Chapter 5

Explain?

In ten more minutes, we would be people from two different worlds. What was there left for me to explain to a man like you?

"And the third question?" I leaned back into the chair and prompted Winnie lazily.

Winnie's eyes moved around as she said, "Third question!"

She pulled a dull gray conch shell from Hank's pocket, its surface carved with strange patterns. "Lilibeth, this piece of trash is what you gave Hank for his birthday last month! You lied and told him it was some family heirloom, but really you picked it out of a trash heap by the shore, didn't you? You're just a gold digger, trying to mooch off Hank!"

The moment the conch shell came out, Kaplan's amused expression suddenly wavered. He frowned, as if trying to remember something while keeping his stare on the conch.

Meanwhile, the livestream comments were already tearing me apart.

[This is hilarious. She gave him a conch shell for his birthday? What was she thinking?]

[Even if she's poor, she could at least buy a piece of cake that's worth a few dollars, right? Instead she gives him trash!]

[I feel so bad for Hank, letting a gold digger near him like this.]

Hank looked completely humiliated as he snatched the conch shell from Winnie's hand and threw it on the deck. "Lilibeth! you have embarrassed me enough! I bought you expensive skincare and you give me this piece of junk in return? This isn't over!"

I watched the conch shell roll across the deck, my eyes cold. That was no ordinary conch shell. It was a Poseidon Emblem I had carved out with my own hand.

As long as someone carried that conch shell anywhere on the open seas, even if they crossed paths with the most vicious pirates, one blow from it would be enough. Every pirate would steer clear of them. Some would even provide armed escort.

If that thing ever went up for auction on the black market, the opening bid would start at fifty million dollars! I gave it to Hank so he could run his future shipping business in peace, yet he threw it on the deck like garbage.

"Hank." My voice was calm. "Since you didn't want that conch shell, then I'll never give you another one even if you get on your knees and beg me someday."

Hank heard my words like it was the funniest joke he had ever heard. "Beg you? Me? Begging a toilet cleaner? Are you insane?"

Kaplan looked away from the conch shell and waved his hand. "Enough. It's just a useless seashell, so stop wasting my time. This truth or dare is getting so dull. Since this cleaner has such a thick hide, we're going back to the previous game."

He pointed at the shark tank, where the water was churning. "Get in! Get down there and swim two laps for me! If you survive, I'll throw in another hundred grand!"

The security closed in at once, their expression vicious. I simply let them shove me toward the shark tank, but Winnie suddenly spoke up after she schemed for a moment. "Wait! Captain Levin, there's something you need to know. This woman has very nimble fingers. If she pulls some trick in the tank and hurts your precious sharks, that would be bad!"

Winnie paused, her voice full of malice as she finally said, "How about tying her hands and feet before you throw her in?"

The whole deck went silent again. Even the wealthy guests who had seen plenty in their lives were taken aback. If someone were thrown into a tank full of starving sharks with their hands and feet tied up, they could not even make it to the surface for air, much less avoid being torn apart by the sharks. There would not be much of a corpse left to find after that.

Hank frowned and a flicker of hesitation crossed his face. But when he saw Winnie's pleading look, he turned his head away without a word after a glint could be seen in his eyes.

Kaplan waved impatiently. "Do it. Move fast. Don't spoil everyone's fun."

A vicious glint appeared in Winnie's eyes. Shielded by the bodyguards and hidden from the livestream camera, she leaned close to my ear and whispered, "Lilibeth, you can drown in that tank now. A cheap woman like you is never worthy of Hank."

One of the bodyguards pulled out a rope. He was just about to tie me up when a deep voice belonging to a man came from the couch's direction. "Wait."