As soon as Zuri left, Dalia was furious, her chest heaving up and down.
"What does she mean by this? Is she saying I mistreat her?"
"Mom, don't blame Zuri. She's just angry. She'll be fine once she cools down."
Dalia looked appreciatively at her gentle and kind daughter, feeling comforted, and noticing her daughter's hidden loneliness, she felt heartache, "Don't worry, Mom will give you money. Buy whatever you like."
On the other side, after leaving the villa, Zuri directly asked the driver to take her to the city center.
Standing among the towering skyscrapers, looking up at the blue sky, she thought about how long it had been since she last saw the sun outside. One year, two years, maybe even longer. The Lin family had bound her and sent her to that abusive old pervert in exchange for enough benefits to expand the Lin Group.
They used the money they got from her to buy properties and hold grand weddings for Saira, living a life of luxury.
Meanwhile, she lived in hell, in darkness.
Standing in the sunlight, squinting her eyes, feeling the warm, burning sensation of the sun on her skin, it felt so good.
"Bang..."
A little boy ran straight into her, spilling his ice cream all over her clothes. The child fell to the ground, crying loudly.
The child's mother hurried over, picked him up, and upon seeing the scratch on his arm, glared angrily.
"What's wrong with you? Can't you watch where you're going? Look what you did to my son."
Zuri looked down at her ice-cream-stained shirt, then at the mother who was defending her son who had caused the trouble. She smiled, a bit wickedly.
She bent down, picked up the half-eaten ice cream from the ground, and walked up to the boy's mother.
"What are you doing?" The mother glared at her, trying to intimidate her with her gaze.
Zuri didn't respond and directly smeared the remaining ice cream on her white dress.
"Ahhh!" the mother screamed in horror.
The piercing sound attracted the attention of passersby, who looked over and, seeing the ice cream on both of them and the crying child, could guess what had happened.
"What's wrong with you? You not only knocked over my child, hurting him, but also dirtied my dress. You owe me compensation for this dress. It's very expensive." The mother screamed hysterically.
Zuri pointed to a surveillance camera a few meters away, "There's evidence. Are you sure you want to argue?"
The mother's eyes flickered, not daring to speak.
The surrounding people understood what was happening—it was a classic case of the guilty party complaining first.
"I really feel sorry for your child."
Leaving these words behind, Zuri turned and walked away.
People around started pointing at the boy's mother, who, embarrassed and angry, slapped her child and hurried away with him crying loudly in her arms.
Not far away, a group of impeccably dressed elites exited the mall. Leading the group was a tall, handsome man with chiseled features, his face a mask of indifference and solemnity. His deep eyes scanned the crowd, catching a fleeting glimpse of a familiar figure. Just as he tried to take a closer look, the figure disappeared.
"Mr. Ye," his assistant Drew reminded him.
Leo withdrew his gaze and got into the car.
The Rolls-Royce drove away slowly.
Walking through the mall in clothes stained with ice cream, Zuri attracted a lot of attention but didn't care. She casually chose a store to enter.
"Welcome." The sales assistant's eyes flashed with surprise upon seeing Zuri's stained clothes, but her professionalism prevented her from showing any inappropriate reaction.
Noticing the price range of Zuri's clothes, the assistant thoughtfully said, "Ma'am, we have a major sale going on right now. Look at this dress, originally priced at 4,800 yuan, now it's just over 2,700."
"Which items are on sale?" Zuri asked.
The assistant, sensing that her sales strategy was correct, immediately guided her to the sale section. "All these clothes in this row are on sale."
"And what about those?" Zuri asked.
"These are also on sale, and those over there are this year's new arrivals," the assistant enthusiastically introduced.
"Except for the white and plain styles, pack one of each design and color in my size."
The assistant was stunned and uncertainly asked again, "Miss, do you mean you want all of those new arrivals?"
"Is there a problem?"
A credit card was presented to her.
Seeing the card, the assistant quickly shook her head. "No problem at all."
Other sales assistants looked over upon hearing this, and customers browsing the sale section also turned to look. Despite her unremarkable appearance, Zuri's actions stunned everyone.
"Ma'am, would you like to change your clothes? Which one would you like to wear?"
Zuri pointed to a red dress.
She used to love warm colors, but because Dalia didn't like them, she wore white and plain clothes to please her.
White felt too cold for her.
Red, like sunlight, warmed her heart and brought a bit of comfort during lonely nights.
When Zuri emerged from the fitting room, the waiting sales assistant was stunned, her eyes filled with amazement.
It was just a simple red dress, but on her, it looked different. The simple lines accentuated her perfect figure, her long hair cascading over her shoulders, her fair and delicate features glowing slightly under the light.
Despite not wearing luxury items or excessive accessories, and with a makeup-free face full of youthful vibrancy, her cold demeanor had an undeniable radiance.
Inside the store, men waiting for their girlfriends and women browsing the clothes all lingered their gazes on her, especially the men, who stared at her openly.
The sales assistant marveled, "Ma'am, this dress suits you perfectly. It's as if it were made just for you."
Such compliments were commonplace in their line of work, but this time, it was heartfelt.
Zuri looked at herself in the mirror, her eyes deep.
From today onwards, she would be herself, never compromising for anyone again.
After paying the bill, Zuri left her address and walked out, leaving the store to handle the delivery of her purchases.
Meanwhile, Saira was shopping with friends when one of the girls noticed the red dress on a girl opposite them.
"Look at that red dress on her. It's beautiful. Let's go check out the new arrivals in that store."
Saira's face changed immediately upon recognizing the person.
"Saira, what's wrong?" Natalie asked with concern.
"Do you know her?"
Tears welled up in Saira's eyes as she pulled her friends along, saying, "Let's go."
"Who is she?"
"What are you afraid of?"
Saira bit her lip and shook her head. "Let's go. If she sees me, I... I'll…"
Naya seemed to have realized something. "Is she the girl your parents adopted?"
"A foster daughter daring to bully you. Saira, you're too kind," Natalie, filled with righteous indignation, said angrily.
"Good people get bullied, and good horses get ridden. You can't let this continue."
"A foster daughter thinking she can lord it over you, the rightful daughter—outrageous!" Naya snorted, already feeling a dislike for Zuri.
"Let's go meet her."
The three pulled Saira towards Zuri.
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