Nolan shook his head, disappointed that all Claire could use to prove her point was just her luxury clothes and an invitation card to the party. He was expecting her to pull out a business card, telling him that she was the owner of some business or that she was working in a very good company, or just something different that would make him want to have at least a little respect for her, but he was disappointed. Claire had been smart when they were in school, but she was still lacking in a lot of places, and it became worse when she noticed the attention she was getting from boys. She was pretty and the comments she always got affected her the wrong way. She started to focus on how she would look better than the previous day and spent most of her time talking about how to become prettier. It affected her academics drastically, but she still managed to scale through high school, and he wondered how she was doing in college. Nolan decided not to have any conversation with her anymore.

Claire called the third time and the fourth but Fred still didnt pick and her patience was wearing thin. She looked at her phone screen again, rolled her eyes, and dialed his number for the fifth time, muttering under her breath, “He better pick this time.”Finally, on the fifth ring, Fred answered the call but his tone wasn’t what she was expecting.“Why do you keep calling and disturbing me?” Fred snapped harshly the moment he picked up. His voice was so loud that Claire instinctively pulled the phone slightly away from her ear.“Oh, sorry about that,” Claire said quickly, her voice going soft. She didn’t mean to annoy him, but his sudden anger made her nervous. “I didn’t mean to disturb you.”Fred hissed into the phone, clearly irritated. Claire felt her heart drop a bit because she had just wanted to sound sweet and let him know she was waiting, but instead, he was scolding her.“I just wanted to let you know that I’m at the party already and I’ve been waiting for you,” she said c

Fred looked at Nolan from head to toe, his eyes slowly dragging over him like he was trying to size him up, trying to figure out what kind of person he was dealing with. He had never seen Nolan before, not at any parties, events, or even small private gatherings which to him was already strange. That could only mean one thing and that was that Nolan wasn’t part of the elite circle. And by the way he was dressed, there wasn’t really anything that screamed wealth about him.“For you to say this place isn’t too bad,” Fred finally said, still staring at him, “it means it’s not up to your taste or your standard, right?” His tone was rude but covered in a fake smile that didn’t reach his eyes.Nolan was taken aback by the way Fred spoke to him and even more confused about why he suddenly decided to join the conversation. He just looked at him, wondering what his problem was or why he sounded so bothered.Madam Lene, sensing the tension between both men, laughed awkwardly. “Oh, come on, Fred

“The charity event is about to start. How about we move closer?” Madam Lene said as she stood up from her seat. She looked back briefly to see if Nolan had followed her, and when he did, she smiled a little and led the way through the crowd. The noise on the rooftop had reduced as people began to find their seats. She picked one of the chairs way back from the stage and sat down beside Nolan.“I should have told you what this party is really all about,” Madam Lene said quietly, moving closer to him so only he could hear. “To outsiders, it looks like just a normal fancy gathering but it’s more than that. This is an event where all the elites come together to donate money to non-governmental organizations, private groups, struggling businesses, orphanages, the less privileged, and so on.” She paused, then gave a short dry laugh. “But in the real sense, they’re just here to show off their wealth.”“Hm…” Nolan mumbled, looking around at the people who were also taking their seats. The wom

The man at the podium smiled nervously and nodded. “Mr. Fred has offered to donate two million dollars to the orphanage,” he announced. “His name will be sent to the twins as one of the biggest donors for tonight.”He looked back at the audience and asked, “Is there anyone else willing to donate more before I stamp it down?”Everyone looked at one another, but no one dared to speak or raise a hand. Fred was grinning proudly, tapping his fingers lightly on the table, humming to himself and celebrating his win.The man waited a few seconds more, scanning the crowd carefully to see if anyone else would raise a hand, but nobody did. Some people looked around, whispering quietly to their table partners, while others just sat back and accepted that Fred had won the richest donator for the first round. Fred let out an impatient sigh, rolling his eyes. “Oh, please, can we wrap it up now?” he said, his voice loud and irritated. “Nobody is willing to donate more, so why are you dragging it o