2024-09-10 08:22:01Getting out of the car, Tedmond frowned. Although he had told Thomas he was fine with his belongings, Thomas had intentionally tossed them into the trash for him to get new ones.
“I’ll be waiting here for you,” the driver said. “Take as much time as you need.”
Tedmond glanced back and nodded before walking into the store. He knew Thomas had sent him shopping to give him time to think and make up his mind.
He understood he had to accept his inheritance. After all, he had promised the Griffin family he would make them pay, and the only way to do that was by accepting his fortune. Why would he refuse something like this after all he had been through?
It wasn’t possible.
Scanning the store, he looked for the men’s section. As his eyes roamed the place, they landed on a rabbit doll with emerald eyes and a gem dangling from it.
‘Is that a diamond?’ he wondered.
The emerald reminded him of Bianca’s eyes, and he thought she might like it. He decided to get it for her. Just as he was about to open the display case to take it, a rude voice interrupted him.
“What do you think you’re doing?” a woman snapped. “Do you really think you can steal that with all the surveillance footage around here?”
The sound of heels clicking made him spin around. In seconds, the woman shoved him away from the display and placed her hand on her waist, glaring at him.
“Trust me, there’s no way you’ll get away with stealing from this place,” she said. “You should leave.”
Her loud voice had drawn the attention of several people in the store, all frowning at Tedmond. Judging by his appearance, they assumed he couldn’t afford anything there.
“Is this how you treat your customers?” Tedmond asked.
“Customer, my foot! Are you trying to save face after I caught you trying to steal that rabbit doll?”
“I’m here to buy it,” Tedmond retorted, hating the fact that he was the center of attention. “How much does it cost? I’ll transfer the money right now.”
She raised an eyebrow, staring at him in disgust. “I gave you the chance to leave, and you’re wasting it. What makes you think you can afford it? You can’t even buy decent shoes, let alone this doll. And what would trash like you want with a doll anyway?”
Tedmond's brows knitted in anger. “How much is the doll? I want it.”
The woman chuckled and turned to the salesman nearby. “You handle this trash. He’s acting like he can afford anything in this store. Take care of him.”
She walked away, leaving the salesman to approach Tedmond awkwardly.
“Hello, sir,” the salesman said. “Can you really afford the doll? If you can’t, she’ll make sure I get fired,” he muttered, his voice low.
The people in the store began murmuring as they looked at Tedmond.
‘What’s he doing, lying like that?’ someone said.
‘Maybe he’s not a thief and just came here to window shop?’
‘I’m tired of trash pretending to be rich. Trash will always be trash.’
Tedmond frowned. They were looking down on him again, and it would affect the salesman who was just trying to help. “I want the doll,” Tedmond said, placing a hand on the salesman’s shoulder. “That’s not all I need, though. If you help me pick other things, you’ll be compensated.”
The man nodded, but the woman who had left burst into laughter. It was the same saleswoman.
“Are you kidding?!” she demanded. “If you can afford anything here, would you let me call the cops on you?”
Tedmond snapped his head toward her, his glare sharp. “And if I can afford it, what will you do?”
She snickered. “I’ll apologize…”
“That’s not enough,” he interrupted. “You’ll crawl around the store three times while apologizing.”
The woman flinched but quickly regained her composure. “What the–?”
“Also, you’ll apologize to this young man,” Tedmond added, gesturing to the salesman next to him. “Is that okay, or are you scared?”
“Why would I be scared? It’s not like you can afford it anyway,” she snarled. “I agree!”
“Good,” Tedmond said before turning to the salesman. “I’ll take that doll.”
The salesman nodded and retrieved the doll, handing it to Tedmond with a smile. Tedmond glanced at the doll, realizing it was the first time he was buying something for someone who hadn’t asked for it.
As he moved toward the clothing section, people in the store continued to murmur. Tedmond picked out as many clothes as he needed, along with shoes, a wristwatch, and other essentials, trying some on to see how they looked.
Despite the store’s luxury, he chose based on his taste, not the price.
“I’m done,” Tedmond announced, after selecting everything he wanted. The salesman helped him place the items on the counter.
The saleswoman and others in the store wore smug expressions, eager to see him get arrested.
“You’re done,” she muttered, sneering. “I’ll check the price of everything you bought.”
Smiling as if she had already won, she began calculating the total. The salesman beside Tedmond stiffened, fearing for his job.
“It’s a total of $500,000,” she said.
Tedmond furrowed his brows, and her smile widened.
“You can’t afford that, can you?” she said, chuckling. “Look at him! Just a poor brat bluffing.”
“I was just wondering why it’s so cheap,” Tedmond replied. He had deliberately bought a lot to ensure Thomas wouldn’t send him shopping again anytime soon.
“You hear that?” the woman scoffed, but then she stopped, realizing what he had said. “Did you just call this cheap? How lame!”
“I’ll transfer the money now. What’s the account number?” Tedmond asked.
She glared at him but handed him the account details. “Fine, this is the store’s account, managed by our finance team. I’ll call them right away to check if your imaginary money has arrived.”
Ignoring her, Tedmond transferred the exact amount to the account. He turned his phone around, showing her the exact amount he had transferred.
She was stunned at first but quickly waved it off. “That must be fake!” she claimed, turning to one of the saleswomen. “Call and confirm that the money has been received.”
Less than a minute later, the saleswoman ended the call, her eyes wide in shock. “He’s right! The money has been RECEIVED!”
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Kyle stood grinning on the court, his teammates gathered behind him. A crowd had gathered to watch the game, eager to see how it would play out. Kyle could hardly wait for the moment he would crush Tedmond.“Isn’t he coming?” Kyle asked impatiently. Tedmond was two minutes late. “Don’t tell me he backed out at the last minute. Maybe he couldn’t find a team.”His teammates snickered.“He must’ve run home,” one of them said, shaking his head. “Oh wait, he doesn’t even have a home to run to.”The others burst out laughing.“He better not have backed out,” Kyle stated. “We should find him.”Just as one of Kyle’s teammates offered to search for Tedmond, he appeared with his four friends. They were dressed in matching uniforms, their hair slicked back, looking like college heartbreakers. Tedmond wore an expressionless look as he stood a few feet away from Kyle.“Here I am,” Tedmond said. “What made you think I fled?”Kyle’s lips curled. “Eager to be a slave, aren’t you?”“Not really. I coul
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The crowd went silent when they heard Tedmond’s words. Who would have thought the arrogant Kyle would lose to the so-called loser of college and have to become his slave?“We made a deal,” Tedmond muttered. “You can’t go back on it. From now on, you’ll listen to me and do whatever I want.”Kyle’s teeth gritted. He had never been this humiliated in his entire life.“Do it!” the crowd yelled."A deal’s a deal—it must be upheld!""Don’t back out now!"Kyle’s eyes darted to Max, who shook his head, before turning back to Tedmond.“Master,” Kyle said, forcing the words out in a barely audible whisper.“I can’t hear you,” Tedmond taunted.“Master!” Kyle yelled, his body trembling slightly as embarrassment overwhelmed him.Tedmond’s lips curled into a satisfied smile. “Now that you’ve called me master and have become my slave, go get me a milkshake,” he ordered.Kyle’s teammates looked on in surprise, but Kyle turned to one of them.“Go get the milkshake like he asked,” he ordered.The teamm
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Silence filled the room. No one had expected the grandmother to offer the position of heir to Tedmond so casually—just a few words, and everything changed.Max’s eyes widened in disbelief, his face draining of color. He knew his grandmother suffered from amnesia, but he hadn’t imagined she’d go this far—handing over his rightful place to someone like Tedmond.Not only was she willing to give away everything he had worked for, she was also casting aside her own grandson.Lisa was just as stunned, her mouth hanging open. She had never imagined this would be how Max lost everything.“You can’t do that, Grandma!” Max suddenly shouted, rising from his seat. His face was livid. “How could you give my position to him like that?!”Even Tedmond, the man at the center of it all, looked taken aback. He blinked, his lips parting slightly. Sure, he knew Grandma Vivian liked him now—thanks to the amnesia—but he hadn’t expected this. Not in a million years.“That’s right!” Lisa added quickly, standi
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Max’s head snapped to the side from the force of the slap. A red handprint bloomed on his cheek, and his eyes flew wide with shock.Tedmond's brows lifted in surprise, his gaze settling on Max. Then, slowly, a satisfied smirk curled his lips.All he had to do was provoke Max into cursing him, and the slap would follow.He was a genius.Lisa, still stunned, immediately rose to her feet, her eyes darting to the source of the slap.“Who the hell is that bitch who dared to touch—” Her words cut off abruptly when she saw who it was. Her face instantly paled. “Grandmother…?”Hearing the word, Max’s head snapped toward the direction of the voice to confirm if it was truly her.There she stood, tall and imposing, a deep frown creasing her elegant face.Vivian Griffin. Max’s grandmother.“Oh—Grandmother!” Max quickly stood up, rubbing his cheek. “What did I do to deserve that slap?”Vivian's eyes darkened at his question.The look alone made Max take a step back. He didn’t understand what he h
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Neil’s eyes darted to Tedmond, brows furrowing. Tedmond had told him to stick close to Max and make sure he didn’t go near Persis—but now Max was heading straight toward them, and Neil hadn’t even noticed until it was too late.“Tedmond is going to kill me,” Neil thought.He shot to his feet and rushed after Max, grabbing his hand. “Where are you going?” he asked, shaking his head in disbelief.Max glanced at Neil, then looked away. “You should go back to your seat, Alicia. I don’t want to trouble you too much.”Neil sighed and let him go. In three seconds, he was back in his seat while Max reached the table where Tedmond sat.Tedmond looked up as a shadow loomed over him, only to find Max standing there. Without a word, Max pulled out a chair and sat down next to Lisa like it was the most natural thing in the world. His expression wasn’t angry—just unreadable.Finn, still cleaning up the mess he made earlier while staff looked on, glanced up at the table. When he saw Max, a frown cre
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Tedmond looked at Finn. He had just arrived on campus and hadn’t even done anything yet, and still, he was bombarded by Finn—someone who clearly had no idea how to read the room before acting.Giving Finn a blank stare, Tedmond genuinely wondered if he was just stupid. Not only did Finn fail to read the atmosphere, but he also just said the most ridiculous thing ever.This wasn’t the first time Tedmond had eaten in the cafeteria. It wasn’t even the second.The only reason he had avoided the cafeteria in the past was because it was one of the main places Max and his friends had humiliated him the most.He hadn’t wanted them to do something to his food and make him eat it.So, he’d stayed away—not because he couldn’t afford the meals that only cost a few bucks—but to protect himself.“What the hell are you talking about now?” Persis asked, frowning as she looked at Finn. “Don’t tell me you came to join the table just to say that?”She was already irritated that Lisa was at the table, ev
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