"You swindler! Give me back my money!" Florence began shouting aggressive
ly the moment she entered. She had even gotten several stout and burly wo
men to come along with her to back her
up.
"Why are you here?" A sudden feeling of guilt came over Terrence, and his
expression changed. He had not expected them to barge in while he was ha
ving a meal.
"How are we going to catch the swindler if we didn't come here personally
?" Victoria shot him a glare.
"That's right! How dare you enjoy dining in such a luxurious place after
cheating us of our money? You're utterly shameless!" Florence demanded
with her hands on her hips.
"Who are these shrews, Terrence? Should we throw them out?" Terrence's fr
iends asked meanly. Terrence was about to be the wealthiest one among the
m, so they were all dying to suck up to him.
"No, that won't be necessary. I know them." An idea came to Terrence, and
he quickly told his friends, "You guys
head on back for now. I've got some personal matters to deal with. I'll b
uy you all a meal some other day." And with that, he urged his friends to
leave the private room.
"I don't give a damn about what
tricks you have up your sleeves, Terrence. Give me my money now!
"Victoria was not about to back off any time soon.
"Victoria, let's sit down and talk, shall we? Don't get all worked up." W
ith a smile on his face, he poured everyone a cup of tea.
"Cut the crap, you swindler!" Not wishing to waste her time on him, Victo
ria knocked the cup of
tea over.
"I don't think I follow, Victoria. When have I swindled you?" Terrence pr
etended not to understand
what she was going on about.
"Oh, so you're still trying to deny what you've done?" Victoria shot dagg
ers at him with her eyes.
"You're playing the fool with us, are you? Here, I'll help jog your memor
y. A week ago, you swindled us into purchasing the plot of land where the
abandoned building was, for a total of a hundred million dollars. Do you
remember now?" Florence's piercing gaze bore into Terrence. That piece o
f
land had nearly caused her to go bankrupt, and she still had recurring ni
ghtmares
about it.
"You're both mistaken!" Terrence sighed and acted like he had been wronge
d. "About that piece of land, that was all because of my friend. I'm a vi
ctim just like you! I'd been cheated out of my
money too!"
"That's rubbish! Do you think we'd buy that?" Victoria had a skeptical ex
pression.
"She's right! Why did you disappear
for the past few days if you're a victim too? We couldn't find you, nor c
ould we contact you. I'm sure that you've conspired against us together w
ith your friend! "Florence shouted.
"I didn't! I really am a victim too!" With the most miserable look he cou
ld manage, Terrence said, "I haven't shown myself for the past
few days because I was too ashamed to face you! Besides, I've
Chapter 588
Terrence's friend flattered him and tried to court his favor.
Terrence, however, sat frozen where he was for a long time. Never had he
dreamed that the abandoned construction site that nobody wanted anything
to do with would suddenly transform into such a valuable piece of land ov
ernight!
"What's wrong, Terrence? Are you feeling alright?" Terrence's friend aske
d.
"Hahaha! He must be having problems coming to terms with the fact that he
's going to be filthy rich!" Someone jested.
"Ri–Richie, how much
does that abandoned building cost now?" Terrence asked tentatively.
"At least two billion!" Richie said.
"Two billion?" Terrence felt like he'd been struck by lightning, and he b
lanched.
Under everyone's disbelieving gaze, Terrence gave himself two slaps on th
e face. "I–
I'm the greatest idiot!" How could he have just sold off a plot of land w
orth two billion dollars? Was there anyone out there more dumb than him?
Just as everyone wondered what was wrong with Terrence, the door of the p
rivate room was kicked open with a loud bang. Then, Florence, Victoria, a
nd a few others barged in through the door. And they were fuming.
"Terrence Stone! There you are!"
"Give me back my money! Give me all the money that you've swindled off me
!"
"You swindler! Give me back my money!" Florence began shouting aggressive
ly the moment she entered. She had even
gotten several stout and burly women to come along with her to back her
up.
"Why are you here?" A sudden feeling of guilt came over Terrence, and his
expression changed. He had not expected them to barge in while he was
having a meal.
"How are we going to catch the swindler if we didn't come here personally
?" Victoria shot him a
glare.
"That's right! How dare you enjoy dining in such a luxurious place after
cheating us of our money? You're utterly shameless!" Florence demanded wi
th her hands on her hips.
"Who are these shrews, Terrence? Should we throw them out?" Terrence's fr
iends asked meanly.
Terrence was about to be the wealthiest one among them, so they were all
dying to suck up to him.
"No, that won't be necessary. I know them." An idea came to
Terrence, and he quickly told his friends, "You guys head on back for now
. I've got some personal matters to deal with. I'll buy you all a meal so
me other day." And with that, he urged his friends to leave the private r
oom.
"I don't give a damn about what tricks you have up your sleeves, Terrence
. Give me my money now!
"Victoria was not about to back off any time soon.
"Victoria, let's sit down and talk, shall we? Don't get all worked up." W
ith a smile on his face, he poured everyone a cup of tea.
"Cut the crap, you swindler!" Not
wishing to waste her time on him, Victoria knocked the cup of
tea over.
"I don't think I follow, Victoria. When have I swindled you?" Terrence pr
etended not to understand
what she was going on about.
"Oh, so you're still trying to deny what
you've done?" Victoria shot daggers at him with her eyes.
"You're playing the fool with us, are you? Here, I'll help
jog your memory. A week ago, you swindled us into purchasing the plot of
land where the abandoned building was, for a total of a hundred million d
ollars. Do you remember now?" Florence's
piercing gaze bore into Terrence. That piece of land had nearly caused he
r to go bankrupt, and she still had recurring nightmares
about it.
"You're both
mistaken!" Terrence sighed and acted like he had been wronged. "About
that piece of land, that was all because
of my friend. I'm a victim just like you! I'd been cheated out of my mone
y too!"
"That's rubbish! Do you think we'd buy that?" Victoria had a skeptical ex
pression.
"She's right! Why did you disappear
for the past few days if you're a victim too? We couldn't find you, nor c
ould we contact you. I'm sure that you've conspired against us together
with your friend!
"Florence shouted.
"I didn't! I really am a victim too!" With the most miserable look he cou
ld manage, Terrence said, "I haven't shown myself for the past few days b
ecause I was too ashamed to face you! Besides, I've
been trying to locate my friend to get him to pay back the money that he
ripped off of you! I've been doing that for you!"
"You claim to be so righteous, but
where's our money?" Florence demanded. She wasn't going to believe his bi
g talk anymore. If he did not return their money, everything he said was
as good as
trash.
"My friend has disappeared without a trace. I suspect that he has long si
nce fled to another city." Terrence sighed deeply.
"Hah! I knew you were going to say that!" Florence smiled sardonically.
"Although my friend has run off with your money, I'll take full responsib
ility for the money you've lost!" He declared righteously with a resolute
demeanor.
Everyone was taken aback by his words, and they all had an astonished exp
ression on their faces. It was beyond their expectation that he would tak
e responsibility for the matter, as they thought that he would deny every
thing.
"So, what you're saying is that you'll pay us our money?" Victoria asked
tentatively.
"Of course!" Terrence nodded earnestly. "I may be a victim too, but
at the end of the day, all of you were implicated only because of me, so
I'll pay you what you lost in full!"
"Well…" Florence and Victoria exchanged a sheepish glance. For a moment,
neither of them knew
how to react.