The Night My Ex Lost A Billionaire!

Vintage

CHAPTER SEVEN

The waiter’s expression cracked.

Genuine respect passed over his face while the rest of the classmates remained confused.

“Is that a real drink?”

“The name sounds made up”

Whispers filled the room.

The waiter gave Jensen a small, deliberate bow.

“An excellent choice, sir. I’ll have it brought up immediately.”

Eyes blinked.

Matthew didn’t understand what he’d just witnessed, but he understood the silence that followed it. He’d never heard the name before in his life, and from the way the entire room had gone still, that ignorance was now written all over his face.

Charlotte leaned toward Matthew.

Her voice was deceptively sweet.

“Actually, would you mind if I ordered something else? I’m not really used to that one.”

“Erm… well…” Matthew hesitated, the request cut against everything he’d just tried to stage.

But before he could answer, Charlotte was twisting her neck toward Jensen.

Anger rushed through him. There was no way Jensen would ruin his shot.

Matthew’s pride flared instantly, unwilling to look stingy in front of Charlotte. He snapped his fingers at the waiter without even glancing at the price.

“Bring something better. Whatever’s the best in the house.”

The table erupted in flattery before the waiter had even left the room.

“Matthew, you’re too generous!”

“This is why we love you, man!”

“It’s a feast tonight!”

Coleman rolled his eyes. “Show off.”

Jensen kept his face perfectly composed, but inside, he was laughing.

The bottle Matthew had just ordered cost more than two semester’s tuition.

Across the table, Charlotte caught his eye for half a second, just enough for both of them to confirm what the other already knew.

A slew smile thinned on her lips.

The trap had been set. And Matthew had walked right into it himself.

***

As the dinner progressed, the conversation drifted toward graduation.

Matthew, never one to let a silence go unfilled, seized the opening immediately.

“I’m starting my own company after graduation,” he announced, leaning back like the words alone should impress everyone. “My family’s putting up a hundred thousand to get it off the ground.”

Charlotte sighed wearily.

Coleman muttered “here we go again.”

“A hundred thousand? That’s incredible.”

“You’re already miles ahead of the rest of us.”

Matthew soaked it in, then leaned further,

“Actually, I’m pretty close with Benjamin Starr. We’re talking about doing business together. Five years, tops, and we’re taking the company public.”

The mention of the Starr name sent another wave of admiration rippling around the table.

Jensen hid the urge to laugh. The Starr family’s company stock has already plunged and is on the verge of collapse. These people clearly have not seen the news yet.

Riding the high of the table’s attention, Matthew turned to Charlotte.

“I could use someone like you when this gets off the ground. Vice president. How does that sound?”

His smile widened. There was no way she’d refuse the offer.

But she ignored him.

Charlotte just kept flirting with Jensen like Matthew didn’t say a thing to her.

Then she casually told him.

“How about you actually build the business first before ruining my night with promises?”

Matthew’s jaw tightened. But God forbids he gives up!

He tried again. Karaoke. A private room to “rest.” Each pitch more transparent than the last. Charlotte, never raising her voice, shot every one down with a flat, immovable no, over and over again, until the rejection itself became the humiliation.

By the time the night wound down, Matthew’s patience had worn out completely.

Red-faced, and eager to end the evening before it got worse, he suddenly snapped at the waiter.

“Bill. Now!”

Everyone turned to him. He was unedged.

He grabbed it the moment it arrived.

A cold broke over his body as he actually read the number.

His grip tightened until the paper crumpled at the edges. Private room f*e. Service charge. Food. And above all of it, dwarfing every other line…

The wine!

He’d ordered it himself. In front of the entire table. Without asking the cost once.

He had walked straight into a pit

“Something wrong?” Jensen asked. “Can’t cover it?”

Matthew’s face drained of color. All eyes were on him now.

“You’re the one who brought up wine first. This should be split between us.”

He stated. Then, he quickly smiled and added.

“Unless you’re all talk and no cash. I mean, I wouldn’t be surprised, Jensen. We know what you are.”

He said. The table started nodding, agreeing with him.

They turned on Jensen again.

“He’s trying to weasel out.”

“Ha! Like he could even afford half of that.”

“This is gonna be good.”

Even Coleman, still staring at the number, seemed to have momentarily lost the ability to speak.

Jensen only smiled.

“Funny,” he said. “I don’t remember offering to split anything.”

He let the silence stretch a beat, watching Matthew’s composure crack further with every second it lasted.

“But sure. Let’s settle this properly.”

He reached into his pocket and drew out a single card; the one Geena had pressed into his hand the night they parted.

He set it on the table, face up, black label catching the light just enough for the room to read it.

“This half’s on me,” Jensen said.

He glanced at Matthew’s maxed-out cards lined up beside the bill, the ones that couldn’t cover a quarter of what was owed. “Yours, on the other hand…”

He didn’t finish the sentence.

He didn’t need to.

Matthew’s hand was already shaking before he picked up the first card.