Bailee and her parents entered the Friendly Diner, choosing the most secluded corner to sit.
The couple, in their fifties, sat across from Bailee, while five tattooed men took another table, exuding menace.
Darnell felt the man looked familiar but couldn’t place him from the side.
The couple seemed like husband and wife but displayed poor manners. After sitting down, they swept everything the waiter hadn’t cleared onto the floor.
Bailee’s face changed slightly. She fetched a broom to clean up, while the couple looked on with mocking expressions.
They gestured and barked orders at Bailee, who pursed her lips and went to place an order. Soon, she returned with some food.
She placed some in front of the couple and the rest on the table of the tattooed men.
The group devoured their food. During this time, the couple bombarded Bailee with harsh words, making her face go from unpleasant to agitated.
Worried that Bailee might suffer at their hands, Darnell led Cesar and three others to a nearby table, listening intently to their conversation.
Bailee was focused solely on the couple, unaware that Darnell was just three meters away.
Cesar wanted to speak but was stopped by Darnell. Understanding, Cesar ordered food and began eating voraciously.
He stuffed a chicken wing into his mouth, leaving only bones in seconds. Even those bones were chewed up and swallowed.
Harry and the others also ate ravenously.
Darnell grabbed a drumstick and a cola for himself before the four devoured everything.
“For the last time, I have no money.” Bailee’s cold voice reached Darnell’s ears just as he perked them up. “Not fifty thousand dollars, not even five thousand.”
“How dare you speak to your parents like that?” The woman wearing a fake gold bracelet spat out a chicken bone. “We raised you all these years. Is asking for fifty thousand dollars too much?”
“If it weren’t for us bringing you into this world, would you have your current life? Could you ride the subway, use a phone, or work in an office?”
“We gave you the chance to see this world. What’s wrong with asking for fifty thousand dollars?”
The man beside her glared angrily. “Exactly! Without us, there’d be no you. If you’re not filial, you’ll not end up well.”
Darnell chuckled, recognizing who this scoundrel was. It was Pablo.
“Enough talk. I only have two hundred dollars left in my wallet,” Bailee said decisively. “One hundred went to buy you those meals. The remaining hundred is yours if you want it. Otherwise, I’ll save it.”
Pablo snatched the hundred dollars and pocketed it with a sneer. “A hundred dollars wouldn’t satisfy a beggar. How can you treat your parents like this?”
“I told you I have no money left,” Bailee gripped her cola cup tightly. “Last month, I maxed out my credit card’s five-thousand-dollar limit for you.”
“Even if you kill me now, I don’t have a penny.”
Pablo’s eyes widened as his words turned sharp. “No money? Who are you fooling?”
“I checked. Your company is paying salaries soon, plus commissions.”
“And don’t you have two good friends? Can’t you borrow some from them? Are they not worth fifty thousand dollars?”
Bailee sneered, “I haven’t been paid yet, and when I am, it’ll go straight to the bank for my credit card debt. Borrow from Shayla and Casey? I still have some dignity.”
“They even covered my rent for the next quarter.”
She added seriously, “Once again, I have no money left. Take my life if you want.”
At that moment, one of the tattooed men chewing on a drumstick turned his head and slammed the table. “Pablo! What’s going on?”
“Didn’t you say your daughter would pay back? Now she says she has no money?”
“If you don’t pay up today, each of you will lose a hand.”
This tattooed man was large but mostly fat. He wore a gold chain around his neck.
“I’m telling you. I’ve given you enough time. This is your last day. If there’s no payment today, I’ll chop off one of your hands as interest.”
“No one can owe me money without consequences,” Desmond grabbed a burger and crushed it in his hand as he spoke.
Bailee’s lips twitched but she said nothing.
The commotion drew glances from other diners who quickly looked away upon seeing Desmond’s menacing demeanor.
“Desmond, don’t worry. There will be money soon.” Pablo bowed repeatedly. “Just give me more time. We’ll pay.”
“Hurry up!” Desmond growled. “I have other debts to collect today. Wasting my time is wasting my money.”
Pablo and his wife, Maci, bowed deeply again. “Understood!”
Maci then pinched Bailee’s arm hard and scolded her harshly, “Bailee! Don’t you see Desmond is here for money? If you don’t borrow some now, they’ll chop us up!”
“We are your parents! If you let us die without helping us, you’ll be cursed!”
Bailee winced in pain but managed to avoid her mother’s grasp with difficulty before stubbornly saying, “I’ve saved you more than ten times already and given you everything I had. If I’m cursed for that, then there’s no justice in this world. For the last time, I have no money left.”
“You created this mess. Deal with it yourselves.”
She lifted her head proudly. “That hundred dollars earlier was my last effort.”
Desmond slammed the table again with anger. “Pablo! Your daughter won’t pay up? Which hand do you want to lose?”
His four henchmen rolled up their sleeves menacingly and prepared to drag someone out. One even patted something hard at his waist.
Pablo and his wife frantically waved their hands. “Wait! We’ll pay! Don’t cut off our hands!”
“What’s the point of saying you’ll pay if there’s no money?” Desmond remained threatening while eyeing Bailee lecherously. “If there’s no money now, there are two ways out for both of you. One, let your daughter stay with me for a month, and we’ll call it even.”
“Two, your daughter takes on your debt herself, but it’s not fifty thousand anymore. It’ll be eighty thousand, then we won’t cut off your hands.”
Upon hearing this proposal from Desmond, Pablo lit up with joy. “Bailee! Pick one quickly!”
Maci was equally thrilled. “Yes! Choose one, so our hands won’t get chopped off!”
Bailee’s face turned icy as she gritted her teeth at her parents. “I choose neither. I won’t sacrifice myself for your bottomless pit.”
“How did we end up with such an ungrateful daughter!” Maci suddenly burst into tears, attracting many looks, “She only cares about herself and ignores her aging parents!”
“Living lavishly every day while we eat plain buns!”
“Earning nearly ten thousand dollars monthly yet giving us just one hundred when we traveled so far to see her!”
“What have we done to deserve this?”
Pablo also wiped his eyes, looking pitiful. “Dear, we shouldn’t ask her anymore. Let them chop off our hands. With an ungrateful daughter, we’ll die sooner rather than later.”
The surrounding diners whispered among themselves, making Bailee turn pale instantly, while Cesar’s group curiously looked around too.
Desmond glanced at trembling Bailee, licking his thick lips before he said, “They’re your parents.”
“Are you sure you want to watch them die?”
Desmond opened his collar, revealing hot breath along with a sleazy smile.
“For their sake, you should come with me. I’ll treat you well every day.”
One henchman chimed in,
“Desmond, look at her figure. If she puts on a mini skirt and black stockings, or some sexy lingerie, it would definitely make people’s noses bleed.”
“I think she’d look better in a flight attendant or nurse outfit, but without panties. That’s the ultimate uniform temptation.”
Several henchmen followed with hearty laughter.
“And her body scent is so enticing.”
Desmond also leaned forward with a smile, inhaling the scent on Bailee. “If you follow me, I’ll give you another fifty thousand.”
Pablo urgently spoke up, “Bailee, hurry up and agree to Desmond.”
Maci chimed in as well, “A woman has to give herself away sooner or later, so why not do it in a way that can help pay off your parents’ debts? It’s a good thing.”
At that moment, Cesar, along with Harry and two others, got up, casually grabbing an unopened coffee from a diner who had just bought it, and walked towards Bailee’s group with a cigarette in his mouth, exhaling smoke as he approached Desmond.
“Are you Bailee’s brother?”
Desmond glared. “Who the hell are you?”
Cesar slapped him across the face. “The debt collector!”