Chapter 3

At the club entrance, Jasper's loud shouting attracted a crowd of customers from the lobby.

They gathered around, throwing judgmental looks at me.

They actually thought I was some cheap thief trying to skip a bill.

"Someone’s trying to skip a bill at Meridian? Is she crazy?"

"Yikes. She looks so well-dressed, but she's doing something so trashy..."

"If you can't afford Meridian, don't come here. How embarrassing."

Being publicly pointed at and humiliated made my blood boil.

Beside Jasper, Chloe’s face was pale, and sweat was beads on her forehead.

"Jasper... maybe we should just let it go..."

She pulled at his sleeve, her voice trembling. She finally realized this might be going too far.

Jasper glared at her. "Chloe, don't be so useless! The money is right here! If we don't squeeze these broke relatives dry now, they’ll keep leeching off us forever!"

Chloe flinched. She swallowed her words and shrank back, not daring to say another word.

Her pathetic, spineless behavior made me completely give up on her.

Coldly, I pulled out my phone and called my assistant.

"Leo, bring one hundred thousand dollars in cash from the car. Now."

Within minutes, Leo walked over briskly, carrying a sleek, heavy silver briefcase.

I nodded at him to open it.

With a sharp *click*, the briefcase popped open. Row after row of crisp, hundred-dollar bills sat tightly packed inside. The visual impact was undeniable.

The crowd gasped. All whispering stopped instantly.

Jasper’s eyes literally went wide!

He obviously hadn't expected a "poor relative" like me to casually produce a briefcase with $100,000 in cash.

"Damn, I should have charged her fifty thousand," Jasper muttered under his breath, looking like he had just missed out on a lottery win.

Looking at the stacks of cash, Jasper swallowed hard. His breathing got heavy.

He reached out, trying to grab the briefcase.

"Smart move. Twenty-eight grand for the service, and the remaining seventy-two grand will be our compensation for the emotional distress and damage you caused to our club's reputation!"

"Wait."

I pressed my hand down on the briefcase lid, stopping him.

Jasper immediately got defensive. "What? You trying to back out?"

"You can take the money," I stared at him, my eyes sharp as needles. "But you have to sign this receipt. In black and white."

Chloe gasped. She finally realized things were spiraling out of her control.

She rushed forward, grabbing Jasper’s arm, begging, "Jasper, don't sign it! We can't take this money! Give it back to Clara!"

"Get off me, you useless idiot!" Jasper shoved her away, looking at her with disgust. "Why would we give back money that’s already in our hands? She owes us this! I'll sign it. Black and white, no one can deny it. Transaction complete."

Greed had completely blinded him. He couldn't hear any warnings.

He snatched a pen and paper from the receptionist, scribbled his name "Jasper" in big bold letters, and even stamped his thumbprint on it.

"Here!" He shoved the receipt into my hand and eagerly grabbed the briefcase, hugging it tightly to his chest.

"Babe, see that? I told you I’m smart! A hundred grand! This is my personal fun fund now. I've been eyeing that new BMW, and now I can finally buy it!"

Jasper put his arm around Chloe, his voice dripping with sweet satisfaction.

He was completely lost in his fantasy of unearned wealth and luxury cars, a massive grin on his face.

Just as Jasper was about to pull Chloe away, a sharp screech of tires echoed outside.

Three sleek, black SUVs with the "Meridian Group" logo slammed their brakes right at the entrance.