Sunset Restaurant.
Rachel teased, glancing at the girl who had just sat down across from her, "What made you think of leaving some time for me tonight to have dinner together?"
"I thought you'd be having dinner with Chase instead."
Anna took a wet wipe from her bag and slowly started wiping her hands. "How could I spend all my time with him? The one I'm traveling with is you."
"I thought you might have forgotten about me," Rachel replied, sipping on the cold drink in front of her. "I haven't seen you all day."
Anna smiled. "You left me all alone at the hotel."
Rachel shot her a side-eye. "It's my fault I didn't wake you up?"
"No, no," Anna smiled back and then changed the subject. "Where are we going tomorrow?"
Rachel jokingly asked, "Not going out with Chase?"
"Not rushing into things. We still have a long time ahead of us," Anna replied, picking up a piece of salmon and lightly dipping it in wasabi and soy sauce. "Leaving some space is the best way to let things develop."
"Fair point." Rachel nodded in approval. "Princess's reasoning is always so thorough."
Chase drove Anna to the restaurant and then headed back to the hotel, but instead of going to his villa, he went to Villa No. 1.
A few people were gathered in the front yard, having a barbecue party. The sounds of rock music blasted from inside.
"Yo... are you back from your date?" a teasing voice greeted Chase as he stepped onto the property.
Chase walked over to the sound system and turned the volume down.
"Is there any cooked food? Bring it over to me," he said, lazily sitting down in a chair, his posture nonchalant, like a laid-back old man.
Ethan was the first to speak up, "Did your hands and feet not work? If you want to eat, go get it yourself. You didn't even pay for the ingredients, you're already lucky we let you join."
Chase gave him a sideways glance. "Should I have you guys cover the villa rent, too?"
Ryan quickly jumped in, "Chase, we didn't say anything! Just have Ethan pay for it!"
Liam added, "Yeah."
Ethan scoffed, "No backbone."
Ryan shrugged. "What good is backbone when it comes to money?"
Though none of them were short on cash, they still liked to take advantage when possible.
Liam nodded but couldn't resist saying to Chase, "I'm not saying you, but if you're out on a date, why not finish dinner before you come back?"
"Be careful, you might leave an impression of being stingy in her mind."
Ryan chimed in, "Chase, this is where you're wrong. If you're tight on cash, you could've told the guys, we'd chip in for you."
Chase played along, "Yeah, I'm actually a bit tight on funds right now, but don't worry, I won't take advantage. You guys can cover the room fee."
The three of them immediately went silent in unison. They hadn't expected him to admit that he was low on money.
Ryan laughed awkwardly, "Chase, you're joking, right? A guy like you would be short on money?"
The cars in his garage alone could sell for enough to feed several normal families for a lifetime.
Chase let out a cold snort, not bothering to reply. He picked up a plate of cooked meat from the table and began eating.
"What the hell!" Ethan shouted. "This is the meat I grilled for myself! Put it down!"
Chase avoided Ethan's hand as it reached for the plate and casually said, "It's alright. It's not bad, but your skills could use some work."
"You!" Ethan fumed, his face turning red. "You steal my food and still criticize it?"
Chase provocatively smiled, "What are you going to do about it? It's already in my hands."
"You..."
Ethan was so angry, he almost had a heart attack.
Ryan stepped in to play mediator. "You two are acting like kids, fighting over food."
"There's plenty on the table," he pointed out.
"Don't stand there acting all smug," Ethan shot back. "The stuff on the table is still raw. Can you eat that?"
Chase, while munching on a piece of cooked meat, cheekily responded, "Just eat it raw like sushi."
"Get lost!" Ethan yelled, grabbing the bottle of chili powder from the table, uncapping it, and pouring most of it onto Chase's plate.
"That should spice it up for you."
"Thanks for adding some seasoning. The taste was a bit bland," Chase said as he grabbed a piece of beef, now drenched in chili powder, and ate it without flinching.
Ethan stared at him in disbelief, turning to the others. "Is he even human? When did he become immune to spice?"
Liam flipped the meat on the grill with tongs and remarked, "Chase? He's just putting on a tough face. It's all for show."
Sure enough, when they weren't looking, Chase popped open a can of beer and drank half of it in one go.
After he finished eating, he stood up to leave.
"Where are you going?" Liam called out. "We're staying up all night playing cards. Don't even think about running away."
"It's a rare vacation. We need to make the most of it," Liam added.
Chase, his voice dripping with arrogance, replied, "You guys are offering me free money, how can I refuse?"
Ethan snorted, "Who's going to win or lose is still up in the air. Don't count your chickens before they hatch."
"Let's see who ends up the biggest fool," Chase retorted, walking toward the door.
Ryan, shouting after him, asked, "So where are you going now?"
"Bring over the Tesla," Chase said as he paused at the door. "And grill a few pieces of meat for it, no seasoning."
Ethan snorted. "So after you're done getting served, now you want us to serve your dog?"
Ryan added, "Chase, Tesla needs to lose some weight. The last time I took it to the pet store for a bath, it almost dragged me off my feet."
Chase, uninterested, replied, "That's because you're too weak. You should be working out, not asking Tesla to lose weight."
His dog had never been short of food—he made sure it ate well, drank well, slept well, and played well.