8 HillCrest Mall

Entering the mall she was welcomed by the familiar environment. She had sent the chauffeur off and told him to come back when she called him so there was no legitimate time limit for her and thankfully that was in line with the "old" her. It was perfectly normal for her to take hours to shop and go between several stores which gave her an advantage now. It was crazy that these little behaviours of hers that she thought nothing of were almost godsend.

There was a small part of her that felt pathetic but there was nothing she could do, "there is no room for self respect when the goal is to live."

Continuing her stride she headed deeper into the mall. As she had expected the mall was still filled people but was more sparse than during its peak hours. Walking towards the directory she stood for a couple of seconds analyzing the floor map. The mall itself was one she frequented often in her past life but she was a regular at the same stores, so she had never taken the time to explore past it. As she surveyed the names there were a couple of ones that stuck out to her purely by name.

'Angelic Threads, Bloom Cosmetics, and ...Blackbird Couture.'

The last one was the name she was drawn to the most but there was no harm in checking them all out. She would have to wait however, it was too soon to check out new stores. What would she even buy with no money? The cash she had on hand was part of her small savings, approximately $2,000 at most. It hurt her to use it up completely because that was all she had so she could only bare to take out $300 today. Again, this would be a large amount to the middle class but at HillCrest Mall it was chump change. A determined glint entered her eyes as she stared at the directory with more force. She would overcharge as much as she could today and build her savings!

'Get your shit together and let's do this. You are the Lin family princess.'

Stepping away from the directory, she tilted her chin up higher and calmly walked towards the escalator. Her first destination was on the top floor of the mall, it was where they congregated the luxury brands that she used to frequent in her last life.

'Well technically it was this life as well....only I have memories of the previous one? This is so confusing.'

It was hard for her thoughts to stay focused as part of her was still reeling from the shock of rebirth. She understood clearly that this reality was real and her death was equally as real, the pain of the fire on her skin still haunted her. Being burnt alive meant that you felt every part of you break away till it death took you. There was no doubt that she would try her best to survive this time but it had only been a day since her rebirth, from a pampered princess to a prisoner against time she still had a lot of room to grow. Taking each action step by step helped her validate her emotions but it was also very overwhelming.

She was frankly a mess inside but forced herself to keep it cool on the outside. The first 24 hours went with her scrambling to become a colder person and protect herself, a lot of emotions were dead to her now like love towards her family but fear was still strong as ever. Maybe it would be different if she had been reborn years before not a measly six months before her murder.

'Whoever gave her this life surely did not make it easy but six months was six months. If it comes worst to worst she will just run away and live on the streets! Okay...maybe not streets...'

Her train of thought was interrupted as the escalator ended. This mall was more convenient in that the escalators connecting to each floor were near each other, so there was never a far walk. Walking to the right she made her way to the other escalator leading to the third floor. It was a quick transition before she found herself surrounded by the smell only luxury products could offer. Her body moved on autopilot as she made her way towards to LV (Louis Vuitton).

Entering the store, she saw her usual assistant standing by. With a gentle smile she headed towards the newer products and glanced through what was there. If it was the old her, she would have bought a couple of bags and clothing items but those had no value to her. Her eyes went straight to the jewelry, the gold and silver that had resale value. She could even melt them down to earn cash if it got to that point.

"Hello Ms. Lin, is there anything I may help you with today? The bag you had your eye on has arrived as well, if you would like me to bring it out now?"

'Bag, what bag...? It had been too long but she vaguely remembered buying a new bag around this time.' "I am interested in something new today, anything jewelry that is new? No need to show me the bag, just add it to my total when I am done browsing."

"Of course, we have a new collection of monogram jewelry from our 1854 collection. Please follow me to the VIP lounge, I will have everything brought to you."

"Thank you." She kept her smile and gave a small nod to the assistant. It seemed her acting was satisfactory and nothing seemed out of place, if she could fool her then the other stores seemed less threatening. She was thankful her young miss persona was engrained in her bones even if she did not intend to act in that way. Her body relaxed as she followed the girl into the lounge and sat in her usual spot. Everything in the room was as she remembered and gave her a good feeling for how the rest of the day would go.

But did things ever go her way.....?