Chapter 3

Lynette and Ryan both froze, their expressions stiffening as they struggled to process Margaret's intervention.

Ryan was the first to recover. He quickly turned his accusations back on me. "You troublemaker! Look at the mess you've caused! You must've offended Margaret with your sneaky, underhanded behavior just now! What are you standing there for? Hurry up and apologize to her!"

As he spoke, he grabbed a tin of premium caviar from a nearby shelf and shoved it into Margaret's hands. "As compensation, please accept this gift from us. My subordinate doesn't know better. I'll make sure to teach him a proper lesson!"

Then, completely ignoring Margaret's protests, he turned to me and ordered, "You're paying for the caviar, too!

"And I'm going to take another 20 tins as spares in case any other senior residents come here looking for trouble. You can pay for those as well."

At that, Margaret grew flustered. "Hey, hey! When did I say I wanted this caviar? And why should Will have to pay for every—"

Lynette cut her off, "Don't worry, Margaret. I promise I'll give you a satisfactory explanation for what happened today. Come on. Let's go over there and talk."

Putting on an act of concern, she practically dragged Margaret away despite her protests. With Margaret gone, no one else at the scene spoke up for me.

"What are you waiting for? Pay up!" Ryan barked.

I couldn't be bothered to argue. Instead, I texted the store manager and let her handle the mess from here.

Just as I sent the text, Ryan grabbed me by the collar. I stared coldly into his malicious eyes.

"You punk! I've been sick of you for a long time," he gritted out viciously in a voice only we could hear, leaning close to my ear.

"Every time we do one of these charity visits, you hog the spotlight! You always have to make yourself look good! I'm the team leader, yet those old farts never bother sucking up to me. All they do is praise you!

"They even made you the Outstanding Volunteer. You don't deserve it one bit! So, quit glaring at me and apologize right now!

"Then, hand over the entire list of elderly residents assigned to you, especially those collecting pensions, and transfer them all to my name! Otherwise, I'll make you the social outcast in this neighborhood!"

Disgusted by his twisted face, I shoved him away and swung back with a heavy punch to the face. The blow sent him stumbling sideways, and a thin trickle of blood appeared at the corner of his mouth.

"Are you out of your mind? How dare you hit me!"

I shook out my numb hand and spat back coldly, "That's what you get for being a vile, despicable piece of shit!"

Then, I took a deep breath and slowly swept my gaze across everyone in the store. "Don't you all want to know why I took this jug of oil? Fine. I'll tell you. Because I, Will Irving, am the owner of the Harvest Grain & Oil chain!"

The store fell deathly silent. A few seconds later, whispers erupted.

"Has he lost his mind? Did he just claim to own Harvest Grain & Oil?"

"He's so worked up he's starting to spout nonsense to cope."

"I know, right? If I were a big-shot businessman, I wouldn't waste my time being a volunteer, waiting on the elderly hand and foot every day."

Lynette's face had flushed with rage. "You're a compulsive liar, and you're beyond saving! I hereby announce that, effective immediately, you are expelled from the volunteer team!

"Our neighborhood office has absolutely nothing to do with you anymore!"

She couldn't wait to wash her hands of me, terrified that my claim to own the entire chain would offend the store.

Ryan, still clutching the corner of his mouth where I had punched him, gave me a sinister smile. "You had your chance to do things the easy way, but you just had to make things difficult for yourself.

"Today, I'll teach you, delusional fraud, a lesson on behalf of Harvest Grain & Oil!"

With that, he raised the heavy glass bottle of vinegar and swung it straight at my head. My eyes widened. I quickly dodged to the side, but the bottle still slammed hard into my shoulder.

A wave of excruciating pain shot through me. I let out a muffled groan as my entire arm went numb in an instant.

"Will!" a desperate shout rang out. Margaret shoved Lynette away from her and staggered toward me, throwing herself in front of me to shield me from further harm.

"You'd better be okay, Will, or I'll fight every last one of them, even with these old bones of mine!"

Supporting me with one hand, she turned toward the stunned cashier and security guards and roared at them, "Are you all dead? What are you standing around for? Call an ambulance now!

"If anything happens to him, every one of you will pay for it!"