She Left She Thrived She’s Worth Billions novel Chapter 943

Elara was visibly crawling in her skin, her mouth twitching violently.

But utterly incapable of resisting Alistair, she was forced to let him grope her in the middle of a public boutique.

Melanie furrowed her brows slightly.

Alistair's behavior was unapologetically sleazy and revolting. It was no surprise his taste in women's fashion was equally vile.

"Mr. Whitmore, I didn't expect to run into you here."

Alistair eagerly greeted Preston first.

Immediately after, his gaze shifted hungrily toward Melanie.

"And who might this gorgeous..."

Before he could even finish the sentence, Alistair felt the sudden, deadly chill radiating from Preston's glare and instantly backpedaled.

"Oh, my apologies. May I ask who this lady is..."

"I'm Melanie Royce."

Melanie introduced herself with complete composure.

"Melanie... Ah, of course! The CEO of the Royce Group, Ms. Royce. I've heard so much about you..."

Seeing Alistair hold out his hand, Melanie felt she couldn't completely ignore the basic social pleasantry.

Yet, the moment she reached out, Preston smoothly stepped in and caught Alistair's hand in an iron grip.

Alistair froze, though he managed to maintain a plastered, fake smile on his face.

"It seems Mr. Whitmore has quite a close relationship with his business partners!"

Alistair looked between Preston and Melanie before tactfully retracting his hand.

He only knew that the Royce Group and Stellaris PharmaTech were involved in numerous joint ventures; he had no idea there was any personal entanglement between the two.

However, Preston's blatant possessiveness definitely piqued Alistair's interest.

Preston dumping Elara was old news.

Alistair didn't know if that had anything to do with Melanie.

But judging by that territorial display, he assumed Preston was actively trying to get into her bed.

Unable to help himself, Alistair openly looked Melanie up and down.

She was incredibly beautiful, the kind of woman who effortlessly stood out even in a room full of supermodels.

However, her beauty was sharp and deeply intelligent. She projected fiercely solid boundaries—

Alistair followed her finger and saw what looked to him like an incredibly plain, cotton dress.

"Fine. We'll take it."

Without a second thought, Alistair yanked the garment off its hanger.

A triumphant, glowing smile instantly lit up Elara's face.

Melanie couldn't afford this gown, but she could!

And her fiancé was going to foot the bill.

In Elara's mind, Alistair might have been a hideous swamp creature, but as a real estate tycoon, his pockets were definitely deep enough.

"What the hell!"

Suddenly, the entire room heard Alistair curse loudly.

"This piece of garbage costs over twenty thousand dollars?"

Hearing her meticulously crafted masterpiece referred to as a "piece of garbage," Cynthia's face darkened instantly.

Elara hastily tried to explain,