Chapter 4

The faint honking of the car convoy at the entrance could be heard.

Karen couldn't be bothered about her image anymore and rushed up to us in her high heels.

"Don't tell me you're still going to leave this junk of a cart at the roadside like this! You're trying to get me fired, aren't you?"

Mom stood in front of the cart and pleaded,

"Ms. Myers, please, we're only taking up a small corner of the road. We promise we're not blocking anyone or causing any trouble—"

Karen completely lost her temper and turned to Randall next to her, roaring, "What are you still standing there like an idiot for? Throw her cart out of the way! Don't let any of the VIPs see any of this junk!"

When Randall saw that the mayor and his convoy were about to arrive, he didn't hold back anymore and went up to the cart to push it out of the way.

"You can't blame us for any of this, Mrs. Marshall. Now get out of the way!"

"Get your hands off my cart!" Mom yelled, rushing up to stop the cart from being toppled over. This cart was our only source of survival in this city.

"What are you doing? Get your hands off my mother!" I yelled, rushing up to Randall, who was trying to push Mom off. I then shielded Mom behind me.

Karen got even angrier when she saw this and grabbed Mom by the collar before yanking her forcefully to the side.

"How dare you cause trouble for me like this in broad daylight? Get the hell out of the way! Don't you dare tarnish the image and reputation of Emerald Green!"

Our cart was then roughly toppled over, and everything on the cart, including the condiments and other glass jars, fell out and broke, scattering their contents all over the ground.

Mom fell to her knees and hurriedly picked up whatever she could to try and salvage her ingredients.

None of the other homeowners offered to help. In fact, they took a few steps backward with their nose in the air in disgust.

"Hurry up and get that stupid trash out of our face!" Karen screamed at Randall, gesturing wildly at the cart. He then grabbed the cart and discarded it next to the garbage pile.

Just then, a whole convoy of identical black Maybachs slowly pulled up in front of the red carpet at the entrance.

"He's here! The chairman of Bloomberg Finance is here!"

Karen's expression changed at once, a fawning smile appearing on her lips almost immediately.

The mayor, Mr. Winters, got out of the first car. Then, Mr. Bloomberg slowly stepped out of the second car, dressed smartly in a dark gray bespoke suit.

Karen's voice was saccharinely sweet as she fawned over them and exclaimed, "Mr. Bloomberg! Mr. Winters! Welcome! Welcome to Emerald Green! It's our greatest honor to have you as our guest!"

Marianne also stepped forward, urging Mitchie to the front to greet Mr. Bloomberg. She smiled so hard that her face wrinkled all over.

"It's so nice to meet you, Mr. Bloomberg! We're so honored to welcome you to Emerald Green today!"

However, Mr. Bloomberg didn't seem the least bit interested in any of the people who were obviously trying to suck up to him. He simply nodded faintly at them before glancing briefly at the banner hanging in the air.

He frowned and asked, "Why doesn't the banner have Cathy's name on it?"

Karen's face froze for a second. "What? Cathy? W-Which Cathy are you talking about?"

Mr. Bloomberg didn't care about her shock and turned to his team behind him, excitedly saying, "I've told you many times about Tanya's burritos, haven't I? Her signature homemade hot sauce and sour cream are the best things you'll ever taste!

"You must all have a taste since we're already all here to celebrate Cathy's success!"

At that, Karen's face immediately turned as pale as a sheet. She stammered hard, not knowing how to explain the situation to them.

However, Marianne thought that she'd finally found a chance to suck up to them and stepped forward.

"Wait, Mr. Bloomberg. You don't mean that dirty roadside burrito stall, do you? Don't you know what a terrible eyesore her stall is when she sets up shop every day?

"We even caught her trying to ride on the coattails of the top scorer's fame earlier too! But don't worry. We've already dealt with her properly and kicked her off the street. She won't be an eyesore to you anymore."

She then nodded at him and smiled sweetly as she continued speaking in an increasingly obsequious tone.

"Since you're already here, would you all do us the honor of joining us for a simple lunch at my home a while later?"

Everyone fell silent. The smile on Mr. Bloomberg's face vanished completely as he fixed his eyes on Marianne.

"Say that again. Whom did you say you kicked off the street?"