At this sight, I couldn't hold back my laughter.
Feeling utterly humiliated, Carol covered her face and ran off in tears.
Carol fled, Ida was left speechless, but still tried her best to defend Carol.
"Richard, look at her! She is bullying Carol like this!"
Though I hadn't done much, I still felt nervous. After all, love can blind a man.
But Richard, staying as cool as ever, responded with just several words. "Not my problem."
Then he walked over to me, ruffled my hair like I was a pet, and said, "Stop hanging around these people. They'll only make you dumb."
Ah...
For a moment, I didn't know whether he was insulting me or his own cousin.
Ida ran off crying, too.
Now, it was just me and Richard left.
I figured, why break the pattern?
Just as I was about to cover my face and run, Richard shoved a piece of paper into my hand.
I looked down—it was the check I had been hoping for!
"Thank you, Mr. Yukio!" I cheerfully thanked him, but when I glanced at the amount, my hand trembled.
I almost tore the check in half.
How many zeros?
I counted them.
Tens, hundreds, thousands, hundreds of thousands...
In disbelief, I counted one more time.
It was still ten thousand!