Chapter 2186

Perhaps this was what people meant when they said love could fill an empty stomach—the kind of sweetness that turned plain water into a feast, the kind that made foolish decisions feel like treasure.

Chelsea ended the call with Cecilia, her cheeks still warm from their shared laughter. Without hesitation, she spun on her heel and hurried back into the boutique.

The clerks blinked in surprise. Moments earlier, they had assumed the slender girl had balked at the price and left for good.

Instead, before anyone could greet her, Chelsea extended her debit card, her voice steady. “I’ll take it.” No bargaining. No small talk. Just the quiet certainty that sometimes the heart demanded extravagance.

She declined the offer of gift wrapping, only asking the attendant to carefully steam the fabric.

Though puzzled, the woman complied, smoothing every crease until the cloth looked as though it had been born of light itself.

As she worked, the clerk murmured instructions—how the iron should glide, never linger, how heat could scorch something so delicate.