*Flash back*
Fifteen years old Damien's eyes snapped open as his eyes quickly scanned the room for any other person.
The room he was in was large and had nine other two bed bunks and Damien occupied the top bunk of the tenth bed.
It quickly became apparent that he had been pretending to sleep for a while now.
A rare bright smile appeared on his face as he reached under his pillow.
After making sure once again that he was truly alone his hand moved.
"Finally, I alone." Damien sighed in relief, unable to hold his curiosity any longer, He quickly picked up his cracked-up phone from under the pillow.
A old model mobile he stole from a careless rich second-generation young master.
Without caring much about the source he proceeded to enter the unlock pin before logging into the mobile bank app.
Yes, before you asked in this age anybody could create a bank no matter their age as long as all their details checked out.
The blueish hologram also opened up in front of his face.
[Name: Damian Morningstar
Bank Details: XXXX XXXX XXXX 5678
Balance: $1,000,834
Transaction history]
"Awesome~" Damien smiled widely.
He had finally reached his goal of $1, 000,000 and it was time to put his plans into motion.
Excitedly he locked his phone and tucked it back under the pillow before he got up to take a shower.
...Nearly 30 Minutes later
"Yep, the first priority will be to buy clothes." Damien nodded to himself while dressing in a plain faded shirt and trousers. He looked once more in the mirror and fixed his messy hairstyle a bit.
Standing in front of a mirror that reflected his above-average visage, Damien smiled slightly.
Excusing his lack of decent clothing, His Long jet-black hair, deep black eyes, sharp jawline, and red thin lips earned him a right to call himself 'handsome'.
On the other hand, his body was meh. 181 cm height, 66 kg weight, and no apparent muscles.
Couple this with his lack of clothing and you get the answer on why he was single.
After being satisfied with his looks, Damien wore his old shoes.
He looked all around the room again before grabbing his pillow.
He reached into the pillow case and his hand slipped through a well hidden hole and pulled out Joe's diary.
'Since I don't want to come back here for a while I better grab this.' He thought as he shoved the diary into his trousers band under his shirt.
After making sure it was secured he grabbed his phone before heading out.
Going through the gloomy surroundings again, Damien soon reached the main road and after going far enough, he stopped himself a taxi.
... Sometime later
"Sir, We have reached the Grand Mall." The taxi driver stopped the cab in front of a big wide building, that was painted in an inviting light-toned coloring scheme, its walls adorned with countless posters and banners of many brands and products.
"Thank you." Damien opened the cab's door and got out after transferring the displayed amount on the meter to the cab driver.
Damien looked at the Grand Mall with a complex look, he had only ever been here once and he was just passing by., he wished that he could come shop here and now his wish was fulfilled.
A rush of nostalgia drew Damien in, making him appear gawking blankly at the building and getting tagged as a country bumpkin by others.
'Get ahold of yourself, Damien!' Damien scolded himself and entered the mall, throwing away all nostalgia.
Curiously looking around the bright stores and walking on the pearl-white tiles of glorious Grand Mall, Damien found what he was searching for.
D & H STORE
D&H was a multinational clothing store chain that was famous for its wide range of products. With a lot of capital in hand, Damien proudly walked into the store.
*******
Contrary to the dazzling store laden with myriads of expensive and exquisite products, A simply dressed man roamed. His plain poor clothes poles apart from the glistering items on the shelves.
Just like the ignorant country bumpkin he was, He kept gawking at the beautiful dresses.
His mouth salivated just by the mere sight of the contrasting collection between elegant suits-comfy pajamas, casual tees-formal shirts, tough denim-delicate linen...
Interested in every unique appeal of the products, he kept adding many dresses to his cart. Opposed to his poor clothes, he selected the costliest of dresses...
'That denim jacket looks so cool!' Damien thought glancing at a blue denim jacket dressed elegantly on a mannequin.
Attracted by its inviting appeal, Damien quickly went to add it to his ever-increasing cart. 'Where are you~ Aha!' Damien searched for his fit among the many available sizes.
"Excuse me, 'Sir'." After Damien returned to his cart successfully finding his fit, He heard a sarcastic voice calling to him.
Damien turned around to look at a beautiful woman dressed in an obvious set of cashier clothes.
With her were two other staff members consisting of a buffed-up strong-looking security guard and a cute staff member in pink clothes, Damien guessed her to be a helper.
" 'Sir', I wanted to remind you that you are currently in a 'premium' section of our establishment." Continuing in her sarcastic voice, the cashier spoke haughtily.
"Yes, you have reminded me. Thank you." Damien nodded to her blankly and turned to the cute helper and asked politely, "I needed some help in picking some more clothing, Please, I am not really experienced with this. "
"Ahh, Ok-" The helper who innocently was ready to do her job was suddenly stopped by the cashier.
" 'Sir'. This is a premium section. Please put the clothes back to their respective places." This time, frustration was clear in Cashier's voice.
"I am buying them, Why should I keep them back? Care to explain?" Damien gave her a side eye and scoffed.
"Since you can't afford them, As simple as that." Cashier shrugged and continued "We also have a cheaper section of clothes, you can maybe look over there... But, I doubt you can afford them either."
"I can afford these."
"Although I agree that currently being a weekday morning, the staff is pretty free. We are in no mood for absurd jokes." Cashier scoffed.
"You got some mental issues, lady. I said I can afford them, Or you're too dumb to understand?" Damien gave her a weird look and spoke flatly, dropping the politeness he was showing to the lady.
"I am neither dumb nor blind." Cashier pushed her glasses with her middle finger and continued, "If you can afford even one cloth from this section you wouldn't look like that." She pointed at his clothes.
"This section contains many delicate and expensive pieces, by touching them again and again you will soil them." She gave her reasons to Damien.
'Denim is delicate? Wtf lady?! And I bathe everyday ok?!' Damien shouted in his mind but keeping up his composed nature outside, continued "I get it. But I am buying them. How I buy them isn't your problem."
"You clearly are too stupid to understand your place. Security, Escort this young man out." Cashier sighed sadly and called security.
'So this is what happens when a poor man enters a higher-level environment. If I didn't look poor, she would dare not treat me like this.'
With an exhale, Security walked to Damien "I don't want to do this, please leave on your own to save me trouble." He requested as a formality to Damien.
Damien looked up at the towering security guard and rolled his eyes. "Enough of this! Call your manager." Damien shouted to the cashier.
'Thankfully I am not poor, I am rich. Let see her face when she realizes that.'
"A plebian like you is not worthy to meet our manager." Cashier scoffed and waved her hand to security, gesturing for him to take Damien out already.
"What's up with the commotion?" A smooth silky voice suddenly interrupted security's actions and Damien also turned around to the source of the sound.
'So pretty....' Damien was suddenly caught off guard by her beauty, His teenage hormones began raging and he had to do everything he could to control himself and act normal.
She was tall and slender with long, flowing brown hair and piercing emerald eyes. Her authoritative temperament was enhanced by her elegant black business suit.
"I am the manager here. What's the issue here?" She introduced herself and repeated her question in a calm voice.
"Your staff is being rude to me and discriminating my choice of clothes with my current outlook." Damien spoke about the issue pointing at the Cashier.
"Miss Rachel, Is what he said true?" Hearing Chris's issue, the manager turned to the Cashier.
"Yes, ma'am. He is choosing our finest clothes with no capability to afford them. I was just trying to save our clothes from spoiling." Cashier also didn't back down and spoke with certainty in her voice.
"And he confirmed that he is adding these clothes to the cart knowing he won't buy them?" The manager questioned narrowing her eyes at the Cashier.
" N-No ma'am. He says he can afford them but it's obvious that he is lying." A bit flustered, Cashier fumbled the words out of her venomous mouth.
Hearing her argument, Manager gave another top-to-bottom look at Damien and she had to admit that Cashier's argument was valid.
"Excuse me miss, I already said that I can afford these clothes. Is discrimination one of this store's policies?" Damien hearing the ongoing discussion interjected looking at the manager.
'I better show off in front of this woman.'
"No sir, I apologize from my staff's side." The manager hearing his words was surprised, quickly breaking out of her daze, she apologized. "Do you need any other help, sir?" The manager asked politely.
"Ahh..." Damien who anticipated more cold words and then he will tell them to f*ck themselves and rage quit the store, was surprised by Manager's polite and genuine apology.
'Please let my face slapping be epic.'
"Y-You don't need to apologize... She does." Damien hurriedly stopped her bow and coldly looked at the Cashier.
"Let's make a bet, Miss Rachel. If I can afford these items on the cart, you will kneel down in front of me and apologize. If I can't I will do anything you want me to." Damien walked in front of the Cashier proactively and smirked: " Do you dare?"
A bit abashed by his confident approach, the cashier was at loss for words. However, she also trusted in her judgment and agreed to his bet. "Fine. I will show you that one should always be within their limits."
"..." Manager's eyelids twitched, she was thinking that how did the situation derail so fast...
"Ahh, Miss... Arianne. I am really sorry for causing such a scene!" Damien after dealing with the Cashier, turned to the Manager and read her name.
"The bet was unnecessary." She commented softly.
"Well, so was the discrimination." Damien shrugged and continued "But, I am really thankful for your interjection.
"It's ok, Treating our customers nicely is our job."
"I wish every manager and worker was like you... But, actually, I needed your help indeed." Damien smiled wryly and continued "I actually need to select some other things too, only if you're free, I would like to request your assistance."
"Lucky for you, I am free." Arianne arrogantly stroked her hair.
"Oh my, This humble one is honored by your assistance." Damien did a fake bow to her, playing along with her haughty act.
One of the things the street taught him was using his words wisely.
"Hehe." Arianne seeing Damien's acting giggled and looked at the clothes he placed in the cart, they indeed were one of the costliest pieces of this branch.
She couldn't help but get dubious of his capability but, she also didn't want to ask him about it knowing that the question may irritate him.