Marcus didn’t react, he just folded his hand and smirked but Jessica’s disbelief exploded immediately. “That’s impossible,” she said sharply. “What do you mean he’s not an employee? He’s wearing your uniform.” She pointed straight at Marcus, her finger stiff with anger. “Are you blind? Look at him. That jacket is from this restaurant. He’s clearly a waiter. Don’t try to cover for him just because he begged you.” Her voice rose louder, drawing even more attention from nearby tables. The manager frowned slightly and looked at Marcus again, this time with a trace of displeasure. He couldn't deny that it wasn't the hotel's uniform but he knew every one of his staff and Marcus wasn't one of them. “Sir,” he said coldly, “if you are not an employee here, why are you wearing our uniform?”. “You shouldn’t be impersonating staff in this place. That’s not a joke. Customers could misunderstand. This is a high-end restaurant, not a street shop. I will arrest you for this” Marcus di

Marcus was surprised. “Really?”Natalie let out a small laugh. “Yes. And since you already know, I guess that explains why you are calling, right?”Marcus scoffed softly. “You would think so. But no. I just found out now.” His voice hardened as he continued, walking her through everything that had just happened—Jessica, Damien, the insult, and the firing.There was a brief silence on the other end.Then Natalie spoke, her tone turning sharp. “She did that? That’s… unbelievable. She’s worse than I imagined.”Marcus’s eyes darkened. “Yeah. And I’m going to make her regret it.”“Good,” Natalie replied immediately.Marcus exhaled slowly. “Call the manager. Tell him, from the owner, Damien is not to be fired. And also… Jessica and Travis are not allowed to dine here anymore.” He wanted their membership cancelled with immediate effect. Natalie didn’t hesitate. “Done.”Marcus paused, then added, “But Damien already has issues here. It won’t be comfortable for him to stay. Can we transfer h

Travis knew he was defeated as sweat started coming down from his face. He was given last chance to make another call. Yet switched off. Marcus turned slowly to face the crowd, calm and composed. “Right. We had our bet. And he must bark.”Travis snapped, anger rushing to cover his fear. “Are you deaf? Don’t you see the call isn’t going through? This makes the bet null!!! I am not barking.”Marcus looked at him without emotion. “We had our bet. You were the one shouting that if you did not turn this around you would bark. Now you are hiding behind a call that did not go through.”A murmur spread through the people.“Yes, he is right.”“He has no one to call.”“He is definitely lying.”The were no longer praising him. They were mocking him instead.Jessica felt the heat of shame crawl up her neck. Her voice came out tight as she forced herself to stand beside Travis. “The phone is switched off. We should not drag this. Nobody is barking. The request was ridiculous from the beginning.”

Jordan’s hand moved fast. The knife vanished into his sleeve, then he turned at Julia so he could change the narrative of what happened. He straightened his shirt and forced a shaky smile. “Julia—” She cut him off sharply. “Professor Julia.” “Prof… Professor Julia,” he stammered, pointing at Marcus. “He started it. He suddenly wanted to bully me.” Julia’s eyes shifted past him to the grown men groaning on the floor. She folded her arms. “So you brought your bodyguards into the class premises to beat him up?” Jordan swallowed. “No ma’am. I… I…” “Enough,” she snapped, raising her hand. “If I didn’t come here, what would you have done? Call the army? Because you can?” Jordan felt his chest tighten. He had always prayed and imagined speaking to her properly, only for him to fall on her negative side when it happened. Julia turned to Marcus. “Are you okay?”, checking his body. “Yes ma’am,” Marcus replied. “Good. Follow me to the office.” She walked off without w

Jessica did not bother to stop Travis this time. The shock she felt earlier had curdled into jealousy.Seeing Marcus walk in with a woman who was clearly richer and better than her, made her envy. She thought this was the reason he had refused to come back to her. She would do anything to ruin whatever was between them. She lifted her chin and agreed with Travis loudly. “He’s right. Marcus has no ambition. He never had any. All he knows how to do is spend women’s money and act like he deserves it. He’s been like that since I knew him.”Travis nodded eagerly, enjoying the attention. “Exactly! This guy is nothing. . He washed dishes and did the house chores. He has no pride. No future. Just a smooth mouth and a shameless heart. We feed him all these years only for him to try and dump Jessica”Jessica continued, her voice sharp now, her words spilling without restraint. “He doesn’t work hard. He doesn’t build anything. He just attaches himself to whoever can feed him. That’s his talent