The poor Billionaire novel (Ethan) novel Chapter 57
"Yes, sir. Please wait a moment!" The waitress brought the menu and said with a smile, "Here you go, sir."
"Thank you!" As soon as Horace collected the menu, Macie asked, "Horace, you organized this party for Laila. It's your treat, right?"
"Yes. What's wrong? Do you want to pay the bill?" Horace glanced at her, and then at the other mean girls before saying, "If you don't want me to pay for your lunch, you are free to sort out yourselves."
"No, no. That's not what I meant. We don't want to take this opportunity from you." Lucinda inched closer to him and whispered, "Horace, if you pay for lunch today and play your cards right, maybe Laila would fall in love with you. This is a golden opportunity. Don't let stinginess get in the way of your love. To be honest, you two are a match made in heaven. You both come from poor families. How perfect can it get?"
Back then in high school, Laila and Horace were despised by all their classmates. They considered them to be outcasts. Horace was paying for lunch today and it was Laila's birthday, but their former classmates still looked down on them. Just as a leopard cannot change its spots, Lucinda and the others couldn't change their contemptuous attitudes.
Horace's face turned cold when he heard Lucinda's words. He didn't care about how much the meal would cost. What annoyed him was that Lucinda was making a mockery of Laila. That was a no-no for him. He was also pissed that she was poking her nose into his relationship with Laila.
With angry sparks in his eyes, he said coldly, "Remember, this lunch is in Laila's honor. You came here to celebrate her birthday. I would have driven you out long ago if it weren't for her. Watch your mouth. If you don't mind your damn business, I will teach you a lesson you would never forget! After all, I would spend less money on lunch if you were out of the picture. One less mouth to feed would be a welcome development for me!"
The next second, Cayson laughed scornfully and commented, "Well, you don't need to beat about the bush. If you can't afford it, just come out straight. There's no need to pretend like you are capable. It won't end well. Just take a good look at yourself. If you say that you can't afford the lunch, no one will be surprised. You are just a poor loser. Why are you pretending to be rich? Tsk, tsk, tsk. You have only fifty thousand dollars? Humph! That's my monthly salary. It's just chicken feed!" Since Cayson arrived, he had been listening to all the insults the troublesome ladies hurled at Horace. He guessed Horace's family background based on everything that they said and by his appearance.
"Oh, fifty thousand dollars is your monthly salary? That's really a huge amount of money!" Horace sneered at Cayson. He then continued, "Do you know how much is the daily interest on the money in my account? Hmmm. My mind is in a muddle. I'm not sure of the exact figures, but it should be several million dollars!"
"Ha-ha! Horace, are you still daydreaming? Wake up!" Macie burst into laughter and clapped her hands in mockery. She found it funny that Horace was so boastful.
"Horace, remember I said earlier that I hope we get along well because you are Della's former classmate. Well, I want to warn you to think twice before bragging in my presence in the future. Am I a joke to you? How can the daily interest on your bank account be several million dollars? Do you even have the slightest idea of how much money could generate such a huge interest? For your information, it would be ten billion dollars at least. Do you have that amount? Listen to me. Even if you want to tell lies in the future, make sure your lies are believable. Don't try to fool the other party. Otherwise, you might just end up making a fool of yourself!"
Cayson gave Horace an earful as he sat next to his girlfriend, Della.
"Ahem... Oh, really?" Horace sighed and asked helplessly, "Why does no one believe me anytime I'm telling the truth?"
With a smirk, he looked at Cayson and suggested, "Since you are so awesome... Why don't you make it your treat today?"
"Horace, why the sudden change of plans? Didn't you say you would foot the bills today? Oh, I get it. You want to take advantage of my boyfriend because you know he's rich! Let me tell you. That won't happen under my watch!" Della retorted before Cayson could say anything to Horace.
"It's clear that it's my treat today, right? Good. Now, all I want you to do is to enjoy your meal. Stop talking nonsense!" He looked at Cayson and added, "If you think I'm pretending to be rich, you can set things straight by competing with me. Let's see who is richer between us! There's something I would like to make very clear. I have a good temper, but that doesn't mean I'm a pushover. Should you try to insult me again, you have three options. You either get out of here, offer to pay for the meal, or you can compete with me to see who's richer. Remember actions speak louder than words!"
"Horace, didn't you receive the sixty-two thousand dollars we donated yesterday? Why are you so arrogant as if you had got millions of dollars. Yuck! You disgust me!" Lucinda looked at him with a disgusted expression.
Cayson was provoked due to Horace's audacity. He said coldly, "Horace, I have had it up to here with you. I'm up for the challenge. How do you want us to compete? Should we take out our phones and show our recent bank statements?"
Cayson was a successful businessman. Thus, he felt insulted that a poor loser was daring him.
"No, it's boring to check bank statements. I have an idea. How about we split the bill today? If I can't afford half of the bill and you can, then you win. My punishment is that I would be at your mercy and do whatever you ask of me. However, if it turns out that I can afford half of the bill and you can't, I'll show you mercy since you're so old. I only have one request. You must kneel at my feet and admit defeat! In the event that we can both afford it, then it would be a tie! If neither of us can foot half of the bill, then there would be no winner or loser!"
As they grew more and more aggressive, Horace decided not to hold back anymore.
He continued, "Now to the major rule of this competition. When you want to pay the bill, it must be done within ten minutes. The person who takes more than ten minutes to finish the payment would automatically be the loser. What do you say? Are you in?"
"Yes! I am in!" Cayson glanced at Horace and stated coldly, "Young man, stop being so full of yourself. You should accept that there's always someone better than you. I can't believe that you are being so arrogant because of fifty thousand dollars. That's an insignificant amount of money in this day and age!"
"Blah, blah, blah! Why are you stressing yourself by talking unnecessarily? As I said, actions speak louder than words. We have already decided to compete. Let's start ordering now!" Horace threw the menu on the table.
He pointed at the Kobe steak at the top of the menu and said to the waitress, "Please bring six servings of this steak!"
Lucinda was appalled when she heard Horace's order. A trace of doubt flashed in her eyes. A serving of the Kobe steak cost twenty thousand dollars. This meant that six servings would cost one hundred and twenty thousand dollars. If the bill was split in two, Horace and Cayson would have to pay sixty thousand dollars each. 'What is this dumbass doing? He's setting himself up for humiliation. He only had fifty thousand dollars left from the donation yesterday. Besides, he ordered three cakes worth more than twenty thousand dollars in total. He would run out of money soon. I doubt if he even has up to sixty thousand dollars on him now.'
Lucinda made calculations in her head. She felt that Horace was shooting himself in the foot because he was in a desperate situation.
'One hundred and twenty thousand dollars?' At this time, Cayson also calculated the price of six servings of Kobe steaks. The same thought that just occurred to Lucinda went through his mind too.
'Humph! For a second, I thought you were smart. But it turns out you are missing brain cells. Look at how you just threw caution to the wind. Ha-ha! I have found myself a new slave!' Cayson stared at Horace with a complacent smirk. 'The first course of the meal is already above his net worth. I should just order all the cheap dishes.'
With this thought in mind, Cayson ordered a vegetable salad which cost only seventy dollars.
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