9 An Easy Exchange

"Here you go miss, these are our most famous pieces from the 1854 collection." The assistant gently placed the jewelry on the table in front of her. It was kept on a flat pillow and then personally brought over to customers to touch. For regular customers they were not allowed to stray too far from the glass containers but VIP customers had extra privilege. On top of access and a separate room, they also enjoyed snacks and tea every time in the lounge. Their service truly was top tier, even the snacks were minimum $50 a piece but it was worth it considering all VIP clients spent minimum of $100,000 dollars a year at the store. Of course, there was different tiers of VIP clients, she was just a middle tier but knew of others that directly had things sent to their house prior to purchasing. It was always astounding what money could get you and it was clearer to her more now than ever. Keeping her face neutral she looked at each piece carefully. None of them were extremely beautiful though she could care less since she was looking for weight and quality. It would be easier to go to their family jeweller and commission expensive items but she knew she could not. Even if the action itself wasn't suspicious if she did run away, they could report her for stealing family jewels or use the distinctiveness to track her whereabouts once sold. Buying famous brands for resale was easier and there was less of a connection back to her.

Picking two of the earrings out of the pile she signalled for the others to be taken away. "These two are fine but do you have anything more simple in gold? I'm looking to buy these as a gift for my mom so they must be less flashy."

"Yes, of course. We have a newer line that we have not promoted yet that I believe will suit that style, one moment please."

Glancing at her watch, it had only been around 30 minutes since she had entered the mall, 45 since she had left home. There was still a lot of time ahead of her and so she could afford to be in LV a bit longer. It was nice that her mother's birthday was coming up soon so she had another cover for buying items out of her style but she doubted they watched her that extensively. All her actions were merely precautionary till she figured out how intensive the surveillance was. She had confidence that he never put a camera in her room cause they didn't think she was that much of a threat. In addition, any surveillance in the house was sure to back fire on them. Her gut feeling was that there was a huge illegal plot behind her murder and it was the least sinister thing they intended on doing. There was shock that her loving older brother held such hate for her but she had a clear picture on the type of man he was. The amount of planning put towards having her disposed didn't come naturally but by practice. Keeping track of her phone records and bank account was base level. She wasn't sure how much her parents were involved and what they had done in the past but had no desire to find out how evil they were. It was enough if she clarified the matters relating to her and her alone. Everything else was beyond her.

"Please have a look at these." The assistant placed a new set of items in front of her and it was a lot more pleasing to the eye. She liked the simple designs of the studs and two lined rings. Originally, she did like this style but her mother had always advised her to hold more 'statement' pieces hence they were on the flashier side. Nothing too obnoxious but flashy nonetheless. If she had to be flashy she would rather be edgy with ripped jeans and oversized t-shirts. Yet, she was never allowed to be that adventurous before, now she gave a rat's ass what restrictions she had. The disguise she would buy for herself would match that style and be as fun as she wanted.

"Pack up the first two and the one at the end. Add it with the rest of my things and I will check out now."

"Yes, right away." With a small bow they quickly and efficiently got everything ready for her. The items were wrapped and placed into big bags by her feet. A bill was given to her in advance to view the price as the payment machine was given. With all her items and the bag the total came around to $11,250. Pulling out her credit card she went forward to swipe it before she paused. Looking up at the assistant in front of her she kept a faint smile as she went to start her plan. "This.. do you mind increasing the total by $5,000 and paying me the difference in cash? I don't want my mother to figure out what items I had purchased and don't worry, I will hand some of it for your inconvenience."

A small crack appeared on the assistant's face as they heard her unusual request. "Ms.Lin I am not sure if I can..."

Cutting her off, she pushed further. "How about this, if you do me this small favour I will buy two bags of the new collection directly from you? I do understand its a bit of an unusual request but my mother is quite smart, I'd love to surprise her this year."

The instant she mentioned the additional bags the assistant's face smoothed out, no matter how 'troubled' she pretended to look the promise of money would sway her. After all, her livelihood depend on commission sales and she was one of her top clients. A small overcharge in exchange for additional income was an easy exchange.

"Of course not! We can definitely arrange for that Ms.Lin, we understand the joy of surprising our loved ones. Please give me a minute and I will complete it for you."

"Thank you." 'One store down, several more to go....'