"What?!" Tiana asked with widened eyes and removed the earrings with puffed-up cheeks. She had got bored of waiting, even if it was for just a short while, and couldn't help herself from at least buying some earrings which she could simply put in her purse.
But now, all her enthusiasm in buying earrings went down the drain.
Briggs stared incredulously at Dorian, wondering how he had the guts to tell something like that when Tiana was clearly expecting a compliment.
He knew this because he had personally seen how Tiana roasted some of his previous staff members with her words just because they said something she didn't like.
So from that time on, he had instructed everyone to interact with her in a diplomatic way without offending her.
Even if Dorian was her cousin, whom he had never seen or heard of before, he was very doubtful about Tiana taking his response lightly, seeing how she reacted now.
Tiana wrinkled her brows as she asked with a peeved expression, "Do you mean that these earrings are ugly on me? How could something look ugly on me?"
Viktor could hardly believe his ears. But he clearly knew what her misunderstanding was and said openly as he picked the green-colored earrings she put back on the table, "You got me wrong. What I meant was that these earrings are too ugly for someone as beautiful as you. It is no different than putting a trickle of mud on a white lotus which is nothing more than an insult to its beauty. Let me pick a good one for you."
Viktor immediately began to look through the other earrings earnestly without waiting for her response.
However, the others standing around had a blinking expression while Tiana looked like she got bowled over.
Even before she knew it, her cheeks had a delicate hue of pink covering them, and she had a tough time trying to maintain a calm expression with others looking.
If it wasn't for her knowing that Dorian was her cousin and the guileless tone in which he said these words, she would have thought he was straight-up flirting with her.
However, his words did have an effect on her without her realizing it as she unconsciously smiled hearing his words. She even straightened her posture and adjusted her hair intuitively.
But still, even if she was pleased to hear them, she couldn't help but feel a bit embarrassed as well since Dorian compared her to a white lotus before everyone else and even indirectly called their earring as a 'trickle of mud', which could be quite insulting to a brand as big and respected as this.
However, she didn't care about the latter part since she had also said straight up whenever she didn't like something.
This was also why she began to look at Dorian in a new light, thinking that she might have judged a few things about him wrong.
However, the man who was attending to Tiana felt insulted by Dorian's comment since he was the one who suggested the green earrings to Tiana and so he couldn't help but say to Dorian, who was still busy looking through the set of earrings, "Sir, I assure you that those green earrings were made out of the finest pearls and metal. Even the famous model Miranda Banks held a photoshoot while putting on these earrings, and everyone liked it. So maybe you could take a second look and see if it's really ugly."
He was hoping to make Tiana buy the one he suggested so that she will ask for his advice next time as well and make Briggs promote him on the pretext of him having a good rapport with the daughter of one of the most powerful business tycoon.
Briggs tightened his fists as he sent a glare towards the salesman, who was on the borderline of speaking rudely to a customer.
He felt like smacking his head for telling a customer that his opinions were wrong. In his business, he knew the last thing they should do was to argue with customers just to prove them wrong and instead go with the flow as long as they buy things to their satisfaction.
Of course, he also felt a bit bad when Dorian described the green earrings as such, but he didn't care since each was entitled to their own opinions and had the freedom to buy things to their satisfaction, especially when Tiana didn't seem to object to his words.
Tiana frowned, seeing this man speaking against Dorian like this, especially when she was now convinced that those green earrings were indeed ugly for her. So him speaking up for those earring's beauty meant that he was okay with her buying those earrings.
However, before she could say anything, Viktor looked up to the attendant standing before him and said with a candid expression, "Oh, you misunderstood me. I never said those earrings were ugly."
This time not only the man but even Tiana and everyone else had baffled expressions wondering why Dorian was speaking in a contradicting manner.
Viktor continued as he picked up the green earrings, "I only meant that these earrings were not suitable for her, but it might be for someone else. Each person has their own unique beauty and traits, and so if something looks beautiful on someone, it doesn't mean it should look beautiful on everyone else. Am I wrong?"
The staff standing around who had no customers to attend to nodded to each other in agreement feeling that Dorian's words indeed made sense.
And this went for even Tiana and Briggs and wondered why they didn't think of this simple reasoning before when Dorian talked about the earring looking ugly on Tiana.
The attendant who asked Dorian to reconsider his opinion now felt tongue-tied since even he felt that Dorian's words made perfect sense and regretted trying to refute him without thinking the meaning behind his words properly.
Viktor wasn't finished and earnestly said as he picked a dew drop-shaped crimson earring, "If I had the choice, I would prefer a custom-made earring for my cousin that perfectly matches her beauty. But for now, I feel that this earring would look good on you. What do you think, Tia?"
"Uh…" Tiana had a stupefied expression as she felt that her thoughts were all over the place.
Not only did she really loved the design and color of the earrings Dorian picked, but his words on beauty being relative struck a chord somewhere in her heart.
Never before had she felt that a thing she bought for herself looked so perfectly good on her.
She said with a glazed expression as she took the crimson earrings from his hand and said, "I like it. I will be buying this one."
She immediately put on the earrings and looked in the mirror, and felt that she indeed looked more attractive than before with added charms.
"That will be it for today. Let's pay," Tiana immediately got up and didn't even bother removing the earrings since she felt like keeping them on instead of putting them on later.
Briggs slightly raised his brows, and with a flick of his fingers, he conveyed his instructions to one of the staff to bill the earrings. Viktor smiled as he got up and walked beside Tiana, who kept glancing in his direction.
After a few moments of silence, she finally said as she touched her new earrings, "You really have an eye for fashion, huh?"
Viktor inwardly coughed since Tiana was right, and this was natural since he had courted countless women and had learned the art of making them happy and proud of their beauty.
However, he answered with an awkward smile, "I don't know if I really do. I only said what I felt."
Tiana narrowed her gaze but then nodded, thinking that it was true. She then asked, "Say, do you have a girlfriend or something? Maybe one back in your village?"
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