It was the shop assistant from the section next door.
Su Tang’s brows furrowed almost imperceptibly.
Realizing that she had been rude, the shop assistant quickly released her hand and spoke nervously and apologetically. “I’m sorry, Miss Su. I didn’t mean to offend you.”
Seeing how beautiful Su Tang was, she tried to phrase her explanation as tactfully as possible.
“This evening gown is a private custom couture piece, and there is only one in the entire world. Its price is extremely high, and it is the crown jewel of our store.”
“The fabric and scattered diamonds are exceptionally delicate. Not even the slightest scratch, fingerprint, or crease can be repaired. If anything were to happen to it, our store couldn’t afford the loss. I’m truly sorry.”
Su Tang understood.
In simple terms, the dress was too expensive, so she was not allowed to touch it.
She gently withdrew her hand, her expression returning to calmness, and shook her head lightly. “It’s all right. I understand.”
Yet a deep sense of disappointment inevitably rose in her heart.
It was truly beautiful.
And it really suited her perfectly.
The moment she saw it, she had been certain that the dress would look absolutely perfect on her.
Unfortunately, the gown already had an owner.
The two shop assistants organizing the materials nearby saw that nothing was wrong and began chatting quietly among themselves.
“As expected of the crown jewel of the store. It’s truly breathtaking.”
“I heard the total price is close to seven figures. It’s practically like wearing an entire house on your body. That’s incredibly extravagant.”
“Only a top-tier wealthy family would be willing to commission couture at this level.”
Seven figures?!
A million-level price?!
Su Tang’s ears twitched slightly, and her heart jolted with shock.
It was actually that expensive!
Just moments ago, she had been thinking that if it didn’t belong to anyone, perhaps she could afford to buy it.
Now, that thought instantly went up in smoke.
Forget whether she could afford it. Even if Lu Zheng had given her a black card, she probably still couldn’t casually swipe it for a one-of-a-kind couture piece of this level.
Su Tang suppressed her disappointment and turned around to look at other evening gowns.
Beautiful or not, if it wasn’t hers, it ultimately wasn’t hers.
But just as she was about to turn around and choose another dress, a warm and pleasant male voice came from the entrance.
“Please help me confirm whether the Moonlight Galaxy couture piece I ordered last week has arrived at the store today.”
The familiar voice made Su Tang’s footsteps abruptly stop.
It was Lu Huai.
She had not seen him for nearly half a month.
She instinctively raised her eyes.
Standing against the light at the entrance was the same handsome young man with gentle features and a warm expression. He still had that clean, harmless, gentle demeanor that could make anyone fall for him.
But at this moment, there was clearly a sweet-looking, gentle-natured girl standing beside him.
The girl had delicate, charming features and was dressed with great care. She wore an exquisite, elegant suit and followed closely beside Lu Huai with a radiant smile.
The two of them walked side by side, looking exceptionally well-matched and pleasing to the eye.
Quite a few people in the store subconsciously looked over.
For some reason, Su Tang’s heart seemed to skip a beat.
She could not quite say that she was sad, nor could she call it grievance. It was simply a faint, empty sense of melancholy.
When they were children, Lu Huai had always had only one little tagalong by his side: her.
Everyone had naturally assumed that she was the little girl who had grown up alongside Lu Huai, the person the Old Madam had chosen as the future second young master’s wife.
Yet after only a few days without seeing him, someone else was already standing beside him.
These past few days, without her clinging to him, pestering him, or following him everywhere he went, he seemed to be doing just fine.
In fact, he seemed to be living more easily and freely than before.
Lu Huai’s peripheral vision also caught sight of Su Tang in the distance.
Seeing her standing quietly in the evening gown boutique in a simple and gentle outfit, her beautiful features calm and obedient-looking yet distant as if she were a stranger, he felt neither reluctance nor nostalgia.
Instead, he quietly breathed a sigh of relief.
At some point, Su Tang’s clinginess, persistence, and unwavering affection had become a burden to him.
These past few days, she had completely disappeared. She no longer took the initiative, no longer followed him, and no longer revolved around him.
His world had become much quieter and much easier.
He even faintly felt that perhaps things were better without Su Tang’s interference.
He no longer had to deal with her enthusiasm, feel guilty about disappointing her, or face the marriage everyone else had already taken for granted. He was free and at ease.
Therefore, even when he saw her standing alone in the corner looking somewhat lonely, Lu Huai’s heart remained completely unmoved.
He merely glanced at her before withdrawing his gaze and turning gently toward the girl beside him, patiently asking about her preferences.
“If you don’t like the one you ordered, what kind of evening gown do you like? I’ll take my time and help you choose.”
That gentle tone was something Su Tang had received from him long ago.
But now, he was giving it to someone else.
Su Tang lowered her eyes, her long eyelashes trembling slightly as the faint melancholy in her heart grew heavier.
At that moment, a shop assistant respectfully approached.
“Young Master Lu Huai, the one-of-a-kind couture piece you commissioned for Miss Sun has been carefully stored. Please come this way.”
Boom!
In an instant, Su Tang’s mind went completely blank.
So that was how it was.
The one-of-a-kind couture piece that had captured her heart at first sight, the one worth millions and unique in the entire world.
Lu Huai had commissioned it especially for another girl.
It was the evening gown he had prepared for Sun Wenyu.
The slight regret and disappointment she had felt just moments ago suddenly seemed unbearably ridiculous.
There was only a faint, bitter ache in her heart. It did not hurt, but it felt empty and desolate.
When they were children, Lu Huai would always save all the best things for her first.
But now.
He would commission a crown-jewel couture gown for another girl.
He would give someone else the ultimate romance and all his preferential treatment.
So everything really had changed.
Su Tang slowly turned her head and looked toward the clean, bright floor-to-ceiling windows of the boutique.
Outside, traffic flowed endlessly and light shifted across the streets, but her heart felt heavy and stifled, filled with desolation.
For a very long time, she had been certain that she would end up with Lu Huai.
She had clung to him since childhood, chased after him, and revolved around him.
Everyone had assumed that she would become the second young master’s wife of the Lu family, and she herself had believed that as long as she was obedient and persistent enough, one day she would be able to stand openly by Lu Huai’s side.
For that reason, she had made every possible effort.
But looking back now, she could only find it utterly absurd.
She could not stop herself from remembering that night when she awakened and stood at the crossroads of fate, faced with a choice.
That night, she had gambled once on her future.
But in the end, she had finally understood everything.
There had never been a winning option for her.
This was a wealthy-family sweet romance novel whose story had already been written in stone.
If that night she had followed the original plot, continued desperately clinging to Lu Huai, and continued playing the role of the vicious supporting female character, what would her ending have been?
She would have completely angered Lu Zheng, been ruthlessly dealt with by him, lost everything, and been driven out in misery, ultimately ending up thrown into the sea and disappearing completely.
But that night, she had awakened, regretted her choices, and stopped herself.
She had done nothing.
And what was the result?
She still had to leave.
The only difference was that there were merely two ways of being eliminated.
If she insisted on courting death, she would be driven out penniless.
If she behaved herself, she could save enough money to leave with dignity.
The essence remained unchanged.
She was still the unnecessary cannon-fodder supporting female character in this novel, still someone destined to leave the Lu family and leave everyone behind, an outsider who did not belong.
Once she understood this, the frustration in Su Tang’s chest surged violently, suffocating her until she could barely breathe.
Who wouldn’t feel miserable in her place?!
She had clearly done nothing wrong.
“Hmm? Su Tang, you’re here too?”
Hearing Sun Wenyu’s voice, Su Tang quickly suppressed that insignificant trace of melancholy in her heart, and clarity and calmness returned to her eyes.
It was fine.
Love was all an illusion.
All she needed was money.
As long as she saved up thirty million yuan, all that romantic nonsense could go to hell!