“How dare you?!”
Saul’s hair was greasy, and his vision blurred, making it hard to recognize Darnell. But his temper flared, and he shouted aggressively.
Just as he stood halfway up, Darnell pressed his shoulder down with great force, pushing him back into the chair.
“Splash!”
Darnell grabbed the ketchup and poured it on Saul’s head. The thick, sticky liquid spread out, dripping from Saul’s ears and forehead, staining his clothes red.
The surrounding diners and the owner quickly backed away, fearing they would be caught up in this commotion.
Raelynn screamed and instinctively reached for Darnell’s arm to help her boyfriend. But when she saw it was Darnell, she immediately stopped.
Her emotions grew complex. Darnell ignored everyone’s reactions. With a firm grip, there was a crack as he dislocated Saul’s arm.
Saul wailed in pain, unable to stand due to the agony that drained his strength.
“Five hundred dollars for each splash, right? I splashed you twice, so I’ll give you a thousand dollars.”
Darnell grabbed a napkin to wipe his hands, a mocking smile playing on his lips. “If you think it’s too little money, I can oblige you further.”
He then pulled out a wad of cash from his wallet and slapped it onto the table with a thud. The dollar bills instantly caught everyone’s attention as he called out to the patrons:
“There’s ten thousand dollars here. Enough for twenty splashes. Anyone who wants to have a go is welcome. I’ll cover the cost.”
The crowd erupted in astonishment. No one expected such drama to unfold. Excitement surged through the crowd. Some were eager to act.
Especially after learning about Saul’s freeloading and rough treatment of others, many were incensed, shouting for action. Yet, knowing it might not end well, no one stepped forward.
Raelynn pleaded urgently with Darnell, “Mr. Halford, please don’t do this.”
Saul was drenched in sweat and shouted fiercely, “Whoever dares touch me will regret it. I won’t let them off.”
The owner saw the situation escalating and called for someone to report it while trying to pull Darnell aside. “Young man, let’s not make trouble.”
A middle-aged waiter wanted to speak but didn’t know where to start.
“Is no one coming forward?”
Darnell pulled out another wad of cash. “A hundred-dollar reward for anyone who splashes him.”
The crowd fell silent momentarily before they were in an uproar.
A woman in denim walked through the crowd with her unfinished pasta and slapped it onto Saul’s head with a thud.
The pasta fell with a splash.
“I hate freeloaders who are so arrogant.”
She tossed the plate aside and glared at Raelynn. “Girl, why keep such trash around?”
After speaking, she left without taking the hundred dollars, striding away in her heels.
Saul was furious, spitting out the pasta as he shouted, “You’re dead! I’ll deal with you sooner or later, bitch.”
“Raelynn, tear that woman apart!”
He then shouted at Darnell, “Kid, I won’t let you off. I’ll have Alexander deal with you!”
Before Darnell could respond, a masked middle-aged man approached and poured his food on Saul’s head before quietly taking two hundred dollars and leaving.
Seeing the middle-aged man’s action, others followed suit, dumping their plates onto Saul’s head.
They quickly grabbed their hundred-dollar bills and dashed out without giving Saul a chance to recognize them.
Over ten plates of pasta left Saul dirty all over while scalding his head and neck red.
The owner looked at the mess in despair, but then, an idea struck him-he encouraged his ten employees to join in too.
In doing so, he could compensate for the loss while earning an extra thousand dollars.
The owner was tempted, but he was worried about causing trouble for his small diner if he joined in personally, so he refrained from acting but pretended to shout at the crowd, “Enough, enough! No need to go this far.”
“Mr. Halford-”
Raelynn tried desperately to stop everyone despite her messy clothes but couldn’t halt their frenzy. She pleaded once more with Darnell, “Please spare Saul.”
Darnell softened at her plea. He didn’t want Raelynn caught in difficulty, so he gestured for everyone else to stop while handing out hundreds to those who wanted more action.
Then he looked at Raelynn with pity. “Raelynn, as that lady said earlier, this kind of trash uses you yet mistreats you. Why keep him around?”
“Listen to me. Dump him now. He’s merely leeching off you.”
“Raelynn? You know this asshole?”
Saul regained composure after hearing Darnell’s words and grew livid. “Raelynn, I’m asking you! Do you know him?”
“You know him, yet you let him humiliate me? Did you bring him here deliberately against me, to crush me? You’re despicable.”
Raelynn hurriedly waved her hands, explaining, “No, Saul, I didn’t bring him-”
“Don’t deny it. It must be your doing.”
Saul was furious. “Raelynn, I didn’t expect this from you. You disappoint me greatly.”
“I may not want Raelynn dating you, but I won’t allow false accusations against her. Open your eyes wide and see who I am.”
Darnell showed disdain on his face. “I’m your benefactor, a great benefactor. Without my help back then, you couldn’t repay the Apex’s thirty thousand dollars.”
“Without me, you wouldn’t sit here intact, putting on airs. I could walk all over you for what you owe me.”
“It’s you!”
Saul shivered, recognizing Darnell, the one who helped him at the campus last time and the one who sang a song with the diva, Makenna. He hadn’t expected today’s troublemaker would be this guy. After his initial shock, he grew angrier.
“Bastard, you dare call yourself my benefactor?!”
“Do you think I don’t know you’ve been eyeing Raelynn? You want my woman, don’t you? Dream on!”
“Raelynn owes my family, and her whole family owes us. She’s mine in life and death.”
Initially, he thought about Darnell’s connection to the Apex, his BMW, and his somewhat distinguished identity, making him someone he couldn’t afford to offend.
But remembering Alexander behind him and Alexander’s hatred towards Darnell, Saul felt emboldened again shouting like a madman, “Even if I die, I won’t let you get Raelynn.”
“Saul, that’s enough!”
Raelynn couldn’t bear it anymore. “Stop embarrassing yourself.”
“You wretch, you think I’m embarrassing you, don’t you? How dare you?! When did you start siding with him?”
Saul shouted fiercely, “Did you sleep with him? Tell me! You must have slept with him! You bitch, you cheated on me!”
“Smack!”
Before he could finish his sentence, a slap landed on Saul’s face from Raelynn before she rushed through crowds while holding her handbag, with tears on her face.
Darnell said nothing but stuffed the sriracha into Saul’s mouth before chasing after Raelynn.
“I won’t let go of this!”
Saul spat out the sriracha and hysterically shouted again, “I’ll have Alexander castrate you!”
Meanwhile, the middle-aged waiter remained silent. He just collected the dollar bills left by Darnell on the table.
With a serious expression, he carefully wiped away the meat juice that remained on them with a napkin, his movements extremely careful.