Chapter 4

"Mr. Roland, your request is going too far, don't you think?" Officer Warren asked, his expression darkening immediately.

Nevertheless, Paul waved him off nonchalantly. "Officer Warren, it's completely voluntary. If Mr. Lyons has a clear conscience, what's wrong with him giving a written statement?"

The salesperson quickly grabbed a piece of paper and a pen from the reception desk and handed them to me.

But I didn't accept them. Instead, I scanned the reception desk and finally picked up an ordinary pen belonging to the dealership.

I remembered they had used this pen when we signed the contract.

"I'll just use this pen."

Reaching out, I wrote a statement on the paper and signed my name.

I handed the written statement to Paul, my lips curling into a smirk as I said, "Hold onto it well."

Carefully, Paul tucked it into his pocket and pushed the 500 dollars toward me.

"Here's your money. Have a safe journey, Mr. Lyons."

The stares of the onlookers around me bore into my back.

"He did all that just to extort 500 dollars?"

"His act was so convincing. I actually thought he was some big shot. But in the end, that's all?"

"People these days can be so shameless when it comes to getting their hands on money…"

Though the chatter wasn't loud, every word was clear.

I ignored their voices and simply turned to Officer Warren calmly. "Sorry for troubling you and making you come all the way here, Officer Warren."

Officer Warren studied me briefly, then glanced at the smug-looking Paul and the salesperson.

In the end, he nodded. "Since both of you have reached an agreement, I'll make a move now. Should any further issues arise in the future, please resolve them legally."

We watched the police officers drive off in their cars. As soon as they were gone, the salesperson revealed his true colors.

"Hey, what are you still doing here? Is 500 dollars still too little? Were you waiting for the cops to leave so you can extort more from us? You're dressed decently enough, but it turns out you're just a broke loser. Take your money and get lost this instant!"

Paul, too, returned to his arrogant self from before. He sipped his tea casually, not even bothering to look up.

Just then, the glass door to the showroom flung open with a loud bang. Five or six burly men barged in, led by a bald man with a scar on his face and a vicious look in his eyes.

The customers and salespeople who had been watching the commotion immediately fell silent and instinctively took a few steps back.

"Mr. Roland, where's our money?" the bald man with a scar questioned, his voice booming.

"We didn't give you three days so that you could sip your tea and act like a boss over here! I'll tear this dealership of yours down if you don't settle your debt today!"

Paul turned as white as a sheet in an instant. Frantically, he got to his feet. "What made you come here in person, Larry? Didn't we agree you'd wait two more days?

"I've applied for a loan of eight million dollars from Redward Bank. I'm just waiting for their bank president to sign off on it and release the funds. The second I get the money, I'll pay back everything, interest and all!"

"Redward Bank?"

Larry jeered. "Who are you kidding? How could someone like you know anyone at Redward's main branch? And eight million dollars, you say? Do you think that your father's the president of the bank?"

The burly men behind Larry roared with excitement, their sinister gazes sweeping over the luxury cars in the showroom.

"It's true! I'm not lying!" Paul pulled his phone out clumsily. "I'll call Mr. Boone right now. The account manager told me yesterday that Mr. Boone would sign the papers today. I'll call him right now!"

His fingers shook as he swiped across his phone screen and tapped on the "call" button desperately.

At the same time, a familiar ringtone sounded in my pocket…