CHAPTER 23: CLAUDIA MEETING ALEXANDER.

"Father, you should have told me this earlier. I have nothing to wear. I can’t put on the same dress two times, not when I am finally meeting my fiance!" Claudia said in annoyance as she stood in front of her father in his study.

"You have to, Claudia. So much has been happening in these past few days, and you can’t continue blowing money on unnecessary things." Her father’s voice was firm, and it annoyed Claudia further.

"I don’t care about that, dad. I need to look good before my fiance. You don’t want me going there, looking like an old hag just because you’re in debt."

"Shut it, little girl. You’re not getting a new dress. That’s final!"

"Fine. I will just go ahead and use my card." She rolled her eyes and stormed out of her father’s study.

On her way to her room, she had tears in her eyes. Her father never once refused her, he always gave her whatever she wanted. It was her privilege as the heiress, but lately, her life had turned upside down after he was conned by a man he refused to mention. Life had became so difficult that her father had to sell three of her luxury cars just to keep up. She hated the new changes. This wasn’t her life at all. Worse he wouldn’t even get her a new dress. She was finally meeting Alexander Vaughn after so many years of waiting. And now she would have to put on her old dress and pretend all was fine. That was impossible.

She was sure she still had some money in her bank. All she needed to do was to give Abigail a call and go on shopping spree as usual. She wouldn’t go down so low like her father or mother. She was Claudia, the billion-dollar heiress.

With that, she entered her room, change into a new dress and called her best friend.

****

"Goodness, you look gorgeous. The colour really match your eyes. I’m sure your fiance wouldn’t be able to take his eyes of you when he sees you in this dress." Abigail’s eyes sparkled in admiration upon seeing Claudia in the fitting room.

Claudia smiled as she looked herself in the dressing mirror. The dress was indeed beautiful. It was a long green dress that was covered with sparkling emerald stones. It had thin hands and a deep slit from the leg up to her thigh. Perfectly her type. She wouldn’t have forgave herself if that low-life bitch had gotten it before her. She had to quickly made the payment and takeover the dress.

After checking herself to her satisfaction, she gestured for the salesgirls to come help her out of the dress.

"Would you like to get something else?" One of the girls asked with a polite smile, and Claudia nodded.

She would get a few more clothes, because she didn’t want to give Abigail the slightest clue about her current situation.

"Alright, let us know when you’re done," they said and left her alone.

Claudia pick some less expensive dresses and went to the cashier to pay for them. Just then, she sighted a figure in the women section. But that wasn’t what caught her attention. He was breathtaking. He was tall and his facial looks were exceptional. She had never seen a man as handsome as him. On top of that, he was wearing a high-end branded suit and as he moved, she could see the red sole under his well-polished black shoes. Claudia drooled. He must be very wealthy.

That was exactly what she needed right now. A man who could afford her lifestyle, since her father couldn’t do that anymore.

"Where are you going?" Abigail suddenly asked as she began to move towards the stranger.

"Nowhere, just going to know about that guy over there." She pointed at the man and Abigail’s eyes widened.

"Are being serious, Claudia? You’re meeting your fiance tommorow, how can you throw yourself at another man’s feet?"

"I’m not throwing myself at any man’s feet. I just want what is good for me. What if my fiance was broke? Or maybe my dad just wanted to get rid of me?"

"Why would you say that?" Abigail asked, her brows furrowing in confusion.

That was when Claudia realized she almost let herself out. She quickly faked an awkward smile and rushed forward.

"Don’t worry about me, I will be fine."

Abigail only gave her a disappointed look and turned away without another word.

As she approached the man, she realized that he wasn’t alone. There was another guy with him, who looked just as gorgeous with his golden hair and green eyes. Claudia began to wonder if there was a show for handsome men in the shopping complex today. Either way, she would go for the dark-haired one, he looked like the boss, exactly her type.

But the problem was she didn’t know how to approach him, her heart was already racing faster in her chest as she looked at him from afar, thinking of a way to get closer to him. Then an idea lit up in her head and she smiled.

As he was about to touch a dress, Claudia stumbled forward as quickly as possible and grabbed the dress. Even though she was fast, he was faster than her, but she wasn’t letting the dress go.

"I touch it first," she said, giving the man a challenging look. Claudia expected him to argue or fight on who will get the dress first, but instead, he stepped away. That made Claudia smiled inwardly. He was easy, or maybe he was already charmed by her beautiful looks. She looked at the dress, it was a stunning red dress with diamonds caved in the right places. But sadly, it was quite smaller than her. Not so bad, she could have Abigail pay for it later. Claudia was going to tell the sales lady to wrap it up when the man said,

"I would like to purchase that dress and every other dresses with that size in this building."

Claudia’s jaw dropped. What?! He was going to buy every dress in the complex? Just who was this man? Instead of getting intimidated, she felt appalled. She would get him no matter what.

"You can’t do that? You can’t take what I want," she argued, but the man ignored her completely as though she didn’t exist. And soon the sales team came to move the rack and every other racks with dresses similar in size.

Claudia stomach churned with anger. How dare him ignored her? She had never been ignored her entire life. Maybe he didn’t know who she was, if he did, he would be on his knees apologizing to her.

She clenched her fist to suppressed her anger and lifted her chin. "I guess you don’t know my history. My dad is the founder and CEO of the Steele’s Empire. I’m his eldest daughter. My name is Clau..."

"Deliver everything to this address," the man’s voice interrupted her as he gave his card to one of the sales lady. And without waiting another second, he strode away.

Claudia face burned red with embarrassment. She wished the ground would cracked open and swallowed her as the people nearby began to whisper things about her. She had never being a victim of this situation before, she was always the instigator. She loved putting people in their places, and so she wouldn’t let this man embarrassed her and walked away freely. She would show him who she was.

She stalked towards the man who was already at the entrance, but before she could do anything, Abigail came towards her and grabbed her arm, dragging her away.

"No! Let me go!"

"Stop it Claudia. Can’t you see who he is? We’re going to get in trouble if you do anything stupid."

That was always Abigail, she was all about not getting in trouble. Claudia never understood why she was like that even though her parents were incredibly wealthy. She was so unlike her, who would want to get in trouble just to let people know who her father was.

Claudia forced herself to calm down. Beside, her father wasn’t that wealthy anymore, he was drowning in debt. She had to keep her cover and not escalate things further. But that didn’t mean she wasn’t angry. She would look for him and made sure he regret ever treating her like this.