Beloved Bride: Captured by the Top Playboy

"Miss, would you like this dress?" the sales assistant asked from the side.

"Yes, wrap it up for me!" Suxin replied without hesitation, wanting to indulge herself in the moment. The dress loses its value because she wears it? She was going to buy it today no matter what!

"Miss, will you be paying by card or using a credit card?"

"Card!" Suxin said, pulling out a Construction Bank UnionPay card from her purse.

The sales assistant took the card and walked to the counter.

"Oh? So, we have a nouveau riche here?" Shanni chuckled, "But auntie, that dress really doesn't suit you!"

"I like it, it's none of your business whether it suits me or not!" Suxin turned away, only then remembering she hadn't even looked at the price of the dress. How much money was it going to cost her? She recalled there was just over ten thousand on that card and hoped it wouldn't take too much. She couldn't bear it...

"If you're not buying, then let's get out of here!" Chen Ziqian said sternly, knowing there was no good in encountering that woman, better to leave early.

"Yeah, let's look at the next shop over," Shanni said, linking arms with Chen Ziqian and heading out.

"Miss, I'm sorry, but the balance on your card is insufficient. Do you have another card?" the sales assistant returned to Suxin, holding the card in her hand.

"What? Insufficient balance? That can't be right? I remember there was still more than ten thousand on this card?"

"Miss, this dress costs twenty-eight thousand," the sales assistant replied modestly.

"Twenty-eight thousand? That's so expensive?" Suxin blurted out.

Shanni, who was about to leave, stopped in her tracks as if encountering the funniest joke in the world, turned around, and said with a laugh, "Heh, it turns out that the vegetable-selling auntie is still just a vegetable seller!"

Suxin's face flushed with alternating shades of red and black. It was her first time experiencing such humiliation: embarrassment, anger, shame, discomfort, resentment... a torrent of emotions surged within her. If she had twenty-eight thousand right now, she might have actually thrown it out in defiance, but since she couldn't afford it, she had no choice but to... swallow her pride and endure.

"I'm sorry, I don't have that much right now..."

"I'll take this dress!" a lofty voice rang out, one that sounded somewhat familiar.

"Xu Yunhui?" Suxin turned around to see the fashionably dressed, charmingly smiling Xu Yunhui. And who was the man standing beside Xu Yunhui? Who was looking at her with pitying eyes? Liu Haoran?

"I'll take this dress, wrap it up for me!" slender, fair fingers handed a credit card to the nearby sales assistant.

"Liu Haoran, is that woman her?" Suxin nearly shouted. Xu Yunhui was a junior at their school, and it was common knowledge that she liked Liu Haoran. Despite Liu Haoran repeatedly assuring her of his lack of interest in Xu Yunhui, it all came to this—both of them together, leaving her to become the laughingstock, the trash!

"Susu... I…" Liu Haoran lowered his head, his face showing distress.

"Haoran, what's the harm in letting her know?" Xu Yunhui said with a smile, looping her arm through Liu Haoran's, her triumphant smile turning towards Suxin, "Senior sister, you guessed right. That woman is me, we've been together for a year already!"

The words struck like a thunderclap in her ears. A year? They had been involved for a year? Thinking about how intimate she and Liu Haoran had been over the year, she felt incredibly sick to her stomach, as if something was about to surge up.

Suxin held her head high; she couldn't—she must not cry right now!

"Miss, may I ask if you need this dress? What size do you need? I'll wrap it up for you," the salesclerk asked with a joyful face as she held the gold card, ignoring the dispute among the three people in front of her.

"I want the one she's wearing!" Xu Yunhui pointed to the dress on Suxin and said.

"Yunhui, let's drop it and go to another store," Liu Haoran advised.

"Haoran, don't interfere, this is a matter between us two women!" Xu Yunhui let go of Liu Haoran and walked up to Suxin, "Salesclerk, I want the one she's wearing. Make her take off the dress she has on!"

These words pierced Suxin's heart, one by one, bringing feelings of discomfort, humiliation, and heartache, amplifying the dreadful emotions she had felt before.

Suxin held her head high and looked straight at Liu Haoran. She wanted to see clearly why this man could be so heartless. Why could he humiliate her like this?

But Liu Haoran turned his head away, seeming to have decided not to get involved.

"Miss, I'm sorry, but if you're not going to buy it, please take off the dress," the salesclerk said politely, yet Suxin felt her legs trembling.

She could take off the dress, but her dignity would be stripped away with it, as if she were being publicly shamed in the nude.

For the first time, Suxin regretted not keeping her savings in her card, insisting on setting them aside as fixed deposits.

Looking once more at Liu Haoran, fine! Men truly are the most heartless creatures in this world; once broken up, there's not a hint of sentiment left!

As tears rolled and she could no longer hold them back, Suxin turned to head toward the fitting room to change out of the dress.

"Who says she isn't buying it?" A carefree and hearty male voice came from outside.

Suxin stopped in her tracks, turned around, and there was the tall and handsome man walking towards her. Who could it be but Xiaobai?

"She's buying the dress!" Chen Ziqian tossed the VIP gold card to the salesclerk with a graceful air, smiling at Suxin.

The salesclerk was utterly confused, unable to grasp the situation. The handsome man was obviously with that beautiful woman just now, but what is professional conduct? This was it!

Receiving the VIP gold card with a smile, the salesclerk said, "All right, sir and miss, please wait a moment."

"Zi... Ziqian…" Suxin stammered the name with a sense of intimacy but, after all, how could she know his last name? She was bewildered, wondering just what Xiaobai was trying to do?

Chen Ziqian walked over and embraced her waist, then smiled tenderly with eyes that twinkled charmingly. Did he have to smile so attractively?

"Alright, don't be upset with me anymore, okay? Let's go home, shall we?" The man's smile was tender and enchanting, with his lips slightly upturned, exuding endless charm.

"You…" Suxin had no idea where to put her hands. Was Xiaobai trying to extricate her from this situation?

"Cheng Suxin, wow, I didn't expect you to be so fickle. You haven't been broken up for a few days, and you've already found someone new!" Xu Yunhui was overwhelmed with emotions. Seeing Chen Ziqian looking so dashing, she was practically fuming with jealousy. What was Cheng Suxin but a plain Jane? Had all the men gone blind?

"Susu, ...you and him... when did this happen?" Liu Haoran was also shocked, thinking that Susu, having lost him, would certainly be alone and grieving for many days. But she had found another man so quickly. Perhaps she had hooked up with him before they had even broken up?