Chapter 43: Chapter 43: Can’t Spend It All, Simply Can’t Spend It All
Snapping back to reality, Cecilia Sterling quickly opened the Chrono Bank app. Sure enough, her balance had increased—the number was exactly the same as the one in the text message.
It had been half a month since her rebirth, and she hadn’t expected another surprise like this waiting for her!
Amidst her excitement, the urge to spend, which had recently subsided, began to stir again with the arrival of this "windfall."
Cecilia immediately picked up her phone and sent a message to her sister: "Come on out. Big sis is taking you out for some fun!"
「Pinnacle at Midpoint Mall.」
"Sis!"
Lily Sterling trotted over to her sister. "Why’d you bring me to a mall again? I heard this one is even more high-end than The Metro we went to last time!"
SKP was an international-class luxury shopping center. There were only three in all of Cathay, putting it in a completely different league from The Metro.
Cecilia smiled at her sister. "No matter how high-end it is, it’s still just a mall. Today, your big sis is going to take you on an impulse shopping spree to blow off some steam!"
"Sis, I’m really okay," Lily said earnestly. "I felt a little wronged at first, but after thinking about it, what Ms. Iris Underwood said wasn’t wrong. I’ve already processed it."
Cecilia looked into her sister’s eyes and saw that she truly didn’t seem too affected, which put her mind at ease.
"Of course, it’s best that you’re okay, but today, I just feel like shopping till I drop. Don’t you dare be a buzzkill!" Cecilia said.
Hearing her sister say that, Lily could only nod obediently. She affectionately linked her arm with Cecilia’s and said, "Alright, I won’t hold back today, then. I’ll take whatever you buy for me!"
This was exactly what Cecilia wanted to hear. She hoped her sister would develop a sense of worthiness—to feel she deserved nice things, rather than constantly thinking they were too extravagant for her.
’She deserved the best of everything!’
The two sisters turned and stepped through the mall’s entrance, heading straight for the first store on the left: Dior.
"Not this one, this one, or this one. Wrap up the rest."
Chanel.
"This one, this one, and this one. One of each in different sizes and colors."
Clive Christian.
"Two complete sets of your classic perfume collection."
Patek Philippe.
"Bring out all your ladies’ watches. We’ll try them on one by one."
Such extravagant spending was a rare sight even in a place like SKP, which was accustomed to wealthy clientele. It quickly caught the attention of the mall staff.
Halfway through their shopping, Cecilia and her sister had acquired a retinue of several men in suits carrying their bags.
Lily had never seen such a spectacle. Even though her sister seemed perfectly calm, she couldn’t help but whisper, "Sis, I know, but... don’t you think we’re buying a little too much?"
The four people behind them were laden down, their eight hands completely full. They probably couldn’t carry much more.
"And... everyone is staring at us..."
At her words, Cecilia glanced around casually. Sure enough, many shop assistants were poking their heads out to watch. ’But that’s normal. Everyone gets curious.’
"This is just giving you an early taste of what it’s like to be famous. When you make it big, you’ll be surrounded by an entourage and stared at by passersby whenever you’re out in public, too."
"Besides, you should cherish the fact that you can still shop so freely and openly. You won’t get this chance later on."
Lily’s face scrunched up. Just as she was about to speak, her sister pulled her into the Van Cleef & Arpels flagship store.
The store’s employees were instantly energized, rushing forward to serve them with overwhelming enthusiasm!
They continued their shopping spree for over two hours straight, only stopping when both sisters felt too exhausted to go on.
Despite all this, Cecilia discovered they hadn’t even spent one thousand Dollar.
’Can’t spend it all. There’s just no way!’
"Miss Sterling, would you like to take these items with you in your own car, or shall we have them delivered to your home? If you didn’t drive, the mall can also provide a private car to take you back."
The staff member asked softly.
The purchases, piled up, could form a small mountain. Most of them were for her sister, so taking them back to the dorm was unrealistic.
So Cecilia wrote down the address of her house in Hearthstone Villas. "Deliver them here tomorrow evening."
The moment the staff member saw she was a homeowner in Hearthstone Villas, understanding dawned. ’She really is a rich heiress.’
"Sis, you bought a house?" Lily asked, surprised.
Cecilia raised an eyebrow and smiled, nodding. "I did. A new one, too. I haven’t even had time to go see it."
After these two shopping trips, Lily had completely accepted that her sister had made a lot of money, so after the initial surprise, she felt much more at ease.
"How big is the house? How many bedrooms?"
Cecilia thought for a moment. ’I seem to recall the sales agent mentioning it had eight bedrooms when I was getting the property details?’
She couldn’t remember the specifics, so she said casually, "I’ve forgotten, actually. If you’re free tomorrow, you can come see the new house. You can pick out your room before Ethan gets into a school in Lorcain."
Lily was dumbfounded.
’Forgetting how many rooms are in a house you bought yourself?’
’Is that even possible?’
But the moment she heard she could have her own room, Lily’s excitement was palpable. "I get my own room?"
Growing up, she had always shared a room with her sister. The year Cecilia was studying for her college entrance exams, Lily had shared a room with their mother so as not to disturb her. The only time she’d had a room to herself was this past year, after Cecilia had left for college.
She had always dreamed of having a small space that was all her own.
Cecilia gently pinched her sister’s cheek and smiled. "Of course. You can pick one with good sunlight and a big balcony."
Lily nodded excitedly. "Then I’m going to the new house tomorrow too!"
Afterwards, Cecilia took her sister to a particularly famous sushi restaurant, and she didn’t forget to get a portion to go for Estelle Goodman.
After dropping her sister off at her school, Cecilia headed back to Lorcain Tech herself.
Outside her dormitory, before she even got close, Cecilia saw Estelle Goodman standing under a streetlight with a boy. The boy was in the shadows, so Cecilia couldn’t make out his face, but she could faintly hear Estelle talking.
"Next time you bring me something, can you be a little earlier? I just got out of the shower and haven’t even dried my hair."
"Oh. Okay, I got it."
"What happened to your neck?"
"It’s nothing. Just a mosquito bite that I scratched open."
"Why’d you use so much force? Doesn’t it hurt?"
"Doesn’t hurt. It was just really itchy."
They were making small talk. Estelle’s tone was undeniably bossy, while the boy was calm, if a little slow to respond.
Cecilia felt a bit strange just standing there eavesdropping. Seeing that they didn’t seem to be in *that* kind of relationship, she decided to walk over. "Estelle."
Estelle turned her head, and her eyes lit up when she saw it was Cecilia. "Darling, you’re back!"
As she got closer, Cecilia finally got a clear look at the boy. It was the same one who had helped Estelle carry her luggage upstairs the day she moved into the dorm.
She remembered Estelle saying he was the son of her family’s driver, a student in the math department at Lorcain Tech.
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