Chapter 2

“Hmph. Your father is away on a business trip. If you came here to see him, you should go back,” Vanessa said before leaving.

It was already late. She had another date to keep.

Vanessa didn’t come home that night.

I had a part-time job the next day, so I hurried over after breakfast.

The coffee shop was usually quiet in the morning, but today there were far too many “flies.” They were loud and annoying.

“Order whatever you want. It’s on me.”

Ethan brought a large group of friends with him. As he spoke, he kept shaking his car keys for everyone to see.

Vanessa had only promised to buy him a car yesterday, and he already had the keys today. But why was his face even paler than it had been yesterday?

Could he have overdone things?

“Well, well. Isn’t this my country-bumpkin ex-girlfriend?” Ethan pretended to look surprised. “I’m spending so much today. Do you get a commission from it?”

I rolled my eyes inwardly.

He had known I worked here. He had brought all these people over on purpose.

Seven people spent less than a hundred dollars, yet Ethan acted as if he were some generous millionaire.

The manager was watching me from nearby, so I could only put on my professional smile.

“Do you like my keys?” Ethan waved them in front of me. “I just got this car. If you call me Daddy, I might let you touch them.”

Everyone burst out laughing.

I ignored them and continued making drinks.

The smiles on their faces froze.

“She’s just jealous,” Ethan said, trying to explain my silence. “Too bad. Even if you want to get back together now, it’s impossible! You know the campus beauty? She’s my new girlfriend.”

He said it loudly, and the boys beside him began praising him.

My hands stopped moving for a moment.

My ex-boyfriend was using my stepmother’s money to date the campus beauty?

The rich really did live in a ridiculous world.

Ethan noticed my reaction and looked pleased with himself.

A while later, the campus beauty, Chloe Parker, arrived.

She really was beautiful. The title suited her.

The moment she entered, every guy in the shop stared at her.

Ethan looked even more smug. He puffed out his chest, wrapped an arm around Chloe, and loudly showed her off.

Then came a sharp crash.

A glass shattered.

“Hey! Server!” Ethan shouted at me. “The cup broke. Come clean it up!”

I took a broom over.

Chloe looked at it with disgust.

“That broom looks so dirty. We’re eating here. What if dust gets into our food?”

Her voice was sweet, but her expression was anything but.

Ethan immediately joined in. “Exactly! Is this how you treat customers? Pick it up with your hands. Hurry up. Don’t wait until someone gets hurt.”

I wanted to tell them the broom had been bought just yesterday and hadn’t even been used.

But the manager was glaring at me from the side.

I had no choice but to swallow my anger and crouch down to pick up the glass.