"Who knows what kind of nasty stuff was in that box? You were clearly jealous that Mr. Cole was treating me well, so you slipped poison in when I wasn't looking!"
"Mr. Cole, call the police! She tried to poison me on purpose!"
I nearly laughed out loud in disbelief. “You bought the frogs off the street?” I then pulled out my phone and opened the video I had just saved.
On screen, Cassey was grinning with excitement, holding a golden-yellow toad with striking black spots between a pair of tongs, proudly showing it off to the camera.
“Look! A golden toad! It's a super rare wild delicacy!” she gushed. “I hit the jackpot today, girls! Got it from some old lady—word is, eating it brings wealth and good luck! Mr. Cole, want to try something exotic?”
In the next moment, the golden toad was unceremoniously tossed into a pot of boiling soup.
Cassey then turned to the camera, made a peace sign and said in a sickly sweet voice, “Hotpot time! It's made of golden toad's broth. Let's wish Mr. Cole skyrocketing success and endless fortune!”
By now, a crowd had gathered and exchanged whispers among them.
“Damn... so she did steal it? Plus, she posted it on her socials? Is she stupid?”
“That toad is actually gold, gold! Ew, it looks freaky. Definitely not your regular frog. I'm not surprised it it's actually poisonous.”
“Serves her right! She stole someone’s stuff and then accuses the owner. What a twisted woman!”
Those comments easily reached Cassey’s ears. Her face instantly turned bright red with fury. “You! How dare you spy on me! Mr. Cole, she—"
"Enough!" Gavin barked, cutting her off.
Clearly, Gavin was livid, more with embarrassment and frustration than anger. He clearly hadn’t expected his sweet little assistant to be stupid enough to steal something and post a video outing herself.
He took a deep breath, then turned to me. Warmth no longer appeared on his gaze. “You know, Aria? Cassey did take your stuff and she is in the wrong. But it’s done now. She’s already paid a heavy price.”
“Let’s just get back to why we’re here. The whole matchmaking meet up was my parents' idea anyway. Now that things had blew up this way, I don’t think there’s any point in us continuing.”
He reached out and gently patted Cassey’s by the hand that clung tightly onto his arm. A flicker of tenderness crossed his eyes.
“You must be able to relate, Cassey’s a woman. And her looks are everything. Sure, you didn’t poison her, but the toad did come from your box." He continued, "So here’s what we’ll do: you compensate her with 3 million for facial reconstruction and we’ll call it even.”
“Call it even?” I repeated the phrase simply.
If I didn't know Gavin's grandpa; If Grandpa Mich wasn't a close friend of my grandpa; I wouldn’t have agreed to this blind date in the first place.
Looking at Gavin’s self-righteousness, whatever my restrain to end this problem politely had vanished.
I let out a mocking smile. “What makes you think I’d agree to that, Gavin?”
By that, I meant paying the 3 million. Yet, Gavin seemed to interpret it another way, he actually thought I was still clinging to the idea of being with him.
His lips curled into a sneer. “Aria, be realistic. You’re just a photographer who spends her days hiking through the wilderness. You think you’re good enough to be Mrs. Cole?”
“Do yourself a favor and let's end this meeting with some dignity and pay the money. If not, the Coles have plenty of ways to make sure your family are blacklisted in all corners of Blue Vale. You won’t even be able to get a decent job, let alone continue your little photography career.”
Gavin didn't shout those threats out loud, but it was enough for the onlookers to catch it and created gossips.
