They Bet to Sleep With Me, I Split Them

Chapter 2

Unfortunately, I really was poor, so I didn't have time to sit around enjoying my victory. I had no choice but to hurry back to the restaurant where I worked part-time.

I was halfway through serving dishes when someone showed up. It was Lucian Whitmore, the same guy who had proudly admitted moments ago that he had called me a poor nobody countless times.

He grabbed my wrist and ordered me to go explain everything to Eric.

I looked at him and shook my head. "No."

Lucian narrowed his eyes. "We barely had any private contact. Why can't you clear my name?"

I wiped the grease from my hands with my apron, keeping my expression cold. "Because poor people have dignity too. Why should I help someone who humiliated me prove he's innocent?"

"Humph!" Lucian let out a sarcastic laugh. "Dignity? How much does yours cost?"

I screamed in my head, but my face stayed perfectly calm. "A lot. You can't afford it."

Lucian pulled out a checkbook, wrote something down, ripped out the check, and tossed it in front of me. "Go explain everything to him. Write down whatever amount you want."

I looked down. His signature was already on it, but the amount line was completely empty.

Even when I begged God for help, I had never been this greedy! I stared at the blank check as a hundred different ways to spend the money flashed through my mind.

Then I heard a cold, mocking laugh.

"Your dignity is that expensive? And I can't afford it?"

I immediately snapped back to reality and put my act back in place. "That's right. You can't afford it."

I pushed the check back and turned around to continue serving customers.

Lucian said, "Fine. The owner of this restaurant is my cousin. You're fired."

I stopped in my tracks and turned back, gritting my teeth. "You're really a piece of work."

Lucian didn't look bothered at all. "I just hate seeing people pretend they're too proud to accept help. I'm giving you one last chance. Take the money, do what I asked, and explain everything to Eric. Deal or no deal?"

I stayed quiet for a long time before nodding. "Fine. I won't fill it out. You write the amount. $5,000 is enough."

Lucian looked completely speechless. "You seriously don't know how to dream bigger? What, are you afraid I'll accuse you of blackmail? I'm not that petty. What can $5,000 even buy?"

For the first time, I looked directly into his eyes. "Enough to buy my grandma a decent hearing aid. I was planning to use my part-time paycheck for it, but since you're the owner's cousin, I guess I don't have that paycheck anymore."

Lucian froze.

I continued calmly, "When I was little, my grandma used to dig through trash just to save money for my tuition. One day, my classmates saw her. After that, everyone in my class knew my family lived in the slums.

"My deskmate brought a box of chocolates and said, 'Charlotte, if you want one, bark like a dog.' Of course I refused. But I'd never tasted chocolate before, and I couldn't stop myself from swallowing. He noticed and laughed at me until he was almost crying.

"I'll never forget that humiliation. I wanted to disappear from that classroom forever. I thought getting into a good university would change everything. But after all these years, I ended up feeling that same way again.

"Actually, you were right. I'm just pretending I don't care while secretly wanting things that will never belong to me."

I took a deep breath and used my trembling hand to pretend to wipe away my tears. "But please transfer the money anyway. My grandma wasn't in good health, and I hope she can use the hearing aid I bought before she passes away. I'll explain everything to Eric for you."

Lucian was completely stunned.

"Wait," he stammered. "That's not what I meant. I mean..."

Tears rolled down my face, but I bit my lip and held back my sobs. I wiped my eyes and looked at him with a pair of red, tearful eyes.

"I'm sorry. I was only pretending to be proud. Please forgive me and don't bother arguing with someone like me."

With that, I lowered my head slightly, picked up my bag, and walked out through the back door of the restaurant. After leaving, I turned a few corners, walked into a shop on the street corner, bought myself an ice cream, and happily started eating.

Humph, I was keeping the $5,000 for myself. After all, my grandma had passed away more than twenty years ago. She didn't need a hearing aid anymore. Even though I had never met her, I was still truly grateful to her.

'Lucian, you really think you can get inside my head? You're still too green for that. I've fought battles you wouldn't even know how to handle.'

The guy who once traded me chocolate for making me bark like a dog back when we were kids started bombarding me with messages the moment we entered high school. He even begged for my forgiveness in front of everyone in the hallway, becoming the laughingstock of the entire school.

Then he was still on my block list, constantly trying to sneak back in with new accounts.

'Keep practicing, rookie. You're not there yet!'