Chapter 472: Material Compensation

“After you left last night, I figured it would be boring just going home, so I took a flight back to Coalmont overnight. I wanted to come back and see my parents. Can you tell your parents for me, so they don’t think we had a fight?”

Even though he was the reason she’d flown back to Coalmont overnight, and Faye Fisher was clearly furious but holding her tongue, Brandon Jacobs played dumb and managed to gloss over it.

“Okay. Well, have fun at home. I’ll transfer you some money. Buy your parents something nice from me.”

The two of them hung up the phone amicably.

Donna Thorne washed her face and fixed her hair, then they got in the car together and left the villa.

After a bit of a drive, the car reached the city center.

Brandon Jacobs spotted a pharmacy and pulled the car over to the side of the road.

“Wait here. I’m going down to buy some medicine.”

Inside the pharmacy, someone enthusiastically asked what he wanted to buy. Brandon, wearing sunglasses that mostly obscured his face, replied with a detached expression.

“The morning-after pill.”

The woman gave him a strange look. “Just one?”

“Mhm.”

“This pill is only effective within 72 hours. It’s useless after that, sir.”

“I know.”

The woman placed the medicine on the counter. Brandon Jacobs took out his phone to pay, but the woman didn’t move away, lingering right beside him.

“Wouldn’t you like to buy some condoms while you’re at it, sir? We have several brands on sale right now—buy two boxes, get one free. Taking this pill often is very damaging to a woman’s body, especially for women of childbearing age. If she takes it too much, she might have trouble getting pregnant later on.”

Brandon Jacobs was unmoved by her sales pitch.

‘There absolutely won’t be a next time with Donna Thorne.’

“No need, thank you.”

Back in the car after buying the pill, Brandon Jacobs handed Donna Thorne a bottle of water. Without hesitation, she popped the pill out of its packaging and put it in her mouth.

‘It was her first time, and she had the bad luck to run into an irresponsible guy like me.’ He felt a pang of guilt.

‘Especially making her wear someone else’s clothes—someone who was dead, no less…’

‘Only a woman like her, with no power, no connections, and no way out, wouldn’t get angry with him.’

‘Any other woman would have raised hell.’

‘I can only compensate her materially.’ “I’ll take you to buy some clothes first.”

Donna Thorne felt she hadn’t done anything for him and was ashamed to take his things. But she had no choice but to accept, so she followed him into the mall in silence.

They were all well-known luxury brands.

A single glance revealed high-end, opulent displays.

Brandon Jacobs casually picked a brand and walked in. The moment Donna Thorne stood there, several salespeople swarmed over, their eyes gleaming.

She had a standard model’s figure with perfect proportions. She could probably make even a rag look stunning. They loved serving this type of customer.

Sure enough, Donna Thorne tried on two outfits and came out looking like a runway model.

The sales associates showered her with compliments and recommended several more outfits, but Donna felt two were enough to rotate between.

“That’s alright. Just bag these up, please.”

But Brandon Jacobs gave an order with a nonchalant expression.

“Go try on some more. You all see what suits her, so recommend a few more.”

Donna was forced to try on more than ten outfits, each one showcasing her unique style.

With a wave of his hand, Brandon Jacobs bought them all.

After paying, Donna stared at the long string of numbers on the receipt and the staggering total. Her face felt hot enough to fry an egg.

‘You can’t just spend money like this, even if you’re rich. This is outrageous!’

She thought they would be leaving after that, but Brandon turned and led her to a second store.

This time, Donna absolutely refused to go in.

“So many clothes! I’d need half a month to wear them all, even at one a day. Is it necessary to be this extravagant? No more, no more, I’m really not buying any more.”

“Shoes, lingerie… you don’t need those?”

Donna was speechless.

Brandon Jacobs then had her pick out five pairs of shoes and five sets of lingerie.

By the time they came out again, Donna couldn’t carry everything with both hands.

In the past, Brandon Jacobs had begged Elsa to go shopping with him but rarely got the chance. Today was one of the few times in his life he’d gone shopping with a woman.

If he hadn’t seen Donna struggling to carry everything, he really wouldn’t have wanted to take the bags from her. It didn’t fit his image.

The moment he took them, the atmosphere between them immediately changed.

A tall, handsome man carrying shopping bags of all sizes, walking through the mall with his beautiful girlfriend.

He looked like such a good man; they were a picture-perfect, eye-catching couple.

Donna went to buy some daily necessities while Brandon took the clothes and shoes back to the car.

A few minutes later, they met up. Donna had only picked out a few basic groceries.

“You’re not planning to come grocery shopping every day, are you?”

Donna froze.

He said, “Buy more. It’s best to get a week’s worth at once. I don’t like shopping.”

‘So that’s what he meant.’

Donna added more groceries to the cart.

While she was over there examining the produce, Brandon Jacobs, bored out of his mind, wandered over to the liquor aisle.

The supermarket’s liquor section was dazzling, with all sorts of options.

He was killing time reading the various labels when suddenly, two rowdy children ran up beside him.

They were young and oblivious, running fast and recklessly.

Afraid of bumping into them, Brandon subconsciously took half a step back. He never expected the back of his head to hit a bottle. With a CRASH, it came tumbling down.

A store employee heard the sound and rushed over. Before she could even speak, Brandon, knowing he was at fault, quickly spoke.

“I’ll pay for it. Sorry about that. So, what do I need to do now?”

As the employee was telling him what to do, Donna also heard the commotion and came running over with the shopping cart.

“What’s wrong? What happened? Did it… you’re not hurt, are you?”

He wasn’t.

The bottle of wine was only a little over 400 yuan. Brandon Jacobs didn’t think anything of it.

“Didn’t I tell you to pick out more? Why is there still so little?”

Donna thought it was already a lot. Since she was the only one eating, this was more than enough for a week.

Watching the beautiful liquid pool on the floor, Brandon didn’t feel a thing, but her heart ached.

Growing up, aside from 2.5-yuan bottles of beer, she had never drunk any other kind of alcohol.

“Is this foreign liquor? Why is it this color?”

The employee explained, “This is a certain imported wine. It’s famous for having a different color than others, and it tastes wonderful. Sir, were you planning to buy this wine? Since it broke, you can just buy another bottle. I see your girlfriend seems quite interested.”

‘Girlfriend?’

‘Do she and Brandon Jacobs even look like a couple? How many people had called her his girlfriend today?’

Because of that one word, Donna’s heart felt a mix of sourness and sweetness.

Brandon Jacobs’s gaze fell on her face, and he saw her staring at the saleswoman with a curious expression.

“What, you want to drink some?”

Donna didn’t know where she found the courage, but she told him the truth.

“I’ve never had it. In my whole life, I’ve never had any real alcohol.”

She had a face that could bring nations to their knees, yet in reality, she was unbelievably innocent.

The shopping cart happened to be quite empty. Brandon Jacobs grabbed several bottles of wine from the shelf—CLANK, CLANK, CLANK—and put them inside.

“Then let’s grab a few more bottles. You can pour yourself a little to try when you get home from work each day. A little wine before bed helps with sleep.”

Donna pushed the cart to the household goods section to buy toothpaste, a toothbrush, and slippers. The bottles were CLINKING AND CLANKING, and she was hesitant to move too quickly.

Besides, she was still sore from the previous night’s exertions, and her legs felt a little…

Brandon Jacobs took the cart from her.

“You just pick what you want and put it in. I’ll push.”