From Rejection to Royalty: Rise of the Forgotten Heir

Chapter 0007 - Who's Broke Now?

The room went dead silent. 

Everyone stared at Declan with their mouths hanging open. The server stood frozen, clearly caught off guard. 

“Did he just say premium?” Someone whispered from the back, “Is he actually serious right now?”

Carlos recovered first. He let out a laugh but it sounded forced, “Premium? You? Do you know how much that costs?”

“Does it matter?” Declan replied, his voice completely calm. 

Laura shifted in her seat, her eyes wide, “There’s no way you have that kind of money. What did you do? Rob a bank or something?”

“Or did you max out credit cards?” Louis added. 

Everyone began talking over each other, demanding answers. 

Declan just stood in the hallway, looking completely unbothered by all the noise. 

The server cleared his throat loudly, “Sur, I should inform you that the premium tier for a party of your size would be approximately eighteen thousand dollars. That's before tax and gratuity,”

More gasps came from the fraternity members. Someone actually choked on their own spit. 

Carlos' face had gone slightly pale but he forced his confident smile back, “Eight thousand dollars. That's four thousand each,”

He locked eyes with Declan, “You're absolutely sure you can afford that?”

“Of course I can,” Declan said without hesitation, “The real question is, can you?”

Carlos' smile faltered for just a second. Four thousand dollars in one night. That was nearly half of his total savings. His parents gave him a generous monthly allowance, sure, but four grand in a single evening? That would hurt. 

But he was backed into a corner now. Everyone was watching now, waiting to see if he would back down. 

He gritted his teeth hard, “Of course I can afford it. Let's do premium service,”

The server gave a professional nod, “Very well,

 then, gentlemen. I'll need payment verification from both of you first,”

Carlos pulled out his wallet and extracted his black card. He handed it over. The server swiped it. 

Beep. Approved. 

Then all eyes turned to Declan. He reached into his pocket slowly and pulled out an understated card. He handed it to the server. 

The server took it and swiped. Beep. Approved.

The server's whole demeanour shifted immediately. He bowed slightly, “Thank you very much sirs. Please, have a seat. Our staff will begin your premium service immediately,”

Everyone moved to sit around the long table. The atmosphere was thick with tension and confusion. No one had actually expected Declan to have money. 

Declan took a seat near the middle of the table. 

He looked around at everyone. 

“Everyone should eat freely here tonight. Don't hold back on anything,”

The fraternity members exchanged uncertain glances amongst each other. This whole evening was supposed to be about watching Declan fail. But somehow he'd turned it around.

Carlos sat at the head of the table, his jaw clenched tight. He needed to show everyone that he was still the one on top.

When the server returned carrying an expensive-looking leather wine menu, Carlos grabbed it immediately. He scanned through the pages quickly.

“We'll have the Château Margaux 2015," Carlos announced loudly. "Bring enough for everyone.”

The server's eyebrow rose slightly, “An excellent choice sir. That particular wine is tow thousand dollars per bottle. For a party of your size, we'll need approximately six bottles,”

Declan raised a brow at the selection. He reached over, took the wine menu from Carlos’ hands and flipped through it for a moment.

“Actually, cancel that order. Bring us the Domaine de la Romanée-Conti instead.”

Laura gripped Carlos’s arm in surprise but he didn't even spare her a glance as he shook her off.

The server's eyes went wide, “Sir, I must inform you this particular wine cost five thousand dollars per bottle,”

“I'm aware of the price,” Declan said without hesitation. 

Carlos stared at him. “Are you being serious right now?”

“Of course I am”

Carlos's hands gripped the edge of the table. His voice dropped to a harsh whisper. "Where the hell did you get this kind of money? Be honest. What did you do? Did you take out loans?”

“You can think whatever makes you feel better,” Declan replied calmly.

“So you're actually going into debt just to oppose me?” Carlos’ voice rose slightly, “Just to prove some stupid point?”

Declan looked him straight in the eye. "I have absolutely no reason not to oppose you.”

Carlos let out a bitter laugh, "Fine then. We'll see whose money runs out first. Your borrowing power or my actual cash.”

He stood up abruptly and pulled out his phone, stepping away from the table. His fingers moved quickly across the screen as he called his mother.

"Mom? Yeah, it's me. Listen, I need you to transfer some money to my account right now... Yeah, immediately... Because I'm in the middle of teaching that ungrateful bastard Declan a lesson... Yes, we're at Marconi's... He's trying to embarrass me in front of everyone.”

There was a pause. Then Carlos's face lit up with relief and triumph. "Perfect. Thank you so much, Mom. Love you."

He hung up and immediately checked his banking app. The transfer notification appeared within seconds. His confidence surged back through his body.

He walked back to the table with a smug grin. He looked directly at the server. “Change of plans. Bring us the Pétrus 2010 instead. And make it ten bottles.”

The server's jaw nearly dropped. “Sir, that particular wine is ten thousand dollars per bottle.”

“I know exactly what it costs. Just bring it.”

He turned to Declan with the cruelest smile he could form, “I really want to see you d******d every single loan app that exists today.”

All eyes were on Declan now, waiting for him to finally give up and beg. There was no way he could afford this. 

Declan didn't even blink. He turned to the server calmly. “Actually, bring the Pétrus for everyone just like he said. Ten bottles.”

He paused for just a moment. “And add ten more bottles on top of that."

The server's face went completely white. "Twenty bottles total, sir?"

"Yes. Twenty.”

“I also want to see something tonight," Declan said, his voice calm but cold. "I want to see you spend every last cent of your adoptive parents' money today.”

Carlos's confident expression shattered completely. His eyes went wide. “Are you absolutely insane?”

“No. Are you?”

“Cancel the order!” Carlos practically shouted at the server. “Cancel all those wines right this second!”

“Don't cancel them,” Declan said sternly.

The server looked back and forth between them, unsure of how to proceed.

 “Who the hell do you think you are? You don't get to tell me what to do!” Carlos' voice thundered. 

The slap came fast and hard. Declan's hand connected with Carlos's face, the sound of it echoing through the entire private room.

Everyone froze where they sat.

Carlos stumbled backward, his hand flying up to his cheek as his eyes went wide with shock. 

“Shut up,” Declan said coldly. “I'm the one hosting today. So sit down at that table and shut your mouth.”

Carlos just stood there, absolutely stunned. No one had ever hit him like this before – not in front of so many people.

Laura jumped to her feet and tried to hold him but he moved back slightly, too humiliated to accept any form of sympathy.

The other fraternity members exchanged glances. Then Louis started laughing loudly. 

“Holy shit, did that just happen?”

Wait, wait," another guy said, grinning. "Don't cancel any of the wine. Let these two fight it out."

“This is the most entertaining thing I've seen all year. Besides," Louis added with a smirk, "we're not the ones paying for any of this. Let them burn through their money.”

Other members laughed – they were really eating this up. 

One guy looked at Carlos mockingly. “Dude, you're really going to let some broke guy outspend you? That's genuinely embarrassing.”

“Seriously though,” another added. “What happened to all that famous Reyes family wealth?”

Carlos's face burned with humiliation and rage. But what could he do? If he backed down now, he'd look like a coward. Worse, he'd look poor.

He sat down heavily in his chair, his whole body tense.

The food began arriving in waves. Course after course of incredibly expensive dishes.

The fraternity members dug in eagerly, enjoying both the free meal and the ongoing spectacle.

But Carlos barely touched any of his food. He just sat there, breaking into a cold sweat as he watched everyone around him eat and drink.

He watched his money disappear as the expensive wine bottles emptied one after the other while Laura kept glancing at him nervously.

Declan, on his part, ate slowly like he didn't have a care in the world.

Hours passed slowly. The meal seemed endless. The fraternity members were getting progressively drunk and rowdy, cheering and laughing loudly.

Finally, after what felt like forever, the server approached their table with a tablet in his hand. He looked slightly nervous, even though still trying to be professional. 

“Gentlemen, here is your final bill for the evening.”

He turned the tablet screen toward them. Seven hundred thousand dollars.

Someone let out a low whistle. 

“That comes to three hundred and fifty thousand dollars for each of you,” the server said.

Carlos's face had gone completely white. His hands were shaking slightly on the table. He looked at Declan with desperation and pure anger mixed together.

“I don't believe it," Carlos said through gritted teeth. His voice was barely above a whisper. “There's absolutely no way you can borrow three hundred and fifty thousand dollars. No bank in the world would give you that kind of loan.”

Declan reached into his pocket and pulled out his card. He handed it to the server without saying a single word.

"He's bluffing," Laura said loudly from her seat. "There's no possible way. He's just pretending.”

They all watched eagerly as the server took the card over to his payment device.

Swipe.

Everyone held their breath.

Beep.

The server looked down at the screen. His eyes widened noticeably. He looked back up at Declan with awe.

"Payment approved," the server announced clearly for everyone to hear. "Thank you very much, sir.”