Chapter 4: Chapter Four: The Important Figure

After leaving the restaurant, it didn't take more than half an hour for the streets to be covered in a blanket of white snow.

Doreen Pulitzer escorted them to school.

Just before they entered the school gates, Doreen Pulitzer called out to Chen Munan.

"Don't think about solving everything with violence. Remember, your future is in your own hands. No matter what others say, you are the one who decides how to walk your path. You're about to turn eighteen; learn to take responsibility for yourself and those who care about you. Understand?"

Chen Munan was taken aback, looking into Doreen Pulitzer's calm eyes, and nodded, half-understanding.

"Also, Mom is traveling out of town, and her phone is broken, so she can't be reached. Don't worry; I'll get in touch with her as soon as possible."

Finally, she asked, "Is that Jeff Boswell in your class?"

"No," Chen Munan replied. "He's in Class One, and I'm in Class Twenty-Seven."

As Doreen Pulitzer had expected, Geya Middle School was the top public school in H City. Class One was reserved for children from influential families, while Classes Two through Twenty-Seven were based on academic performance, with better grades placing students in higher-numbered classes.

"Alright, go in now."

Doreen Pulitzer watched as the two teenagers walked into the school.

She then hailed a taxi and headed to the Villa.

As expected, Shirley Graham wasn't home.

She sat in the living room, her eyes vacant, lost in thought.

A sudden knock at the door made Doreen Pulitzer immediately get up to answer it.

At the door stood two men, one tall and one short. The taller one had sparse yellow hair, a fierce look in his eyes, and a gold tooth glinting on the left side of his mouth. The shorter one was very fat, wearing a leather jacket and a single layer of clothing in the heavy snow, revealing a large tattoo on his neck.

Doreen Pulitzer, on guard, asked, "Who are you looking for?"

"Hey, is this Shirley Graham? So young and pretty, why didn't you say so earlier!"

"...No, Bro, this is her daughter, Doreen Pulitzer."

"Oh, even better! Pay up!"

They were debt collectors.

The man called Bro looked Doreen Pulitzer up and down, smiling. "Miss Chen, paying back debts is only natural! It's not easy for us, having to come out in such cold weather to collect. Give us a straight answer: will you pay or not, and how much per month? If not, hand over Mrs. Ye, and we have our ways to make her cough up the money!"

Doreen Pulitzer stepped forward, closing the door behind her to prevent them from entering and ransacking the house.

She asked, "Do you have the loan contract?"

The man with the gold tooth was surprised. "Oh, you know the drill."

He gave a signal, and the shorter man immediately pulled out a tablet, bringing up the contract.

Doreen Pulitzer read every word, line by line, of the lengthy document.

By the time she finished reading the last word, her knuckles gripping the tablet were already white.

Shirley Graham had borrowed from multiple lenders, with a total principal and interest amounting to 2.6 million yuan. Not a penny more, not a penny less. In the contract, it was agreed that she would repay 130,000 yuan each month, and if she failed to pay within ten days, the house in the Villa would be seized first.

"Aren't we being honest, Miss Chen? We do legitimate business," the man with the gold tooth said. "It doesn't matter if Mrs. Ye is missing; you are the guarantor, so the money must be repaid by you. Otherwise, let's sell the house first!"

Doreen Pulitzer took out her phone to take a picture, but the shorter man immediately tried to snatch the tablet away.

Doreen Pulitzer held on tightly, saying, "I can pay, but I need to take a photo of the contract."

The shorter man glanced at the man with the gold tooth, who raised his chin slightly, and he reluctantly withdrew his hand.

A few minutes later, Doreen Pulitzer put away her phone. "I only have 30,000 yuan in my account. Please give me a receipt."

Seeing that they were getting impatient, she spoke slowly, "I assume you've checked the company I work for. I'm a salaried employee with no extra savings. If you force me, I might just file for bankruptcy and become a deadbeat debtor."

The man with the gold tooth stopped the shorter man from making a move, smiling. "Fine, 30,000 yuan is fine."

Getting some money now was better than nothing, and once there was an opening, the rest would follow.

File for bankruptcy, become a deadbeat debtor?

The man with the gold tooth chuckled; she wouldn't dare!

After transferring the money and getting the receipt, Doreen Pulitzer quickly got rid of the two men and left the Villa.

As the taxi passed through an intersection, she asked the driver to turn around and head to a mall, where she found an ATM and inserted the card given to her by the man the previous night.

There was no password.

To her surprise, the balance was 100,000 yuan!

Doreen Pulitzer thought she must be seeing things and counted the zeros again.

It was indeed 100,000 yuan.

Holding the card, she left the mall, regretting throwing away the piece of paper with the man's number on it in a fit of impulse that morning.

Her boss, Brady Rutherford, suddenly called, asking her to return to No.9 Castle.

Doreen Pulitzer reasoned with him, "I'm off today."

Brady Rutherford roared through the phone, "Want to take a day off, huh? Fine! If you're not here in twenty minutes, you can take a permanent leave!"

With the massive debt hanging over her, Doreen Pulitzer couldn't afford to lose her job. She hurriedly took a taxi, but still arrived five minutes late.

Brady Rutherford glanced at her but said nothing, only telling her to change into her uniform.

In the changing room, Doreen Pulitzer ran into Jessica Grote, who was also called in on her day off.

"Huh, such obvious dark circles. Whose bed did you crawl out of this morning?"

Jessica Grote, from the same property management team, had never gotten along with Doreen Pulitzer since joining the company, always speaking with barbs and hidden jabs.

As usual, Doreen Pulitzer ignored her.

Jessica Grote rolled her eyes and strutted away.

Hilary Zacharias happened to enter, catching sight of Jessica Grote's smug expression.

Angry, she said, "How annoying! Everyone knows she got in through connections! She's the one who's been unclear with several owners, yet she accuses others!"

Doreen Pulitzer didn't respond, instead asking, "What's going on, Director making such a big fuss?"

Hilary Zacharias's eyes lit up. "A big shot is moving in! Even the general manager of the H City branch is here."

Doreen Pulitzer was puzzled. "Anyone who can afford to live in No.9 Castle is a big shot. Why is this person so special today?"

No.9 Castle was like the the most luxurious castle of H City, with its astronomical prices and exclusive residents. There was even an unwritten rule that only those with a minimum of 50 million yuan in liquid assets could view the properties.

Thus, No.9 Castle gathered the upper echelons of H City.

It was common to welcome new residents with gifts and fanfare, but it was unprecedented for the branch general manager to play the role of a doorman, bowing and scraping.

The snow continued to fall, and everyone held their breath in anticipation.

Half an hour later, the big shot finally arrived.

A man stepped out of a white Maybach, casually surveying the grand welcoming party. Doreen Pulitzer's eyes, which had remained unchanged for years, suddenly widened.

It was him.