"That's alright, I can move into a smaller house. You, youngsters, are wa
y too stressed out these days. As an elder, it's only right for me to hel
p you out however I can."
"I'm not stressed out. Life is as breezy as it can get for me."
Dustin and Florence bantered back and forth through the phone, neither of
them coming clean with the truth. Since Florence took him as an idiot, D
ustin gladly went along with the act and pretended to not know any better
.
It was Dahlia, however, who found the conversation unbearable. She now fu
lly believed what Dustin had told her. Her mother would not be so nice to
Dustin otherwise. What she said about atoning for her wrongdoings and re
lieving Dustin of his burdens was all bullshit!
Florence had been grinning from ear to ear when she managed to scam Dusti
n into buying that piece of land! Now that she knew she had made a loss b
y selling it, she chose to put on a righteous and upright facade to buy i
t back instead of being honest with Dustin. She was despicable and
greedy!
"Hey! Why are you so stubborn? I'm only doing this for your good, so hurr
y up and sell
me that piece of land!" As the conversation progressed, Florence began to
lose her patience. Had it not been for the money, she would never have w
asted so much effort coaxing him gently, and would immediately start shou
ting and cursing at him instead.
"Florence, why are you in such a hurry to purchase the abandoned construc
tion site?" Dustin pressed. This was Florence's last chance to come clean
. If she told him
the truth, he would willingly let her have a share of the profit.
"Have I not made myself clear yet? I can't bear to see you lose money! I'
d rather bear the burden myself!" Florence stubbornly refused to spill th
e truth.
"That's enough, Mom!" Dahlia finally could take it no more. "Are you stil
l going to keep on cheating people out of their money?"
"Hey, what's that supposed to mean? When have I cheated others of their m
oney?" Florence raised
her voice.
"Dustin already knows the truth. That piece of land is worth at least two
billion dollars! You'll never be able to buy it back at the original pri
ce!" Dahlia exclaimed.
"What?" All was quiet for a while before Florence said sheepishly, "Oh, s
o you already knew? Why didn't you tell me earlier?"
"Florence, I've
already reminded you repeatedly since a week ago! It was
you who refused to
believe me," Dustin retorted calmly.
"Oh, look how forgetful I am. I think my age is catching up on me!" Flore
nce exclaimed regretfully. "Dustin, I was wrong. I'll listen to all your
advice from now on. Can you please sell the piece of land to me?"
"Had you shown just the slightest bit of honesty earlier on and did not i
ntend to trick me out of my money, I'd have readily shared a part of what
I profited from it with you. But your actions have
7/2
truly disappointed me, so I will not be selling it to you," Dustin told h
er truthfully.
"You're not selling it?" Florence's voice raised an octave when she heard
what Dustin said. "That belongs to me! What right have you got to not se
ll it to me?"
"The ownership of the land belongs to me. I can handle it however I pleas
e," Dustin said matter–of-
factly.
"I don't care! You better give me back what belongs to me, or I'll make y
ou regret it!" Florence threatened menacingly. Just a few minutes ago, sh
e had spoken so gently and kindly, but now her
true colors showed
"Behaving like this won't get you anything," Dustin said.
"You–
you bastard! You vile, shameless scumbag! I'll sue you! I'll sue you for
swindling me of my money! You-
" Florence spewed a torrent of curses through the phone with no care in t
he world.
But she was cut off when Dahlia ended the call. How
aggravating! She was the
one who bore bad intentions, and she had the gall to berate Dustin? Utter
ly unreasonable! As Florence's daughter,
Dahlia felt ashamed of her actions,