Chapter 3

A surge of joy rose in my heart when I heard Danielle agree to pay back the money.

Even though the 80 thousand dollars wasn't a huge deal to me, forcing this greedy family to cough up what they owed me still felt great.

Danielle pulled out her phone and started tapping away. I glanced over and realized she was taking out online loans. That delighted me even more.

A few minutes later, 80 thousand dollars hit my account.

She shoved the transfer record in my face. "Take a good look. The money's been transferred. Can you get lost now?"

To keep her from noticing anything unusual, I arranged my face into a scowl.

"Danielle, don't think I can't do anything to you. We still have to settle your theft of my family heirloom. It's far from over!"

She sneered and leaned close to whisper in my ear, "I'm about to be a multimillionaire. What could a broke loser like you do to me?"

"We'll just see about that," I said, scoffing coldly. "Let's see who really comes out on top."

With that, I turned and walked away.

The Daltons continued hurling insults after me, but I pretended not to hear them. I had both time and money now. I could play their game all day—and I was curious to see how long they'd last.

After leaving the Daltons, I immediately called my childhood friend Galvin Stabler. He had connections and knew how to get things done, so he was the perfect person to help me both sell the stamp and deal with the Daltons.

We soon met at our usual spot. He was with his younger sister, Lucy Stabler, who had just returned from studying in Jomera. Both were excited to see me.

They were furious when I told them about the stamp.

Galvin couldn't help grumbling, "I told you ages ago that woman was bad news. You wouldn't believe me, and you kept throwing your hard-earned cash at her. Now you see, right?"

"Wy, don't be too sad," Lucy teased as well. "Losing a bad person means the universe is looking out for you. There are plenty of good women out there, and I happen to be one of them. How about it? Will I do?"

"That's right," Galvin chimed in, egging her on. "My sister beats Danielle by miles in both looks and character."

Truth be told, they'd made these jokes before, but since we grew up together, I'd always seen Lucy as a younger sister and never thought of her that way.

The first time I met the Stabler siblings, Galvin was 12 years old, while Lucy was only seven. Back then, their father had gone to prison, and the siblings only had each other. More often than not, they went hungry.

As their new neighbor and classmate, I often stole money from home to help them out.

Later, when their father got out and became a big shot, things skyrocketed for them, and they moved out of our neighborhood.

However, our friendship remained.

After they got rich, they repeatedly offered me financial help, but I'd always refused. I didn't want our precious friendship to be tainted by money.

So when they learned that I'd obtained a stamp worth over 10 million dollars, they were even more excited than I was.

Galvin had barely sat down before he started reaching out to buyers. Eventually, he reached an agreement with a well-known collector and arranged the transaction for two days later.

After settling the stamp matter, he suggested teaching the Daltons a lesson, and I readily agreed.

We knew they had no real channel to quickly fence the stamp for cash, and that they'd be eager and impatient. So, if someone were to offer them funds right now, they'd definitely go on a crazy spending spree.

By the time they found out the stamp was fake, they'd already be speeding down the road to ruin.

Galvin chuckled when he heard my plan.

"Just sit back and enjoy the show, buddy."