Chelsea dressed nothing like the daughter of a billionaire empire.
Her hair was styled into two playful buns.
She wore an oversized hoodie that almost swallowed her frame, a cute pleated skirt, and clean white sneakers.
She looked more like a cheerful high school student than a twenty-one-year-old heiress.
And she liked it that way.
The mall was massive.
Luxury brands lined the upper floors. Crystal lights reflected off marble floors. The air smelled faintly of perfume and polished wood.
Bryan walked slightly behind the two girls, hands in his pockets, calm as always.
Rhianna, on the other hand, was in her element.
"Oh my God, look at this bag!"
She moved from store to store like she owned the place.
Chelsea followed for a while.
But designer handbags didn't excite her.
Neither did silk dresses.
After twenty minutes, she gently tapped Rhianna's shoulder.
"I'm going to grab milk tea. I'll be back."
Rhianna nodded absentmindedly, already examining another rack of dresses.
Bryan's eyes followed Chelsea for a moment before he looked away.
---
Chelsea wandered toward the food section.
That was when she saw it.
A massive digital display screen.
And on it—
The newest limited-edition Titan X Pro laptop.
Her dream machine.
The Titan X Pro featured:
A 4K ultra-HD edge-to-edge display
Customizable RGB backlit keyboard
64GB RAM
4TB SSD storage
Advanced cooling system for heavy coding and gaming
Military-grade encryption hardware
Limited global release
It was sleek. Matte black. Minimalist. Powerful.
Her eyes sparkled.
"My dream man," she whispered dramatically.
She stepped closer, too distracted to notice—
And bumped into something solid.
Very solid.
She stepped back.
It wasn't a wall.
It was a man.
A tall, broad-shouldered, sharply dressed man.
She slowly looked up.
And up.
And up.
He was handsome.
Not soft handsome.
Not boyish handsome.
But the mature, refined, intimidating kind.
Sharp jawline. Calm eyes. Tailored dark suit.
He watched her with faint amusement.
This was Dylan Brown.
CEO of Brown Corporation.
A trillion-dollar empire.
He owned the mall.
He owned half the commercial properties in the city.
And he was known as the "Golden Bachelor."
Cold. Brilliant. Untouchable.
"Is there something on my face?" Dylan asked smoothly.
Chelsea blinked.
Her brain restarted.
"Nooo, it's great."
Dylan raised an eyebrow.
"…Great?"
She pointed dramatically toward the display screen.
"I was looking at my dream man and you bumped into me. What is funny about that?"
He stared at her.
"Your dream man?"
"Yes."
She inhaled confidently.
"The Titan X Pro, 4K display, 64GB RAM, 4TB SSD, ultra-fast processor, military encryption system, limited edition, global release model."
She said it all in one breath.
With pride.
Dylan was silent for a moment.
Her dream man… was a laptop.
He almost laughed.
He had come to inspect the mall without warning. No assistants. No entourage.
And instead of finding issues or security flaws—
He found a girl with two buns calling a computer her dream man.
Interesting.
"How old are you, little one?" he asked casually.
Little one.
Chelsea froze.
Little one??
First, he stood in her way.
Then he laughed at her.
Now this?
Her blood boiled.
"I am not little one," she said sharply. "I'm twenty-one this year. I am literally an adult."
She crossed her arms.
And pouted.
Which unfortunately made her look incredibly cute.
Dylan immediately realized he had annoyed her.
That wasn't his intention.
He wasn't used to speaking gently.
Most people trembled around him.
This girl?
She glared at him.
Before he could respond—
She turned and walked away.
Just like that.
Dylan stood there for a moment.
Confused.
No one walked away from him like that.
No one dismissed him like that.
He watched her disappear into the crowd.
"…Interesting," he murmured.
Just then, his assistant hurried toward him.
"Sir, the board meeting has been moved forward."
Dylan nodded once.
His expression returned to its usual cold indifference.
But as he walked away—
He couldn't help wondering.
Who was she?
---
Meanwhile.
In the clothing section.
Rhianna held up a fitted emerald dress.
"Bryan, what do you think?"
Bryan leaned against a pillar casually.
"It's nice."
"That's it?" she frowned. "Just nice?"
"It's green."
Rhianna stared at him.
"That is not helpful."
Bryan shrugged.
"You asked."
She rolled her eyes.
"You have no fashion sense."
"I didn't know this was a fashion competition."
She walked toward him, holding up another dress.
"What about this one?"
"It's… also green."
"It's not green! It's olive!"
Bryan smirked faintly.
She huffed.
"You are impossible."
"And yet you invited me," he replied calmly.
She paused.
"I didn't invite you."
"You didn't reject me either."
That made her freeze.
Their eyes met for a brief second.
Something shifted.
She quickly looked away.
"You're annoying."
Bryan pushed himself off the pillar and walked closer.
"You're dramatic."
She gasped.
"Excuse me?"
"You asked for opinions. I gave you honest ones."
"You barely looked!"
He reached out suddenly—
And adjusted the sleeve of the dress she was holding.
"This one," he said more quietly. "This one suits you better."
Rhianna blinked.
His voice had softened.
She felt her heartbeat change slightly.
Before she could respond—
A sales assistant approached them.
"Sir, that dress is part of our exclusive couple's promotional set."
Both of them froze.
"Couple's?" Rhianna repeated.
"Yes. If purchased together with the men's collection—"
"We're not a couple," Bryan said calmly.
Rhianna spoke at the same time.
"We're not together."
The assistant looked awkward.
"Oh… I apologize."
She quickly walked away.
Silence.
Rhianna looked down at the dress.
Bryan looked ahead casually.
But inside?
His ears were slightly red.
Rhianna noticed.
And smiled to herself.