Chapter 4

As that offer letter fell out of Kevin's hands, a gust of wind abruptly blew it away.

"No! That's impossible!" he shrieked. "My dad… He paid Mandy five hundred grand! This offer is mine!"

He lunged toward me, but the security guards strode forward and subdued him.

Yvie reacted fast and let go of Kevin's hand, tears immediately streaming down her face as she reached for me.

"I'm so sorry, Carl! Kevin made me do it! I love you… Just forgive me, okay? We can start over!"

I sidestepped her and whipped out my phone, playing the recording from the day before from yesterday.

"You're born to be a dog! Don't even think of getting on our level…"

"I've just withdrawn that money you'd given me for a Birkin bag. You don't have a problem with that, right? Your money is mine anyway."

Kevin's voice rang too.

"I won't lie. The HR director who's going to interview you? My dad has bribed her to hell and back. You can keep crying, but that won't do a thing!"

"Oh, and by the way, remember that programming competition which you won last year? It's now mine too, thanks to my dad once again…"

I stopped the playback, looking at Yvie as she turned pale.

"In three days," I began, "I want everything back—all the money I ever gave you, my first-place prize, the graduate school recommendation, and damages for slander. The total comes to five hundred thousand, and I want to see that money in my bank account soon.

"That also includes everything you bought with my money. It must either be given to me physically or pawned off. Either way works."

Pausing, I then finished, "It's either that, or I'm pressing charges. When that happens, you'll be expelled and get a criminal record on top of that—which means you won't ever land a proper job."

Yvie's knees buckled, and she collapsed on her bottom, dropping her handbag and leaving it covered in dust.

Her mouth was open, but no words came out.

That was when Joshua approached me with a sealed document envelope, whispering under his breath, "We found something regarding your parents' deaths. It was no accident."

Pausing, he then explained, "The driver who rear-ended your parents' truck is Kevin's distant uncle. And a week before that accident, your parents had signed a major contract with the Smiths."

My fingers clenched so hard around the envelope that my knuckles turned pale.

I looked up to see Kevin, still on the floor, calling his father to ask for help.

Yvie was beside him, her shoulders trembling as she cried, messing up her makeup completely.

I watched them in turn.

So, it wasn't just my graduate school recommendation, my job offer, or my money—they even had something to do with my parents' deaths.

Still, my lips curled up as I looked at the envelope in my hand and back at them.

The old scores had only just been settled, and now there was a new score to settle.

Great! Let's take our time with this!

Suddenly, the envelope felt so heavy that I could barely keep my grip on it, even though there were only a few sheets of paper in it.

Yvie was still crying on the floor when she saw me staring at her and crawled over to reach for my leg.

"Carl! I know you still love me! You can have your money back… as well as that handbag! You can have anything! Just don't press charges—I don't want a criminal record…"

I simply took one step back while security rushed up, holding her arms as they dragged her away.

I looked down at the face I had known for ten years.

When she was hungry, I bought her food.

When she was cold, I gave her my jacket.

When she cried, I spent the whole night comforting her.

Now, seeing her bawl, I had to wonder: What kind of person had I been in love with all these years?

"Three days," I said very quietly. "Pay me back, and I won't sue. If you're even one day late, I'll proceed with legal action."