Like A Coward

The following morning, Zhao Lifei woke up later than expected.When she glanced at the clock, she had immediately climbed out of bed upon realizing it was late into the afternoon, which meant she had very little time to get ready.

Pacing back and fourth in her room, she nervously ran a hand through her hair as she observed the different array of dresses scattered throughout her bedroom. Despite the price tag and beautiful style of the dress, none of them interested her.

Suddenly, all of the clothes she had seemed boring and plain. This was a major dilemma, especially when the banquet was in less than three hours!

Groaning, she collapsed onto the bed.

"Maybe I should just hide somewhere and not show up. I doubt they would miss me." She said out loud, sighing as she did so. She knew she was lying to herself because everyone would know she didn't show up to her little sister's banquet. Not only would she look bad, but so would her family.

What Wang Nuoli loved to do was brag of her long lists of influential, wealthy, and powerful acquaintances that was invited to her banquets. There was always at least four big signs standing in the hallway of the entrance that gave away who was invited to the banquet.

Zhao Lifei knew from the bottom of her heart that her mother placed her name in the most visible area to show the people how much of an "amazing" mother she was for "not abandoning" her child — even though she did just that.

After a few minutes of starring at the ceiling and weighing the idea of disappearing, Zhao Lifei finally got up from her bed to get ready.

She didn't want to look like a coward.

She had already skipped multiple social banquets. Skipping her little sister's birthday would solidify the rumors that she was avoiding the socialite circle.

Just when Zhao Lifei prepared to walk into her closet, someone rang her doorbell. Her forehead creased in confusion.

It was already late in the afternoon, who would come and visit her? Yang Ruqin was out of the city for a photo shoot, and she didn't have that many friends who would visit her.

Zhao Lifei walked to the door and checked the monitor on the wall. This time it was one of the apartment workers. She instantly recognized he was the one who always hand-delivered all of the packages.

She hesitated to open the door because she knew she didn't order anything.

When the door bell rang again, Zhao Lifei opened the door.

"Please sign here, Ma'am." The man said, handing over a device.

"Thank you, but who is this from?" Zhao Lifei asked, grabbing the device and fluidly signed her name.

"Not sure, but a secretary passed it to us a few minutes ago." The man said, checking the signature and handing the box over.

Zhao Lifei raised a brow, but didn't ask anymore. She took the box and closed the door.

She set the box down and opened her. Her eyes flew open in surprise.

Inside the white box was a gorgeous sapphire-colored dress. When she lifted the dress to see it in its full glory, she felt at loss for words. Whenever the dress swayed, it would catch the light and shine a brilliant hue.

The dress was breathtakingly beautiful and suitable for a Princess, but something about it felt off. Where had she seen it before?

After a few seconds of thinking, she suddenly remembered something. Yang Feng had send her a sapphire necklace that would go wonderfully with this dress.

But then she thought about it and shook her head. She needed to return the necklace to him anyways, she didn't want to be seen wearing something she would soon return.

Besides, she knew she had a lot of different jewelries that might also be suitable for blue.

After texting Yang Ruqin about Yang Yulong's confirmation on being her date, Zhao Lifei began to get ready.

She took a shower first, then did her hair in a fancy up do with a few loose strands framing her heart-shaped face. She stared at herself in the mirror and realized she would need make-up to hide the enormous dark bags underneath her eyes from the endless nights of sleep.

After concealing her dark circles and doing some simple eye make-up, she took one last glance at herself in the mirror.

The dress she wore was really mesmerizing. It was a mermaid-evening dress that wrapped around her body in the perfect places which enhanced Zhao Lifei's figure. She hate to admit it, but her breast wasn't as big as the dress had hoped for, thus, it was a bit loose in that area...

When she checked the clock, her eyes bulged. The party would start in less than an hour! Zhao Lifei hurriedly grabbed her earrings, her purse, then her phone, and quickly ran out of the door.

She got onto the elevator and because it was already eight, there was no elevator staff. She pressed the button to the ground floor and checked her phone to see if Yang Ruqin had texted her back.

[Qinqin: Yeah, he's coming. Something came up, so he can't pick you up, but he will meet you at the banquet. I think he ordered a car to pick you up?]

Zhao Lifei raised a curious brow as she stepped out of the elevator. Her eyes lifted off of her phone and true to Yang Ruqin's words, there was a car waiting outside of the apartment complex.

A few of the passersby stared at it in astonishment. The apartment complex was known for it's luxurious high rise and lobby. It housed many upper class people, but the car was extremely ordinary in comparison to their gaudy sport cars.

It was the limited edition Maybach that had sold out within the first three hours the car was announced. The prestigious symbol of the Maybach shone in the front, and catching the bright lights of the Sky Arc Complex, the car was beautiful.

Zhao Lifei frowned at the extravagant pick-up, but nonetheless walked towards the car. Immediately, the chauffeur came out and opened the door for her.

She smiled warmly at him. "Thank you." She said, elegantly climbing into the car.

The driver was surprised at first, but kept his composure. "You're very welcome, Madam." He smiled while closing the door behind him.

He had served as a driver for many years and never in his lifetime had he heard anyone ever thank him for his service. It was a giddily and warm feeling...

Zhao Lifei stared out the window, a soft sigh leaving her lips. It seemed today was going to be a very long night.