At six in the evening, a red Ferrari sped down Whiteville Avenue.
Watching the vehicles and trees whiz by, Darnell gripped the overhead handle tightly and shouted at Karlee in protest, “Karlee, what are you doing? Didn’t I agree to be your boyfriend? What more do you want? Are you trying to force yourself on me?”
Darnell tightened his clothes. “I’m telling you, I’m not ready yet. You can’t hurt me.”
“Bah!” Karlee responded while calmly steering the wheel. “Forcing myself on you? Dream on!”
“I just want you to be my boyfriend, not my bedmate.”
“There’s a gathering tonight within our circle. I plan to take you there so they can get to know you. It’s good for future connections.”
Darnell shuddered. “A gathering? Can’t I skip it?”
As night fell, the lights illuminated Karlee’s skin, making it glow even more. Hearing Darnell’s words, Karlee snorted, “You’re my boyfriend. I can’t hide you away. I have to introduce you to my friends.”
She added softly, “Don’t worry. The gathering tonight is mostly with our people. No one will provoke you.”
Darnell looked glum. “Another pretentious party. It’s so boring. Can’t I just not go?”
He knew that gatherings at bars often led to conflicts, alcohol fueled the former and arrogance caused the latter.
He feared getting involved in trouble again, wondering whether to step in or avoid it.
“You dare?” Karlee’s lips curled up. “You agreed to be my boyfriend. you have to listen to me. You can’t back out now.”
Darnell rolled his eyes at her. “Didn’t you promise not to coerce me? Yet you used crying, making a scene, and threatening suicide.”
Karlee snorted. “Don’t you know that backing out is a woman’s right and keeping promises is a man’s duty?”
Then she giggled. “Don’t worry. many in my circle have backgrounds and are influential in Whiteville.”
“You work for Spectrum Pharmaceuticals. If you manage these relationships well, you might get some business from them.”
Karlee coaxed him gently. “Or they might introduce some deals to you. Just one successful deal could save you half a month’s effort.”
Hearing this, Darnell’s eyes lit up, it made sense.
He chuckled. “Karlee, you’re right. I could develop business from them.”
“But earning their trust for cooperation might take three to five months.”
“You’re my girlfriend. my business is your business.” Darnell suggested directly, “Why don’t you help me get some business from them?”
“I promise that if my performance meets the target because of your help, I’ll treat you well.”
Feeling proud of his idea, he continued, “By the way, since you drive such expensive cars and know so many influential people, your background must be significant too.”
“Why don’t you talk to your parents tonight about investing a few billion dollars in Spectrum Pharmaceuticals for some products? Don’t worry. we’re all family, I’ll give a discount.”
Karlee’s face darkened. “I don’t want to talk to you.”
She had seen many jerks but never someone like Darnell who tried to get business from his girlfriend.
“Karlee,” Darnell said seriously, “if even you don’t buy Spectrum Pharmaceuticals’ products or equipment, how will your circle trust me?”
“Is a few billion too much? How about starting with fifty million?”
Karlee yelled out his name: “Darnell!”
Darnell immediately shut up and placed his hand on Karlee’s thigh, squeezing the soft warmth.
Since he was already her boyfriend, he might as well take advantage.
Karlee glared at him with an understated beauty that turned into stunning allure.
Once again moved by her charm, Darnell rubbed her thigh again.
“Mm!” Karlee wasn’t used to such intimate contact and wriggled away from Darnell’s hand.
Twenty minutes later, the Ferrari arrived at a club, a place with a golden exterior and dazzling lights like a palace.
The club, Vantage, wasn’t as large as Lavender Hill nor as luxurious as Golden Splendor but excelled in staff quality.
All hostesses and managers were beautiful and highly educated, at least bachelor’s degree holders, and its privacy was excellent.
There were no open halls, only private rooms, so no guest had ever been photographed here. it was popular among the wealthy.
At this moment, cars came and went without noise but indicated bustling business. The Ferrari circled around but couldn’t find a parking spot.
Karlee picked up the phone and dialed a number. After chatting for a few moments, she prepared to park the car while instructing Darnell to get out and wait on the ground.
Darnell lazily got out of the car, stretched beside the steps, and waited. He watched the passing vehicles and the beautiful women wafting enticing scents.
At that moment, four luxury cars came into view, careening wildly and almost knocking down a couple of security guards directing traffic.
These luxury vehicles brazenly cut in to steal parking spots, their arrogance palpable, yet the security guards dared not say a word. It was clear they knew this group was not to be trifled with.
“Vroom-”
As Darnell was lost in thought, one of the luxury cars sped past him, racing toward an empty parking spot ten meters away. It was going so fast that it nearly knocked him over. Darnell frowned; the driver didn’t bother to say sorry or even roll down the window to glance his way.
Darnell pulled out his wallet, took out five hundred dollars, and marched over to the Cadillac that was backing up.
“Hey, hey, hey!”
He tapped on the window.
The car came to a stop, and the window rolled down to reveal a fair-skinned youth with phoenix eyes and an alluring woman beside him.
The youth glared at Darnell. “What do you want?”
“I’ll give you five hundred bucks for that parking spot. I want it.”
Darnell, being brash, tossed the five bills into the car and added, “Scram.”
The moment he said that, both occupants erupted in anger. The youth’s face turned red with rage as he snatched Darnell’s five hundred and tossed it out the window.
Then he pulled out his own wallet, dramatically revealing a thick stack of cash, and slammed it down in front of Darnell, shouting, “I’ll give you a thousand bucks-now get lost!”
“You think you’re hot stuff!”
Darnell picked up the cash, seething as he walked away.
The youth watched Darnell’s retreating figure and scoffed, “Hmph, he’s just a nobody trying to flex, how childish.”
The alluring woman beside him looked proud. “Exactly! Mr. Garza’s money, who can compete with that?”
Meanwhile, Darnell approached the second luxury car that hadn’t finished parking yet. He impatiently knocked on the window again and threw another stack of cash inside.
“I’ll give you a thousand bucks for that spot. I want it.”
A big-nosed youth inside erupted in anger, tossing the money back out, followed by another large stack of bills. “I’ll give you two thousand bucks-get lost!”
The pretty girl next to him echoed, “Scram!”
“You guys are something else.”
Darnell picked up the cash once more, gritting his teeth as he walked away.
He moved on to the third luxury car…
One by one, Darnell knocked on the windows of the four cars, tossing money at the drivers’ faces.
Ten minutes later, when Karlee found Darnell, he was happily counting cash, his pockets stuffed full.
Karlee was taken aback. “Where did you get all this cash?”
During the bungee jump, she knew Darnell didn’t have much money, so seeing nearly twenty thousand in cash left her puzzled.
“Did you cheat or rob someone?”
Karlee thought of two possibilities, her pretty face slightly changing. “How could you do something like this?”
She picked up the phone to call someone to handle the situation.
“It’s neither cheating nor robbing; it’s just me getting slapped with cash.”
Darnell grinned, and seeing Karlee’s disbelief, he pulled out a hundred-dollar bill and approached a black Mercedes parked haphazardly.
“I’ll give you a hundred bucks-let me have the spot, now get lost.”
Karlee was astonished to see that the hundred he tossed inside was quickly thrown back out, followed by several bills raining down again.
“I’ll give you three hundred-get as far away as you can!”