Chapter 97: (97) Grand Total (2)

Elise’s fingers moved quickly across the tablet.

Line after line of expensive dresses, quantities, and prices stacked up in complete silence. The soft glow of the screen reflected in her eyes as the total climbed higher and higher, each new addition making her throat tighten a little more. Every few seconds she glanced at Daniel from the corner of her eye — still calm, still holding Kira bridal-style against his chest — then forced herself to look back at the rising numbers and continue calculating.

After a full minute, the final figure appeared.

She took a deep breath. Her pupils trembled as she stared at the absurd total. Her heart didn’t want to do it, but she had no choice. Slowly, she turned the tablet around and held it so only Daniel could see the glowing number. She refused to speak it out loud.

A youth near the front of the crowd immediately called out, voice loud and eager for drama,

"Miss, what are you doing? We’re waiting for the grand total. Let us witness the price of love too!"

Fan grinned feeling himself supported, chimmed in too,

"Yes! Don’t hide it from us. We’re here to support him!"

Others quickly joined in, phones half-raised, eyes hungry. Nobody actually cared about the money or the couple. They only wanted entertainment to break the boredom of their daily lives — doesn’t matter if a rich-looking man got himself a baddie or get publicly humiliated in the process.

Elise turned toward the crowd, bowed slightly, and spoke with forced professionalism.

"That information falls under customer privacy. As staff, we cannot disclose it."

Mina’s eyes glinted with cold calculation. Quick on her feet and experienced with using her body to get what she wanted, she stepped forward in a flash. Before Elise could tighten her grip, Mina snatched the tablet from her hands. Elise’s wrist had been turned at an awkward angle and she hadn’t been holding it tightly enough.

Mina’s eyes went wide as she read the numbers. Her full lips parted in pure disbelief. Then her expression curved into a vicious, triumphant smile as she heard the impatient murmurs rising around her.

Without hesitation she raised her voice and announced the total for the entire boutique to hear—

"6,450,000!"

Disbelief crashed over everyone like a cold wave.

"Whaaat? Six... milli—"

"It’s almost six and a half million!!"

"That amount just for... fabric to cover our skin?"

"Heh~ If you don’t want to pay to cover your skin, go ahead and drape a banana leaf over your body," one girl’s voice cut in sarcastically toward her own boyfriend.

"No baby, I was just ask—"

"Shut up, you poor bastard."

The girl then turned her gaze toward Daniel. Hearing the absurd total hadn’t even made his eyes twitch. He simply stood there, calm and bored, as if six million Credits was pocket change he spent on candy. His refined, dominant aura pressed against her senses like a physical weight. She could feel it in her bones — if that man ordered her to "Bend over" right now, she would do it. Right there. In front of her boyfriend. She would spread her legs wide, pull her panties to the side, and let the hot older man fuck her raw and hard until he stuffed thick wads of cash into her cum-filled pussy. Just thinking about it made her cunt clench and ache with a needy, shameful throb. But the moment she looked back at her ordinary boyfriend’s face — that plain, groveling expression — every dirty throb died instantly. Instead she felt cold disgust at the thought of being touched by anyone other than the middle-aged man standing in the center.

Elise quickly snatched the tablet back from Mina’s hands, eyes sharp and cold.

"The total for the clothes alone is 4,872,000 Credits."

She locked eyes with Mina and continued, voice clear and cutting—

"The 6,450,000 Credits includes matching lingerie sets suggested by the system for each dress, priority custom tailoring, and same-day premium delivery — none of which the customer is required to purchase."

Mina dragged her voice mockingly, full breasts rising and falling inside the tight pink dress.

"So what? I’m sure this guy won’t disappoint his ’lover’ and will buy them all. So the real price is still the first one — 6,450,000 Credits."

Fresh exclamations burst from the crowd of singles and couples whether out of pure jealousy or appreciation doesn’t matter.

"Damn!! It’s still more than six million!!"

"Like 4.5 million isn’t already insane, shithead!!"

"Even our semester college fees are only around 20,000 Credits. Damn!! I’m so jealous!!"

"Jealous? What are you jealous about? The guy hasn’t paid yet. Look at his face — just hearing the price shut him up!! Hahaha~!!"

Many of the horny girls and a few of the more sensible guys turned to look at the speaker — a fat, ugly guy with pimples scattered across his face who was currently munching on a burger with his mouth open. Disgust crawled over them as they rolled their eyes and thought the same thing—Yes, our jealousy is nothing compared to yours, you fatass.

Fan walked straight up to Daniel and looked him in the eyes, voice loud and oily.

"What? Are you gonna hit me?" He smiled wickedly, narrowing his eyes. "Or are you gonna beg me? Go on, I’m listening. Maybe if you beg nicely I’ll feel generous and throw in some real cash instead of a punch like a brute."

Daniel tilted his head slightly. His voice came out slow, calm, and completely unbothered.

"Beg? Me? I could literally buy this entire boutique right now and your shameless ass would still only know how to bark."

It worked, Fan thought, excitement flaring hot in his chest. This had been his plan all along — to provoke the man into digging an even deeper public hole.

He stepped back with renewed fervor and clapped loudly three times, drawing every eye toward himself.

Clap~ Clap~ Clap~!!

"Everyone! I just suggested to this... gentleman that if he lacks the amount, he should simply back away. We won’t mind. This happens in love sometimes — we get overheated and promise things beyond our capability. There’s nothing shameful about it. But the gentleman here refused and boldly claimed that he can buy this whole boutique right now. I don’t know where his confidence comes from, but I think people should still have limits so they don’t disturb everyone. So I want to ask all of you to witness this once-in-a-lifetime scene of a lover buying the entire boutique for his love!"

The crowd turned toward Daniel again. Many now thought the same thing— Wasn’t he being a little too arrogant?

Lara and Anna had gone completely silent.

Lara had never seen that kind of money in her life. Her family barely qualified as middle class. Her mind felt spinning as she wondered can the cheating afford this?

Anna felt a heavy weight of guilt pressing on her chest. Why had she brought her father here today? If she hadn’t, none of this would have happened. She didn’t blame Daniel — she simply couldn’t stand watching her daddy’s dignity and respect being threatened in front of so many people. At that moment she hated nothing more than Fan’s greasy smiling face. If she were allowed one free murder, she would have used it on him without a second of hesitation.

Kira remained pressed tightly against Daniel’s chest, trembling slightly after hearing the total. A cold feeling spread through her entire body. The whispers and stares felt like they were drilling through her soft skin and piercing straight into her psyche.