The poor Billionaire novel (Ethan) novel Chapter 55
"Huh!" Lucinda was livid when she heard these words. She glared at him and fired back. "Horace, spare me all that nonsense. Just admit that you are squandering the remaining fifty dollars we donated for you yesterday. The donation was to be used for your mother's medical bills! Why are you pretending to be a rich man in our presence? Everyone knows that you are an impoverished loser!"
'Eh? Did she just say he's an impoverished loser? What the hell is going on here?' All the waiters and waitresses were stunned due to Lucinda's outburst. In an instant, there was a tangle of thoughts in their heads. 'Isn't this young man super-rich? Why did this lady say that he was poor? Is she just fibbing? Or are these two women richer than him? But they don't look rich at all. Why then are they talking down on him?'
Like the professionals that they were, none of the employees dared to ask any questions. They didn't want to get in the bad books of their boss's superior.
Laila sat at the table with a confused expression. She looked at Horace and said, "I'm sorry, Horace. It's all my fault. Please don't take it to heart!"
These words extinguished Horace's flickering anger. He clenched his fists and ignored the nonsense the two troublesome women had just spewed. With a smile, he asked, "Laila, why did you apologize to me? You have done nothing wrong. Why should I blame you for someone else's transgressions? Are you taking the fall because it's your birthday and they were invited?"
With a hint of grievance in his voice, he further queried, "Can't I even celebrate your birthday?"
"No, Horace, that's not what I meant. It's just that I don't see the need to celebrate my birthday in such a fancy place. A simple meal in a cheap restaurant is more than enough to make my day extra special!" Laila didn't hesitate to explain because she feared that he would misunderstand her. Her eyes glistened with anxiety.
"It doesn't matter, Laila. Irrespective of how much money it would cost me, I'm willing to do anything to make your day memorable." At that moment, Horace remembered how Laila behaved yesterday. To drive his point, he added, "After all, you are my best friend!"
"I'm your best friend? Well, you are also my best friend!" Laila nodded hard and flashed him a bright smile.
"Ha-ha! Look at them. This is so funny!" Lucinda's mocking voice rang out. She pointed at Horace and said disdainfully, "Horace, you need to cut the crap. You can't dodge my question with your silly acting. We are your former classmates. Do you seriously think that we know nothing about what you did? News flash! Macie and I know everything. I would have fallen for your acting if I hadn't know the truth. How much money do you have left? I can bet on my life that you only have the fifty thousand dollars that remained from the donation we made yesterday!"
With a disgusted grimace, she looked at Laila and commented, "Anyway, I must admit that you two are a perfect match. Both of you are as poor as church mice! Right, Macie?"
Lucinda's words reignited Horace's fury. He looked at her with bloodshot eyes and snapped, "Lucinda, you'd better watch your tongue. If you didn't come here to happily celebrate Laila's birthday, please leave right now. You should know that I'm the one footing the bill today!"
Horace was only restraining himself from teaching these troublesome girls a lesson because of his respect for Laila. Although he had a good temper, it didn't mean that he was a pushover.
"You!" Lucinda was enraged. She unrelentingly continued, "Horace, don't use your anger to cover up the truth. Didn't you receive fifty thousand dollars from us? How dare you behave so arrogantly?"
She suddenly stood up and pointed at Horace. She then shouted, "Listen up, everyone. Guess what? This guy is my former classmate. His mother is terminally ill. Yesterday, our high school classmates organized a fundraiser for him and we raised the sum of sixty-two thousand dollars for his mother's medical bills. Like an ungrateful bastard, he didn't utter a word of appreciation after we gave him the money. Not only that. He's now using the money to woo our roommate. What's even more annoying is that he rented a Rolls-Royce today!"
Macie also rose to her feet and corroborated. "Yes, it's true. He not only rented a Rolls-Royce, but also hired a chauffeur. Keeping up with such a fake lifestyle would cost him thousands of dollars daily. His mother is fighting for her life in the hospital and she needs money for treatment, but he's busy spending money on useless things. Don't you think he is unfilial and cruel?"
There weren't any other customers in the restaurant asides from them. The other people present were just the waiters and waitresses.
Due to the conversation Edna had with Horace a while ago, the staff knew that he wasn't an ordinary young man.
Now that they heard Lucinda and Macie making accusations against him, they all looked at the two women as if they were crazy. In their minds, they thought, 'Are these two women out of their mind? Why have they been talking nonsense since they arrived? Don't they know that Mr. Warren can afford to spend tens of thousands of dollars daily on whatever he liked? It's not a big deal at all.'
'These women have no idea who they are dealing with. Mr. Warren has a good temper. He hasn't flipped out since they began to insult him. He's so different from the other rich kids. Such a tolerant and well-behaved young man!'
Horace's current behavior left a better impression on the staff. They previously thought that their boss's superior was an arrogant trust-fund baby. It was surprising to find out that he was easy-going and nothing like the other rich kids.
"Horace!" Everything that Lucinda and Macie said shocked Laila. She stared at Horace and asked, "Is what they said true? Did you really rent a Rolls-Royce?"
"Laila, what do you mean? Don't you believe me?" Lucinda asked when she sensed the doubt in Laila's words. She then added, "We were standing outside in a corner when we saw Horace get out of a Rolls-Royce. I'm dead sure that the car doesn't belong to him. He had rented it. He can't afford to buy one. Right, Macie?"
"Yes!" Macie concurred immediately. She then added, "It's true. Horace indeed arrived here in a Rolls-Royce. I saw it with my own eyes. He must have rented it!"
Ignoring Macie and Lucinda's verbal attack, Horace assured Laila. "Laila, you know me well. Honestly, I didn't rent a car. Do you believe me?"
Laila saw the sincerity in his eyes. She nodded hard and replied, "Horace, I believe you!"
Laila's trust brought solace to his heart at this moment. As he stared at her trusting eyes, he stated, "Thank you!"
All of a sudden, a fashionably dressed woman in a tight leather coat walked into the restaurant and went straight to their table. She linked arms with a man who looked about thirty years old.
She looked at the celebrant and asked, "Laila, I hope you don't mind if my boyfriend attends your birthday party?"
This sophisticated woman was Laila's third roommate named, Della Cullen.
Laila shook her head and replied, "I don't mind!"
Laila was too submissive and easy-going. Even though she wasn't particularly pleased that Della brought a plus-one, she couldn't refuse.
Horace couldn't say anything since the celebrant had already agreed.
Everyone that was invited to the party was here. There was even an uninvited guest, Della's boyfriend.
After Della sat at the table, she asked Lucinda in confusion, "Lucinda, what were you talking about just now? Did you just say something about a Rolls-Royce?"
"Della, let me fill you in! Horace..." Lucinda held her hand and narrated everything that just happened.
She wasn't speaking loudly, but Della's boyfriend could hear her from where he sat. The moment Lucinda finished speaking, he said, "Hello, ladies and gentleman. Please forgive my manners. I forgot to introduce myself just now. My name is Cayson Flores, the vice-president of the Hstead Car Rental Company. The words of this beautiful lady reminded me that someone came to rent a Rolls-Royce Phantom from my company this morning. I don't know if it's the same one she's talking about. However, I just thought I should put it out there!"
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: The poor Billionaire novel (Ethan)