acting really strange.

I was about to ask what was wrong, but Cinder pulled me into the spa treatment room before I could get a word in. She rolled her eyes and said matter-of-factly, “I paid good money to get us a team of beauticians from L.A. If you don’t do it, you’ll be wasting my money.”

I could only go along with it in a daze as Cinder dragged me through a series of expensive treatments.

After my hair was done, Cinder circled me with her arms folded, stroked her chin, and inspected me carefully from head to toe. “I think her lipstick color isn’t dark enough. And the eyeliner needs to be more natural to accentuate her eye color.”

After hearing that, the makeup artist immediately came over to touch up my makeup.

Cinder stared at me intently in the mirror, and I felt goosebumps pr*ckling on my arms.

I didn’t usually spend much time on makeup. When I looked at my elaborately made-up face in the mirror, I was so dazzled, I almost had to look away.

I wondered if Aaron would be surprised to see me like this when we got home.

When I thought of Aaron, my mind started to wander. I still didn’t know what he’d been talking about last night when he mentioned a secret. What kind of secret could he be keeping?

While I was lost in thought, Cinder patted my shoulder lightly. “You pretty princess, now it’s time to pick out your outfit.”

I glanced over to find that Cinder had also had her makeup done. But compared to my look, her makeup was much more understated and subtle.

As Cinder brought me into another room to pick out my clothes, I tugged at her hand. “Wait, Cinder… What exactly are we doing here?”

She paused and gave me a cheeky smile. “Well, actually, I have a family reception I want to take you to tonight. I can’t get out of it, but I figure it’ll be more fun if we go together, right?”

I had accompanied Cinder to similar receptions before. Those kinds of events were usually just a bunch of strangers mingling and making small talk about business, which was always boring for me.

But Cinder didn’t wait for me to agree, just dragged me straight to the dressing room.

She picked out a casual pink dress for herself, but chose an elegant, flowing gauzy white gown for me. I shook my head as she held it up to me. “Cinder, I can’t.”

At this kind of reception, I always preferred to stay on the outskirts.

of conversation. I never wanted to get everyone’s attention, so I usually chose the drabbest business attire I could find.

I had never worn such an extravagant dress in my life.

But Cinder pushed me into the dressing room and started tugging at the clothes I was wearing. “Your makeup matches this dress the best. Trust me, you’ll definitely be the most beautiful girl today.”

I shook my head even harder. I didn’t want to be the most beautiful, I just wanted to fade into the background so no one would notice if I made a mistake.

Cinder clicked her tongue disapprovingly and brought up another point I couldn’t argue with. “Don’t you want to see Aaron’s reaction to you in this dress? I think he’ll be very surprised.”

That was enough to make me pause for a moment.

Of course I wanted Aaron to see me in such a beautiful outfit. I figured, for Aaron’s sake, maybe I could try the dress.

Seeing that my resolve was wavering, Cinder breathed a sigh of relief, then quickly helped me put on the white dress.

“Oh my g*d, you look stunning, Olive!”

Once I was wearing the dress, Cinder circled around me several times, unable to hide her surprised expression.

I touched my face, a little curious to find out what I looked like.

But Cinder didn’t give me the chance. After changing my clothes, she checked the time on her cell phone, dragged me out of the spa and back into the car, and immediately slammed on the gas.

Cinder drove extremely fast, and all I could see was the forest of tall buildings quickly receding behind us, fading into a series of swooping valleys and snow-covered hills.

I was a little surprised that the family reception was going to be held out here in the middle of nowhere; I thought events like that were usually held in fancy hotels.

Just then, Cinder slammed on the brakes. She parked the car and opened the passenger door for me, like a knight escorting a princess to the castle.

She leaned against the doorframe and winked down at me mischievously.

“We’re here. I can only take you this far. Just go down this road.”

After I got out of the car, Cinder quickly got back in the driver’s seat and drove away, like a messenger who had completed her mission.

I was completely at a loss. Wondering what Cinder was up to, I walked down the road with my skirt bunched in my hands.

Lost in thought, I followed the gravel road around a corner and stopped in my tracks. In front of me, the snow-covered road was covered with a layer of bright red rose petals.

I looked up. At the end of the road, I could see Aaron dressed in a formal suit, holding a bouquet of flowers and gazing intently back at me Spread the love Daily Fast update Please Bookmark this site The Novel will be updated daily. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!