Chapter 2

The changes in everyone’s expressions were actually quite subtle.

It took only a short moment for their initial surprise and amazement to morph into disdain and ridicule.

After seeing the dilapidated—almost rusty—wheelchair the man at the door was in, one woman even began laughing.

“Oh! And here I was, thinking about who it could be. Isn’t that Valerie’s worthless husband? His timing is impeccable! He made it just in time for this crucial moment!”

“Oh, what do you know? Can’t you see his wheelchair? Naturally, he’ll be much faster than regular people walking on their feet!”

Everyone laughed at that. They were having fun at the expense of Valerie's husband, Fred, who was disabled with no use of his legs!

At the same time, they were pointing out that Fred had arrived at the exact moment his wife, Valerie, was about to sell herself. The timing was truly coincidental.

“You... What are you doing here? Don't you think it’s shameful enough?”

Valerie had barely been able to bear their mockery and Fred's appearance at this moment gave her a channel to vent.

The way Valerie saw it, her humiliation, misfortune, and suffering were all caused by the good-for-nothing man in front of her.

She even wished…that Fred would just drop dead right now so that she could get out of this sea of ​​agony as soon as possible!

However, as usual, Fred paid no heed to Valerie's disgusted gaze. The moment he entered through the door, he reiterated lightly the words he said over the phone, “I asked you to wait for me!”

“Wait for you? What's the use of waiting for you? Will I be able to fix my family's business which is worth tens of millions if I waited for you? If you had the power, would you still need to leech off my family? Would you still be the worthless man everyone in Sea City knows about?”

More than anything, she could not stand Fred’s dull appearance. Valerie was seized with controllable fury.

To her, she should only be the woman for someone of extraordinary status such as Mr. Graham, or someone like Mr. Walker.

What did Fred have?

Nothing. He was a pauper who had married into his wife’s family!

To top it off, he was a disabled piece of trash!

To begin with, his tone and attitude were a crime in itself!

“Get out! Scram! I don't want to see you, you piece of trash. Get out of here now!”

Perhaps it was a result of the people trampling on Valerie even after her dignity was thrown to the ground. Perhaps it was a result of the supercilious looks and mockery that she had to endure all these years.

Valerie unloaded all her anger onto Fred at this moment. She did not care that Fred was sitting in a wheelchair. She lashed out at him with kicks, trying to drive him out of the private room.

“Have you had enough?”

Seeing Valerie out of breath after venting her anger, Fred sighed and said, “Let’s go back! You can rely on me for everything!”

“Go back?”

Without waiting for Valerie to respond, Mr. Graham promptly stepped forward and spoke.

“You are…Mr. Hoffman, Miss Cadman’s husband, yes?”

Mr. Graham continued with a smile, “You can take Miss Cadman away, but please pay for this meal. Miss Cadman was the one who organized this dinner—you have to see this through.”

All the women started giggling in secret when he said that.

They could tell from Mr. Graham’s room card just now that he was determined to have Valerie for himself today. However, now that Valerie's husband, Fred, had made his sudden appearance, Mr. Graham was obviously displeased.

Asking Fred to pay the bill was a pretense. He actually wanted to make him back out.

After all, everyone knew that Fred, who married into the Cadmans, was not only a waste of space with useless legs but also a pauper with no wealth to his name.

Without including the rest of the things, the bill for the table was already about a hundred thousand dollars because of the numerous bottles of 40-year-old Royal Salute that Mr. Graham had popped open.

How could Fred possibly cover this level of expenditure?

To everyone's surprise, Fred nodded without hesitation, not looking the slightest bit embarrassed or troubled. “Alright!”

Fred fished out his card and threw it onto the dining table decisively. “Swipe it!”

For a moment, everyone was stunned.

He just agreed to it like that?

So easily? How was that possible?

Everyone, including Valerie, looked surprised.

In the next second, however, one of the women’s words seemed to solve everyone's doubts.

“What kind of a card is this? A transit card?” asked the woman.

Everyone looked at it intently the moment they heard the words, only to see the card that Fred had thrown onto the dining table was all black and without any bank logo. There was no indication that it was a debit or credit card. There was only a string of numbers that looked worn, almost fading away completely.

At first glance, it looked like a transit card. The kind that looked like it had not been used in forever.

“Mr. Cadman sure is a funny man! He’s actually trying to use a transit card to pay the bill. This is the first time I’m seeing something like this!”

The woman who had been ridiculing Valerie the most toyed with the card in one hand while deliberately looking at Fred and asking, “Fred, this card of yours is so unique. How much money do you have in it?”

“None!” Fred said lightly.

What Fred said was the truth. There was only one copy of this card in the world and it could be used anywhere for any amount.

Surely!

It worked for any amount and was limitless!

That was because this card did not contain money but an identity. A very influential identity!

“No money? Haha, do you all hear that? He actually said that it contains no money!”

Naturally, the woman would have no knowledge about this card. After hearing Fred's reply, she instantly broke out in laughter which lasted for a long time before she finally said with a smile, “Oh dear! I almost lost myself in laughter. This is the funniest joke I’ve heard in my entire life. To fish out a transit card, and one that was empty of funds at that. Valerie, what do you think?”

“I…”

Valerie's face turned red at that moment. She did not have any hope for Fred to begin with, but she did not expect him to be this shameless.

What the woman said made her too ashamed to respond.

“Good evening, everyone! Excuse me, may I ask who will be paying the bill?”

Right then, the hotel waiter knocked on the door and entered after having been summoned for the bill just now.

Seeing this, the woman who had been all derisive earlier immediately lifted the card in her hand and said with a smile, “Here, here! This man here who leeches off his wife’s family would like to pay. Use this card!”

After saying that, the woman pushed the card to the POS device the waiter had brought without any explanation. While having the waiter swipe the card, she turned to everyone and said with a laugh, “Guys, do you think it’ll make that particular sound? Like…”

“Beep, a senior citizen card?”

"I think it might be. Beep! Like a student card. Or maybe it'll say, you swiped it too fast. Please swipe it again?”

“Maybe insufficient balance? Please top-up then. Haha!"

Someone next to them immediately agreed, the group seemingly having come to the consensus that humiliating Fred was an after-dinner entertainment.

Ring!

As they were laughing, a voice sounded from the POS machine clearly, “Successful transaction of 138,100 dollars. Thank you for your patronage!”