“I don’t want to waste my breath. This drink cost $398 wholesale. The penalty is one-thousand times the price. I’ll cut you a deal—pay $390,000 and we’ll forget the whole thing.”
The crowd gasped.
“Three hundred ninety thousand? That’s outrageous!”
“Outrageous? If you let kids steal now, they’ll steal gold when they’re older. She needs a good lesson!”
Hearing this, I pulled out my bank card and slammed it on the table.
“No need for discounts. I’ll pay $400,000!”
Rachel’s eyes lit up and she reached for it, but I pulled it away and said coldly:
“You’ll get the money only if the manager comes here and we review the surveillance cameras from start to finish.”
“If my daughter took anything, I’ll pay ten times more.”
“But if she didn’t, what will you do then?”
Rachel sneered:
“Don’t think I’m scared. That drink your daughter stole is a rare import, sold only here at our Seafood Buffet. If it wasn’t her, I’ll pay you $400,000 myself.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Fine. Deal.”
Thinking she was about to earn millions for the restaurant, Rachel was thrilled and immediately called the manager, Clara Johnson.
Within half an hour, Clara strutted in with arrogance.
She looked us over, arms crossed. “Rachel, these are the ones causing trouble?”
Rachel rushed to her side like a lackey:
“That’s right, Ms. Johnson. This woman’s kid stole something and refuses to admit it. She insists we check the cameras.”
Clara scoffed:
“Unbelievable. Riffraff like this think they can eat here? Looks like charging $3,800 a head is still too cheap.”
Three thousand eight hundred?
When I opened this chain, I set a uniform price of $980 per person.
She had secretly raised the price without reporting it.
I couldn’t help demanding:
“Other cities charge $980. Why are you charging more than three thousand here?”
Clara smirked like she’d heard a joke:
“Hick. If you can’t afford it, don’t come. You think New York is like other cities?”
Rachel chimed in:
“Mr. Shaw already gave this restaurant to Ms. Johnson. She can charge whatever she wants. None of your damn business.”
So that’s why the Ocean Palace Buffet in New York always showed losses—Edward had secretly handed it over to her.
I let out a bitter laugh.
“I heard Edward Shaw is already married with kids. So you’re saying you’re his wife?”
Clara’s face stiffened, but she forced her chin up:
“Becoming Mrs. Shaw is only a matter of time. Edward will dump that old hag sooner or later.”
Sophie gripped my fingers nervously. “Mom, does Dad really not want us anymore?”
I patted her back firmly. “Don’t be afraid. With or without him, I’ll protect you.”
The Shaw and Miller families had been bound in a business alliance since childhood.
When I married Edward, the Shaw family was already in decline.
I had used the Miller family’s resources, exhausting myself to rebuild his fortune.
His title as New York’s richest man came only because of the Miller family. Without me, he was nothing.
Hearing our conversation, Clara sneered even more:
“Like mother, like daughter. A filthy brat daring to claim a father she doesn’t have—what a disgusting pair.”
I was usually patient, but the one thing I could never tolerate was anyone insulting my daughter.
Today, these two had gone too far.
