The poor Billionaire novel (Ethan) novel Chapter 63
"Laila, please don't turn down my offer. I want you to look amazing from today onwards. Let's go to the Sea Square after we leave here. You need to shop for new clothes." Horace glanced at the clothes she was wearing and insisted.
Since Laila was beautiful even without any makeup or stylish clothes, Horace was convinced that she would be much more gorgeous than the female stars if she was well-dressed.
"The Sea Square?" Macie was stunned to hear his suggestion. She then asked in confusion, "Horace, do you still have money? Do you know that the clothes sold at the Sea Square are very expensive? How do you plan to afford them?"
'Wow! This man must be very wealthy!' The diners around Horace's table were still paying attention to him. They looked at him with admiration when they heard his plans for Laila.
"Oh my God! This girl is so lucky. How I wish a rich man could offer to take me shopping at the Sea Square!" Some young and beautiful female diners looked at Horace covetously and murmured to themselves. A couple of them even wished that he would look their way now.
The ladies' voices weren't very low, but Horace didn't hear their conversation. Even if he did, he would have turned a deaf ear to their requests. He only had eyes for one person.
As a child from a poor family, Laila had never been to the Sea Square, nor had she heard of it. She had no idea how fancy it was. She asked Macie in confusion, "Macie, are the clothes in the Sea Square very expensive?"
Laila knew that Horace didn't spend a penny on the cakes. From her calculations, she guessed that he had more than twenty thousand dollars on him.
Nevertheless, she didn't want to spend the money. She had reluctantly accepted the necklace. She didn't want to accept anything else from him. However, it gladdened her heart that he was going the extra mile just to make her day special.
Before Macie could respond to her question, Horace chipped in, "Laila, you can rest assured. The clothes there are not expensive at all!"
With these words, he took his phone and said, "Let's go. I have just ordered a ride on the Uber app. It should be waiting outside the restaurant now."
"All...All right!" Laila reluctantly agreed to go with him.
When Macie noticed her apprehensiveness, she stood up and patted her on the shoulder. "Laila, calm down. Now that the college entrance examinations are over and there's still spare time before admissions begin, you shouldn't put too much pressure on yourself by studying day and night. Don't stay holed up at home. You need to do other things!" she advised sensibly.
"Eh? What do you mean?" Laila was a bookworm. She had put all her attention into studying for the college entrance examinations. In high school, Horace was her only friend. Other schoolmates ostracized them. She had nothing else to do, so she studied round the clock. Now she didn't understand what Macie was talking about.
Laila was not the only one at sea. Horace didn't understand either.
"Nothing!" Macie chuckled mischievously. The next second, she pulled Laila up and said, "Let's go, Laila. Girls need to doll up themselves to make the boys drool over them!"
She then glanced at Horace with a faint smile.
Horace was confused when he saw her smile. He touched his face and thought, 'There's nothing on my face, right? Did some of the food stick to my face without me knowing? But I can't feel anything. Why then did Macie give me that weird look just now? Oh my! Could it be that she knows my true identity?'
He had tons of questions in his mind, but there was no time to fathom the answers right now. Macie was already dragging Laila out. He quickly stood up and gently waved his hand.
All the diners were confused by his last wave. However, Edna knew that he was saying goodbye to her.
As she stared at his back, she chuckled. 'Mr. Warren, goodbye for now. I'm looking forward to seeing your performance when the competition for the successor begins.'
Edna looked at the crowd in the restaurant and shouted, "Dear customers, thank you very much for coming here this noon. You made this place extra bubbly. To keep up with the good work Mr. Warren has started, you all can continue feasting until five o'clock in the evening. The bill is on the house!"
"Yay!" All the diners cheered and clapped. Some of them even clanked their cutlery in excitement. The joyful shout boomed and went up to the sky. It seemed like everyone was grateful to Horace for starting the good work.
Horace, Laila, and Macie hadn't walked out of the restaurant, so they heard Edna's announcement.
Macie halted in her tracks and turned to look at Horace. "Horace, be very honest with me. Did you have an affair with the manager of this restaurant? She seems to have a soft spot for you!"
Without waiting for a response, she concluded in her mind. She nodded thoughtfully and added, "In fact, I don't need your answer. I have a strong conviction that you both have a history together. This explains why you got an 100% off coupon and a 50% off coupon!"
"Huh? What are you insinuating? Get rid of the silly thoughts in that head of yours. I used to work part-time here. The manager knows me well. I was a very hardworking employee. She gave me the coupons as a reward for my hard work!"
Horace had long thought of a lie to tell if anyone asked him how he got the coupons. He had expected Laila to ask him. But to his surprise, Macie was the one who did.
"Horace, you are a selfless person. The manager gave you two priceless coupons. Instead of spending it on several meals for yourself, you used it to pay for the meals of all the customers present. I must say that you are really something!" Macie gave him a thumbs-up in admiration for his benevolence.
On second thought, she still felt that something wasn't right. A normal person would only use the coupon to pay for his own bill, not the bills of all the diners. It was also surprising that the manager had agreed for him to settle everyone's bills without paying a dime.
'Horace had the guts to treat everyone to free meals with just the coupons, and the manager was gracious enough to allow it. Something is fishy!'
Macie reasoned that things didn't add up. Two million dollars was a huge amount of money. It wasn't something that could be waved off with just two papers. In the end, she concluded that Horace was sexually involved with the manager.
There was no other logical explanation she could give for what just happened. Her suspicion only grew as she thought about it.
When Laila heard Horace's explanation, she wasn't surprised but worried about him. She asked in a low voice, "Horace, would the manager have a bad impression of you?"
Horace immediately shook his head. "No, she won't. Laila, she's a nice person. And she understands the situation," he replied.
The way Horace spoke about Edna's behavior made Macie even more suspicious. As far as she was concerned, the fact that he vouched for the manager confirmed her suspicions. He was talking as if he was the one that treated the diners to the second round of feast.
'Wonders will never cease. Why did such a sophisticated woman take fancy to Horace? He's not handsome or rich at all. What did she see in him? Come to think of it. Why didn't she get angry at him for bringing another woman to her restaurant? How did Horace do it? Is she blindly in love with him? Nah! That's not possible!'
Macie examined different possibilities in her head as she stared at the poorly-dressed Horace. She only became more curious by the second.
The three of them chatted as they stepped out of the restaurant.
Horace looked on each side of the road and couldn't find the ride he had just ordered. However, he saw a Rolls-Royce Phantom parked close by. It looked like Farris's.
'What's going on? Didn't he leave?' Horace was confused as he stared at the luxury car.
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