Chapter 2

The call ended.

Eva pursed her lips and said to me, "You can explain the situation to my dad yourself."

She tossed her head and, without waiting for me, walked into the restaurant with Terence.

I followed them upstairs.

The entire sixth-floor hall was set with nearly twenty tables, every one of them full.

They were all Henson relatives, and every one of them had asked me for favors and had things done for them.

"Oh, Mr. Gilbert is here."

"Thanks to Mr. Gilbert's investment, my family's pig farm was able to keep running."

"Without Mr. Gilbert paying the medical bills, my mother would have died long ago."

They beamed at me.

Some were even moved to tears.

"Zane, come, sit."

Eustace stood up and waved me over, his face creasing into a smile. "Eva tells me you prepared a Tang Bohu painting as a birthday gift for me. Hurry, take it out and let everyone have a look."

Every time I gave him a gift, he pulled a stunt like this.

Last time he said he liked a certain watch.

I agreed to buy it for him, and he immediately treated all his relatives and friends to dinner, showing it off every which way.

Before I could even speak, Terence let out a cold snort. "A Tang Bohu painting? He'd have a hard time giving you a single sheet of paper."

"What do you mean?"

Eustace was taken aback.

"He's gone bankrupt."

Terence answered in a deeply contemptuous tone.

In an instant, the whole room fell silent.

Everyone turned in unison to stare at me.

"Mm."

I nodded. "The painting went to pay off a debt."

"Zane Gilbert, don't you think that's a pretty shabby thing to do?"

Eva frowned, her lovely eyes shooting me a vicious glare, and went on, "Even if you're broke, you can't take my dad's birthday present and use it to pay off a debt!"

"Where does that leave my dad's face?"

"A perfectly good birthday dinner, and you've ruined the mood."

It was obvious.

In her eyes.

Face mattered more than I did.

I didn't answer her. I just stared at Eustace.

Waiting for him to take a stance.

Instead, he hurriedly waved his hands. "Zane, even if you've gone bankrupt, you can't take back all those antiques and paintings you gave me before."

I almost laughed.

Since I started dating Eva, the antiques and paintings I'd given him were enough to open a small exhibition hall.

But I never expected that today he wouldn't say a single word for me.

All he cared about was holding on to the paintings.

As the saying goes.

Birds of a feather flock together.

Every one of them put profit ahead of me.

Eva stressed it again. "Zane Gilbert, do you have any shame at all? Do you really have to make a scene at my dad's birthday dinner?"

But what scene had I made?

Wasn't every word here coming from the Hensons themselves?

Then again, it made sense. These days Eva found everything about me irritating.

So she flew off the handle whenever she liked.

"All right, everyone sit down."

Eustace smoothed things over, and the moment I sat, he said, "Zane, if you want to marry my daughter, the bride price is at least one million, and the gold jewelry and the rest are separate."

"Didn't you say back then you didn't want a bride price?"

I shot back.

Ever since we started dating, Eustace had always said it was Eva's good fortune to have met me.

No bride price needed.

Not even a wedding, if it came to that.

And now he'd changed his tune.

"I never said any such thing."

Having denied it, Eustace looked around at the relatives and friends. "Everyone, tell me, this bride price I'm asking isn't too much, is it?"

"After all, you've gone bankrupt, so the bride price is a guarantee for my daughter's future."

The relatives and friends glanced at me, a flicker of guilt in their eyes, but then they immediately backed Eustace up.

"That's right, Zane. Eva is such an outstanding girl with so many suitors. A bride price of one million is on the low side, if anything."

"Exactly, exactly. If you ask me, it should be at least two million! Plus another million for gold."

"If you can't come up with the bride price, there's no point getting married."

I had thought.

They'd all received my favors.

Surely one or two of them would speak up for me.

But no one did.

I took a deep breath, my gaze sweeping over them one by one before finally settling on Eva. "You're forcing me to break up with you, aren't you?"