Chapter 5

As I spoke, I took a deep breath and wiped away my tears with the back of my hand.

Feigning lightheartedness, I said with a smile:

“One year’s rent plus living expenses, I’ll count it as fifty thousand for the young master. Fair, right?”

“Two years, that’s two hundred and fifty thousand.”

“Three years, that’s six million two hundred and fifty thousand.”

I paused, suddenly recalling Julian Montgomery’s real estate sales job, where he never earned any commission and took home only a three-thousand base salary each month.

No wonder he was always at the bottom of the performance rankings, and had even taken more than half a year off to recover from a broken leg.

Yet he was never fired.

So it turns out, the rich young master was sent to the grassroots level by his family company for training.

“Young Master Montgomery’s salary may be low, but he still made some money in the last two years.”

“So I’ll shave off a zero for you.”

“Six million. How about that?”

Honestly, I wanted to ask for sixty million.

But Julian Montgomery is a liar, not an idiot–asking for the sky is unrealistic.

To be precise, converting feelings into money is, in itself, fucking unrealistic.

So–

“Will it be cash, a check, or a transfer?”

“Is it possible to settle up on the spot?”

“I’m not too keen on delayed payments.”

The private room, along with the corridor, fell into a deathly silence.

Everyone’s eyes turned to Julian Montgomery.

Julian Montgomery stared at me wordlessly as well.

His eyes surged with a deep darkness I couldn’t decipher.

After a long moment, he suddenly lowered his gaze and let out a laugh devoid of emotion.

That laugh was noble and arrogant, wild and unruly.

Completely unfamiliar–nothing like I’d ever seen before:

“So good at math.”

“Did your math teacher teach you how to rob people?”

My heart dropped straight to the ground, crashing painfully.

Yet, strangely, I felt a kind of relief, as if everything scattered and settled.

I shrugged self-deprecatingly:

“The teacher didn’t teach robbery, but did teach me a golden rule.”

“Better to answer wrong than leave it blank.”

“Isn’t that just what young master did for the past three years?”

He clearly looked down on me.

Clearly never planned a future with me.

But still, for the sake of getting by more comfortably in these broke three years,

He got involved with me.

“This winter is too cold.”

“After a breakup, the heart grows cold too.”

“You always need to find some new warmth to fill the emptiness Young Master Montgomery left behind.”

“Having fun costs money, after all.”

“Don’t you think so?”