Chapter 2

"We’re going to get married! Why are you drawing a line between your money and mine? What’s yours is mine!"

"Chloe, my mom said you need to give us a baby boy right after we get married. Do you have any idea how much diapers and formula cost? You went to business school, and you can't even do this simple math?!"

I wanted to slap him across his face, but seeing the disgusting food residue around his mouth, I couldn't even bring myself to touch him.

"Are you insane? We've only been dating for a week. Did I say I was going to marry you? Did I say I was going to give you a son? You are a literal psycho."

I tried to keep my voice down, but he didn't listen to a single word. He pushed me aside and sat right in my seat.

"I’ll talk to you after I'm full."

Then, Zach began devouring the food left on our table like a starving animal. Seeing that there wasn't much left, he screamed at the top of his lungs, "Server! Bring us another sashimi platter! And your most expensive wine!"

I came out to enjoy my evening, not to be a laughingstock.

The moment he started shouting, I grabbed Maya's hand and walked out of the room. "Maya, let's go."

"Wait, stop right there, Chloe!"

Zach stuffed one last piece of eel into his mouth and chased us all the way from the private room to the lobby. He grabbed my elbow tightly. "Chloe, don't walk away! Today, I’m going to teach you how to save money. I’m going to fix your greedy, wasteful habits once and for all!"

I thought he was going to start lecturing me again, but in the next second, he clutched his stomach and began to wail.

"Help! The food in this place is contaminated! My stomach hurts so bad!"

I rolled my eyes, shaking with pure rage.

Maya held my hand, gently comforting me. "Don't let him get to you, Chloe. It’s not worth getting sick over a piece of trash like him."

"Where is the manager?! Get out here right now! I'm dying of stomach pain!"

As Zach rolled around on the floor, the other customers stopped eating to stare. The servers rushed over in a panic. "Sir, are you okay?"

"Do I look okay?! Your raw fish is crawling with bacteria! It poisoned me! Call your manager out here right now!"

The manager, who had been briefed on the situation, rushed to the lobby. He politely tried to help Zach up, attempting to follow protocol to investigate. But Zach cut him off instantly.

"The buffet was $78! You are going to pay me ten times that in compensation, or I’m calling the cops and suing this place! By then, you’ll be paying for my medical bills and lost wages!"

"Sir, we have to follow standard procedures..."

"Screw your procedures! I don't care about that! Just pay me my money!" Zach glared at Maya and me, then reached out to grab my arm. "My girlfriend ate with me, and her stomach hurts too! You have to pay us double!"

$78, ten times compensation, for two people.

That was $1,560.

This relatively small amount of money made Zach's face turn bright red with greed. He pulled me close, whispering urgently, "Hurry up, hold your stomach and act like you have food poisoning! This is free money for our future home. Learn something!"

I shoved Zach away with all my strength.

"Sorry, everyone. We don't know him."

I dragged Maya to the front desk, closed our tab, and then stood by the door to watch the show.

Zach muttered "useless bitch" under his breath before turning back to harass the manager. But just as he was screaming himself hoarse, the manager spoke up in a calm, slow voice.

"Sir, it seems you didn't actually order or pay for anything in our restaurant today."