Ann yawned in boredom as she watched Grace pick out shoes and clothes.
"Miss Grace, there is a limited edition handbag design I'm sure you'd love," Grace's shopper said with a smile.
"Oh really? Let me see," Grace said without thinking, making the shopper look at her with a frown.
"Are you Grace too? I was referring to her, not you," The lady said, pointing to Ann.
"Oh! I'm her personal assistant. So I was answering on her behalf," Grace quickly corrected herself.
"I'm really exhausted. Kindly show it to her. Whatever she decides on is okay by me," Ann said, hiding a yawn.
She quickly dipped her hand into her handbag to search for her phone when she heard it ringing. She glanced at Grace in alarm when she realized it was Tae-Joon. She was at a crossroads regarding what to do about her feelings for Tae-Joon.
"You should take your call," Grace suggested moving to sit beside her.
"What am I to say? If I keep being friendly towards him, then there might be a possibility of him getting married to you. It's a real dilemma," Ann said, allowing the call to end.
"You really are in love with him, aren't you? Sara said something about you hating me," Grace said, looking at Ann pitifully.
"What's there not to love? He is handsome, charming, empathetic, has a good sense of humor, etc.," Ann said with a shrug.
"I don't see any of that in him. He is simply not my type!" Grace said with an unladylike snort.
Ann's phone started ringing again, and she looked at Grace.
"Take the call. Just hear him out. You do realize that if you push him away and the marriage ends up getting canceled, you'll eventually lose him to someone else," Grace said.
"Oh no! I'm so confused," Ann said before pressing the receive button.
"Were you in the middle of something?" Tae-Joon asked politely the moment the call connected.
"Kinda, but it's fine. I can talk now," Ann quickly assured him.
"How're you feeling today?" Tae-Joon asked, hoping she had gotten over whatever it was which had made her seem so interested in her personal assistant.
"I'm healthy if that's what you mean," Ann said, wondering if that was the only reason he had called.
"Do you have any plans for tonight? I thought we could go out and have a proper dinner. My grandfather is insisting on going on with the marriage plans, so I was thinking we could spend more time together and get to know each other," Tae-Joon suggested.
"I have plans already. My personal assistant is having her welcome party tonight... I have to be there," Ann said apologetically.
"I didn't figure you to be the type that attends staff parties. Can I come?" Tae-Joon asked. He needed to spend time around her and her personal assistant to understand their relationship better.
"Sure. You could be my plus one," Ann said, making Grace, who had been busy inspecting the bag she had received, frown at her.
"I'll text you the venue when we decide on it," Ann said, ignoring Grace's questioning look.
"Okay then. See you later," Ann said before disconnecting the call.
"You're inviting him to a welcome party I said I didn't want to attend?" Grace asked, glaring at her.
"And I told you that you're going to attend it whether you want to or not. I'm doing my best to be you, so you have to reciprocate it," Ann said under her breath so the shop attendant wouldn't hear her.
"Duck!" Grace whispered to Ann the moment she spied her mother entering the boutique.
"Why?" Ann asked in a whisper immediately after she had hidden behind a mannequin.
"My mother is here. I don't want her to see us," Grace said, bending down beside Ann.
"You're actually hiding from your mother? This is ridiculous," Ann said in amusement.
"Welcome, ma'am. I guess you're here to shop with your daughter," Grace's personal shopper said to Mrs. Jiang.
"Grace is here?" Mrs. Jiang asked, looking around the boutique.
"Oh! She was over there with her personal assistant a while ago," The lady said with a confused frown as she moved in their direction.
"Hello, mother!" Ann greeted, stepping out from behind the mannequin like she was trying to surprise her mother.
"What were you doing back there?" Mrs. Jiang asked with a frown before looking at Grace.
"I only wanted to surprise you with my presence," Ann said, giggling in a way that was totally out of character for Grace, making both Grace and Mrs. Jiang give her a weird look.
"What do you think you're doing?" Grace asked under her breath as her mother drew closer to them.
"Laughing, I suppose," Ann muttered.
"You're making a fool of myself. Please stop it," Grace said between clenched teeth.
"I'm quite surprised already. How did your meeting with the foreign investors go? And aren't you supposed to be with Zoe? Or has she returned home already?" Mrs. Jiang asked.
"Oh, Zoe! Yes, I asked her to help me run an errand," Ann said and clamped her mouth shut when Grace glared at her.
"What errand?" Mrs. Jiang asked with a frown. She couldn't shake off the feeling that something weird was going on between her daughter and this stranger.
"She is helping Director Grace sort out some documents at the office. Chairman Jiang thinks working around the office will help her make up her mind about joining the company faster," Grace smoothly explained to Mrs. Jiang.
"Oh! That isn't an errand. For a minute there, I thought something was going on that I wasn't aware of," Mrs. Jiang said, sighing deeply in relief.
"You do look more like a capable personal assistant today," Mrs. Jiang said, complimenting Grace.
"Thank you, ma'am," Grace said with a smile as she gave a slight bow.
"Who are those for? Those look definitely too big to be yours," She said to Ann.
"They're not mine. I'm trying to make her look like a more capable personal assistant. My shoes are too small for her, and it's giving her blisters," Ann explained.
"So you helped her pick all of these?" Mrs. Jiang asked.
"No, I--"
"Yes, she did. I have little or no sense of fashion. Director Grace has a really good fashion sense," Grace said quickly.
Mrs. Jiang looked from Grace to Ann and decided to look into Ann's background as quickly as possible. Grace had never spoken about someone like Ann before, and she couldn't understand their sudden friendship nor why Grace would spend so much money and time on her.
"Have you both had lunch?" She decided to ask.
"No, we haven't," Ann quickly said before Grace could say something else. She was really famished and wanted to eat something nice.
"Okay then. Let's go have lunch together before you return to the office," Mrs. Jiang said.
"Okay, I'll just pay for these first," Grace said, heading to the counter with the card.
"Why are you with the card? Shouldn't Grace be doing that?" She asked with a frown making Grace pause.
"You worry too much, mother. It's not like she is going to be running away with my money," Ann said, giggling to herself at the thought of that. Not that she had any penny to her name anyway.
"Okay then, go ahead. I'll just pick a thing or two before leaving," Mrs. Jiang said, leading Ann to the jewelry section.
"You remember that wristwatch I lost some time ago?" She asked Ann, who simply gave her a blank look.
"No, I can't remember it," Ann said, raising her hand to her head like she was having a headache.
"Oh! I guess you are yet to regain your memory fully. We should visit the doctor tomorrow," Mrs. Jiang said before turning to look at Grace, who had just joined them.
"Let's go out for lunch. I'll return to do my shopping later," She said before leading them out.