"Let's take you shopping!" Ana begs Sahara.

Sahara has been avoiding Damian for the past few days since his little drama with Elizabeth.

"I don't really shop in person... I'm an online shopper." It's true. Sahara loves online shopping, she hates leaving the house.

"I'm not taking no as an answer! We're going!" Ana put her foot down. She's going to take Sahara shopping whether she wanted to go or not.

Sahara didn't want to put her off so she finally agreed.

"Oh, Damian's joining us." Ana says as she makes her way to the door.

Sahara starts choking, "What? Why? Why is Mr. Vasiliev joining us?"

Ana giggles, "Why do you still call him Mr. Vasiliev? You're married, you can call him by his name."

Sahara, herself, hasn't realized she doesn't call Damian by his name, "I– I'm not comfortable yet."

Ana just nods and pretends to understand. "Be ready in 20 minutes!"

All Sahara could think about was, how will the day unfold?

•••

Sahara dressed in a white mesh-like maxi dress, paired with nude leggings, heels, and scarf.

She walks out to see that Ana was already waiting outside for her.

Ana smiles at her, "Sahara! You look stunning! Your modest dressing fashion looks so bloody cute. You need to teach me your ways."

Sahara blushes, "Thank you, you're too kind."

"We're getting late, ladies. Could you two bloody hurry up? I haven't got all day!" An annoyed Damian yells across the hall.

When Damian sees Sahara walking towards him, it almost looks as if she's glowing. The white dress really makes her look bright and innocent. Every part of her body is covered, which, for some odd reason, satisfies him. He doesn't need other men looking her way.

"Ha, is that what you're wearing to all the designer stores I'll be taking you to?" But of course, he needs to make a rude comment. He won't be Damian if he didn't make the comment.

Sahara raises an eyebrow and frowns as she looks down at her clothes.

"You look like trash! Have you ever entered through the doors of Givenchy? Gucci? Chanel? Dior?" He rolls his eyes. "Of course not! That's why you dressed this way today, to embarrass me!"

Sahara didn't have much confidence to begin with but she surely has none at this very moment, "Should I go chan–"

Ana grabs Sahara's wrist, "You will do no such thing! You look absolutely gorgeous!" She turns to Damian, "You are an asshole, brother. You're going to be paying for everything I purchase today. I'll make sure I rob every penny in that precious wallet of yours."

Ana huffs as she walks towards the car, pulling Sahara along behind her.

Damian rolls his eyes and follows the two ladies to his Mercedes-Benz G-Wagon.

The car ride was rather eventful as Ana was telling Sahara about how she's gone years without having her name associated with her brother's.

"So, no one knows he has a sister?" Sahara asks.

"No, the public knows he has a sister, but hasn't ever seen the sister's face." Ana grins proudly at her skills of hiding her identity.

"I don't understand why you need to hide." Damian says.

Ana smirks, "Because, my sweet brother, you're an asshole and I don't want to be seen related to you in public." Damian's grip on his steering wheel became tighter because of the lack of respect he was getting from his sister. "Plus, it's nice to go around without having to have paparazzi hound you everywhere you go."

"Whatever." Damian says.

The rest of the car ride was filled with Ana gossiping about everyone in the marketing department of their office.

•••

"Sahara! Could you please go inside Chanel by yourself for a few minutes? Damian and I will be back in a few minutes." Ana says as she tugs on Damian's sleeve, pulling him away.

Sahara has never set foot inside any high-end designer stores, there is no way she can go inside alone. "Anastasia, I don't think-"

"Thanks! See you in a few minutes!" Ana left her at that.

Sahara scans the stores in the area, everything looks posh and expensive. She takes a deep breath and walks towards Chanel and is greeted by the person at the door.

The staff inside the store starts to exchange looks, and Sahara could already feel their judging presence on her.

"Are you in the right place, Ma'am?" a blonde middle-aged woman asks her.

That comment really hurt any bit of ego Sahara had in herself.

"Uh, yes. I'm actually waiting for my husband and a friend, they'll be walking in any moment." Sahara's voice is shaking, she hates being in such uncomfortable situations.

"Oh, that's quite fine, Ma'am. Would you like for me to show you some of our lavish pieces?" the lady smiles at her, "My name is Eli, by the way."

Sahara smiles back, "My name's Sahara."

"Oh, what a beautiful name. Please, come this way., Ma'am." Eli goes onto show Sahara some of their purses and wallets as she explains them in detail. Sahara listens attentively yet anxiously waiting for Ana and Damian.

Right when she thought things couldn't get more uncomfortable for her, she heard some of the staff whispering,

"Can she even afford any of this?"

"Do you think she's carrying a bomb?"

"Should we bring security inside the store, just in case?"

"Do you think she's a terrorist?"

Eli throws the gossiping bunch of staff a deathly look. Sahara's anxiety kicks in as she could feel herself feeling trapped and being unable to breath from those hurtful comments. Tears were threatening to fall out. This is the reason why I don't leave the house. Eli looks at Sahara, feeling almost pity towards her.

Sahara manages to speak a few words, "I t-think I'll c-c-come b-back lat-" Her sentence was interrupted by a few gasps.

Eli quickly makes her way to the front door, "Mr. Vasilliev, welcome! What brings you here today?"

Damian and Ana had overheard everything. Ana's face formed in a scowl. Damian's hand formed in a fist.

"I guess respect isn't a quality of this brand?" Damian says through his clenched teeth.

"Pardon, Sir?" asks one of the staff members who called Sahara a terrorist.

"Don't worry, Sir. This woman probably can't afford any of our items anyways." Another lady said in a flirty tone.

"This woman right here," Damian walks towards Sahara to stand beside her, "is my wife. And all of you have some apologizing to do."

The faces of the staff turns sheet white, their jaws drop and Sahara's pretty sure she saw the life being sucked out of each and every one of them.

•••

"I just want you to understand that it really hurts when I get treated differently because of how I dress or what my religion is. I actually never like leaving my house or like traveling since I get harassed easily because of the harmless cloth on my head. I want you to know that when you treat someone like trash just as you treated me today, you really leave a mark on them. You could really ruin them to the point where they will be afraid to leave their own house."

- - -

♥️