LILITH Dean had truly meant it when he said ‘fiancé’ duty. For the entire five hours I spent at the mall, he accompanied me without a single complaint. In fact, he went above and beyond—offering fashion advice, picking out clothes, and proving he had impeccable taste. He had been fully invested. At one point, he even tried to pay behind my back. Luckily, I caught him in time. After this morning’s confrontation, I’d received four separate money transfers—one from each family member. A pitiful attempt at compensation. Or maybe... comfort? Either way, I wasn’t complaining. Not when I planned to splurge it on my battle outfits. So, no way was I letting Dean take that small satisfaction from me. I had to admit though that thanks to him, the second half of my outing was leagues better

