The Billionaire's Contracted Wife [English]

When Tanaga left and returned inside the fitting room to change back, Ashley let Brent take all the other clothing.

"You can go ahead and bring it to the cashier," said Ashley. "We will be there to settle the account once the other guy finishes." Ashley then stood up to wait for Tanaga to finish changing before coming out of the fitting room.

A few moments later, Tanaga came out, holding three sets of matching pants and shirts. He handed them to Brent.

"Let’s go!" Tanaga exclaimed. "Wait, are you ready?" He approached his wife.

Ashley looked around for Tiny, but she couldn’t seem to find him anywhere. She believed that he was perhaps still inside the fitting room.

She sauntered closer to her husband and murmured, "Give us a moment – Tiny is still in the fitting room. I asked him to pick some jeans and a shirt for my brothers, but it’s actually for him. It will be our Christmas present for him, is that all right with you?"

Tanaga smiled before pivoting his arm to his wife’s shoulder. "If that’s what you want, it’s fine by me. You don’t need to ask for approval for that kind of thing. Let’s go to the cashier and wait for him over there." He then escorted her towards the cashier to complete their purchase.

===

The timing was perfect, as when the cashier was handed their purchases, Sato arrived with a broad smile cemented on his face.

"Madam Ashley, Sir Jones! Mission accomplished! I got everything done in no time. I acquired all of the things you had asked me to buy. I also thank you for allowing me to shop for my family as well.

Again – thank you very much!" Sato proclaimed vigorously while looking at the clothes being processed by Brent.

After Brent finished everything, he told them the total amount. "Would that be cash or card?" he asked, with the most pleasing smile he could secure.

When Ashley learned how much the sum of twenty pairs of jeans and shirts were, she gasped and almost had a heart attack. Her eyes broadened while hyperventilating. She couldn’t accept the large amount for only twenty pairs.

"Excuse me... did I hear you precisely? We’re only buying twenty pairs of each, and it came to that staggering total? Wow! We only wanted to purchase those clothes, not the entire store!" Ashley blurted out while maintaining her widened eyes at the total amount.

Brent was excited before since they were buying pieces of clothing. His eyebrows suddenly rose after understanding the words coming from Ashley’s mouth. He was astonished and disheartened that the sales might not go through.

"Is there a problem with the cost, ma’am?" he asked while somewhat panicking since the lady might have changed her mind and withdraw the purchase. He had to think of a way to make it more appealing for the lady to ensure she would continue with the purchase.

"I’ll tell you what – since it’s almost Christmas, we will give you a new customer discount of 25%. How’s that?"

Ashley stayed quiet for a moment and was in deep thought. She was calculating how much the 25% discount would be. When she had not answered, Tanaga decided to intervene.

Instead of Ashley replying, Tanaga quickly interjected, "Sato, take care of everything! Ashley and I are going to walk around while you take care of this." He then promptly ushered his wife out of the store before Ashley could have a chance to say anything.

"Tan! Wait a minute! Why is it so expensive when it was just a few shirts and jeans, yet the cost reached that high? It’s unbelievable. Come to think of it, you could already buy a small house with your ten pairs of clothes!" exclaimed Ashley after she calculated and converted it to peso.

"Ash, that is nothing. If you compare your clothes to those items, they will look like a bargain. The total was not even a fraction of the price of the clothes you are currently wearing. You need to get used to it," whispered Tanaga to his wife before slightly kissing her underneath her earlobe.

After hearing what Tanaga said, Ashley focused her gaze at her suit. KC was the one who picked and prepared all her clothing; she had no idea how much Grandma Hanada paid for her wardrobe.

In fact, Ashley would have no idea if it were Grandma Hanada or her husband that paid for everything. However, based on what he just said, he must be the one who had paid for all her clothes and accessories.

She was drowned in her thoughts while walking, not realizing that they had entered a jewelry store. Lost in her thoughts, Ashley was worried about how much Sato spent on her whole family.

She didn’t want Tanaga to think that she was only after his money and taking advantage of him. "Please, I hope he doesn’t..." she mumbled to herself.

However, Ashley was shocked when, all of a sudden, a ring was being inserted into her finger by her husband. "Woah! Holy Mary, mother of Jesus Christ!" exclaimed Ashley, as she looked at the ring. It had a big rock of gem which was surrounded by sparkling diamonds.

"Do you like it?" Tanaga asked while wearing a broad smile, excited to hear his wife’s answer.

"What? Is this real? This stone... is this diamond?" she uttered while turning her head to inspect her surroundings. She was at a famous jewelry store. Aside from her husband, there were two guards at the door, but no customers could be seen.

"What do you think? You haven’t answered my question, you know? Do you like it? If you don’t like the design, we can make a custom-made ring so you can order any design you wish for," Tanaga suggested. At the same time, the store clerk was standing seriously and waiting for her answer too.

"I’m not sure, Tan! I think the stone is too large for me. I’m not sure... I mean – the design is pretty. I like it, and I think it’s quite the beauty. However, can’t we choose something that has a smaller stone?" Ashley replied while drooling on the appearance of the ring.

Out of curiosity, Ashley asked the salesperson for the total weight of the diamond. "Excuse me! I’m only curious... could you tell me how many carats this diamond has right here in the center? Also, what is the total weight of the clustered diamond around the centerpiece?"

Just from looking at it, Ashley estimated that the clustered diamond had more or less five-carat, plus the diamond in the center. She was sure that it was worth over millions of pesos, and she was not sure if she were willing to wear such jewelry.

It all depended on the answer the salesman would give her.

Ashley’s eyes were as round as a saucer, while she anticipated the salesperson’s reply.

The salesperson looked at Tanaga, unsure if he should tell the lady the truth or a lie.

****

What do you all think, should she accept it or insist on a smaller one? Would Tanaga think of her as gold digger if she does accept it? Hmmm 🤔

Find out in the next Chapter.