HIS PRESENCE TAKES MY BREATH AWAY

"I'm coming with you."

She turned to him with a fake smile. "I know you're worried that I might get lost but I am not a child and this is not a playground either so there's no way I'll get lost, I can easily find my way around here." She finished her statement quickly and dashed out of the car.

Immediately after she got out, she panted heavily with a hand placed on her chest. "The next time I'm with him, I think I'll bring an oxygen tank along as well, just his presence alone takes my breath away."

She took a few seconds to steady her breathing before she walked with heads high into the mall. It took her a few minutes before she finally found one of Crystelle's outlets and for the first time, other than her usual sarcastic, jeering, taunting, and malicious smile, a genuine one rose to her pretty face.

This was the first time she was visiting Crystelle's outlet. Usually, she would order them directly to her house but now, seeing the exquisite store with expensive lightings brought a sense of accomplishment to her heart.

The whole place was decorated lavishly and she found it so hard to believe that this was the smallest Crystelle retail outlet.

She walked elegantly into the shop and found her way to the dress section. She carefully looked at each dress hung beautifully on the rack and a small smile graced her lips knowing that they were all her designs.

She saw pictures of her brand ambassador who was her sister. Only she knew how dramatic it was for her to get her as the brand ambassador but in the end, it turned out that she wanted the spot and she dropped her act when Kiaraa threatened to get another A-list model as her ambassador.

After a while, she finally found a dress she liked and was about to pick it up when a small slender hand rested lightly on hers and before she could react, the dress was immediately pulled away by that hand.

Kiaraa's warm smile was quickly replaced as a deep frown settled between her brows. She turned her head and found a young Chinese girl around her age smirking at her as she eyed her maliciously.

"Excuse me, I saw that first," Kiaraa said with a seemingly annoyed tone.

It was one thing being bullied but it was a whole different thing being bullied in her own territory and the air of authority around her intensified in an instant.

The girl showed no sign of giving up as she held the dress in her arms tightly and her eyes narrowed.

"Who do you think you are? I don't care if you saw this dress before me or not, my point here is that I want this dress, and no matter what I'm going to get it. No one can stop me, not even a cheap passerby like you." The girl started arrogantly and Kiaraa's eyes narrowed to slit.

That voice...she could swear that it sounded really familiar but looking at the girl's make-up-stricken face, she couldn't even get a hint of where she knew her from.

The girl, seeing to response from Kiaraa gained newfound confidence as she clicked her tongue with a haughty smile. "There's no need fighting with me for this dress. After all, it's not as if you can afford it."

Kiaraa's deep amber eyes blazed with intensity as she clenched her fist out of anger. She didn't know if the heavens were trying to test her patience or not, first, it was Claire then it was the Han girl from the restaurant and now it was this girl? She could only laugh at her luck.

She threw the girl a jeering look before crossing her arms in front of her chest and stepping forward as her usual evil smile rose to her face.

"You know what that sounds like? Not. My. Business." She stressed on each word ever so slowly which made the girl's hand quiver violently out of fear.

Kiaraa was calm, from the look on her face it seemed like nothing in this world could affect her. With every single word that came out of her mouth, the phrase 'respect me' was written all over it.

How funny was the situation, the girl wanted to intimidate Kiaraa but what she didn't know was that the queen of intimidation was Kiaraa herself. She wasn't the one who would sit quietly and be bullied.

The girl fought her fears at the back of her head as she looked at Kiaraa from head to toe. Kiaraa looked small with her white crochet dress and sneakers with her long black hair straightened. Her face was bare of any makeup and a seed of jealousy sprouted in her heart as she looked at the goddess-like face.

"You better watch your tone pretty girl and back off while you can. Don't come begging when I turn your whole life upside down just because you messed with the wrong person."

Kiaraa scoffed, "Sorry dear, but I tried really hard to care this time."

The girl's face turned scarlet red as she took a glimpse of Kiaraa who was still firm in her stance and it was as if a furnace was lighted up inside her soul.

"Excuse me, what's going on here?"

They both heard a male voice and turned towards the source. A middle-aged man with a suit and thick-rimmed glasses walked towards them.

The girl's face lit up with a smile. "Manager Smith I was shopping peacefully when this girl over here started an argument with me over a dress. I wonder what a girl like her would be doing in a high-branded shop like Crystelle." She glanced at Kiaraa again and she was certain in her mind that all Kiaraa had was just a pretty face, probably the mistress of a rich old man.

With that thought in mind, she continued, "I would be happy to take my money elsewhere if the management of Crystelle doesn't deal with wannabes like her."

Kiaraa's frown deepened and she was about to retort back when the middle-aged man beat her to it.

"Miss Shalin, it would be my greatest disappointment if you took your money elsewhere considering that you are one of our most valued customers, but the brand Crystelle is open to everyone and we don't judge people by their outer look or their social status. If we did that, then Crystelle won't be where it is today," he paused then continued,

"Since this dress is a limited edition, we only have one and you both want the dress, how about I suggest that the person with the highest amount of money gets the dress."

The girl smirked when she heard his suggestion. Having the highest amount of money was not her problem. She walked towards the counter with Kiaraa and Mr. Smith trailing behind.

The girl named Shalin proudly took out a black card from her purse and placed it on the counter. She threw an overbearing look at Kiaraa with a smug look of victory plastered across her heavily painted face.

Mr. Smith fell silent, there was no way that anyone could have an amount higher than the one in a black card. He was about to call out for the sales clerk to pack the dress up for Shalin when all of a sudden Kiaraa brought out an exclusive golden Crystelle card.

The word shock wouldn't be able to describe the expression that they both had on their face.

Everyone knows that there was only one Crystelle golden card available and it was owned by the mysterious president of Crystelle.

Manager Smith was thunderstruck. Just by being a mere worker in one of the numerous Crystelle outlets, never in his wildest dreams had he ever thought that he would be seeing the legendary Crystelle card today and that too with a young girl.

Who was she?

He kept throwing curious glances at Kiaraa as he wondered about her identity. He was certain that she was either the president's daughter or the president herself but he quickly shook off the second thought from his head.

Looking at the young girl before him and looking at the height of Crystelle, it would be impossible to tag her as the president of Crystelle.

He quickly regained his composure and his smile grew more polite knowing that the person before him was not someone ordinary.