Ronnie spoke up with a smile.
"You two go ahead. I'm not coming."
I shook my head.
Ronnie blinked, then asked, "Whatever it is, it can wait. Dinner with Daphne comes first."
"Right, right. If you don't come, what kind of best friend are you?"
Daphne was playing the spoiled card.
Before, I might have let myself be talked into it. But now, the way she put it, it sounded no different from emotional blackmail.
"Never mind."
"Something came up at home."
I didn't bother reading their faces. I turned, walked to my car, and drove straight to the brand store that sold the handbag.
"Hello."
"Could you check the serial number on this bag for me? I want to know if it won a prize."
The clerk took the bag, checked it, then smiled. "That's right. Congratulations, you've won three million dollars. Please come with me."
The whole process took less than a minute.
A bank text hit my phone. After taxes, two point seven million had landed in my account.
Still, Ronnie and Daphne would find out about this money soon enough.
Next week, the store would put a sign out front and use it for promotion.
So I called a real estate agent right away and bought the waterfront condo I'd been eyeing for ages.
Paid in full, cash.
Once everything was settled, I took the deed home and filled my parents in.
When they learned Ronnie and Daphne had been together all along, they were shocked, but they believed me.
They told me to do whatever felt right to me.
I'd barely finished dinner with them when Ronnie and Daphne pulled me into our group chat.
Daphne sent a chirpy voice message.
【*Mila, you ditched the steakhouse dinner with me tonight, so your punishment is you're paying the bill!*】
Ronnie chimed right in. 【*It's not much. Just three thousand eight hundred and eighty-eight. Just send the transfer.*】
Once, I would have figured it didn't matter between friends and just sent it.
But this time I said nothing and went to get ready for bed.
Pretended I never saw it.
By the time I finished my shower and came back, the chat was at 99+.
Daphne: 【*Mila, why aren't you saying anything?*】
Ronnie: 【*It's been ten minutes. The restaurant's waiting on us to pay.*】
Daphne: 【*Wow, the feelings have really cooled. Can't even bother to reply.*】
The last one was from Ronnie. 【*Mila Henson, you're being so cheap. Forget it, we'll pay for ourselves!*】
Only after seeing that did I reply.
【*Just got out of the shower.*】
But no one answered.
Something like this had happened before, actually. Afterward I'd sent Daphne and Ronnie a thousand dollars each.
That was what smoothed things over.
Looking back now, I'd been so stupid.
This time, I had no time to coddle them. I fed Tangerine a handful of freeze-dried treats and turned to open my laptop and work.
Refining the marketing proposal, prepping for the presentation at Monday's meeting.
Tangerine hopped onto the desk, stared at my screen, and started up in my head again. "Your company's cat says the chairman loves cute pets most, but he keeps up that cold, aloof image, so he's too embarrassed to show it."
"He's always going on about how great it would be if someone put together a cute-pet marketing campaign."
Inspiration hit me all at once.
If that was the case, then I'd give him what he wanted and work cute-pet elements into this proposal.
I worked through the night into morning.
I was about to rest for a bit when Ronnie called.
"Mila, you went too far last night. You actually wouldn't pay. That really hurt."
"Daphne was so upset she cried."
"I hear she had her eye on a necklace at the mall. You should buy it for her."
I almost laughed from sheer anger.
He really was carrying his one guiding principle straight through to the end: spend my money to keep Daphne.
