I Hired Elite Tycoons as My Parents for Five Cents Chapter 05
Dust hung thick in the air. The Strattons stood frozen, every one of them too stunned to move.
Stella’s eyes found me, strapped down, shaking, and helpless on that table, and the rage rolling off her felt
almost solid.
She pulled a blade from her studded boot, and with one quick slash, the straps fell away.
“Hazel, don’t be scared. We’re here.”
My eyes burned. Everything I’d been holding back-the fear, the humiliation, all of it-broke loose at once.
“Mom! Dad!”
Those two words snapped the Strattons out of their shock. Every expression in the room changed.
Richard recovered first. His lip curled as he looked them over-studded leather, heavy eyeliner, everything
about them screaming street trash.
“So you’re the trashy street punks she’s been crying for?”
Evelyn’s mouth pinched. She reached into her bag, pulled out a black card, and held it out like she was offering spare change to a beggar.
“Let’s skip the performance. You’re here for money, right? One million dollars, and you walk away from Hazel
for good.”
Brooke leaned out from behind Evelyn, her voice dripping with fake concern.
“Take the money and disappear. Trust me, if you piss off the Strattons, you won’t last a week in Oakhaven.”
Stella took the card. Across the room, every Stratton wore the same smug look, like they’d called it.
Then came the crack. She raised the blade and sliced it clean in half, flicking both pieces back at Evelyn’s
face.
She folded her arms, one eyebrow raised.
“Cute. A black card? Nobody in Oakhaven’s ever had the nerve to try buying me off, and they’ve offered a lot
more than this.”
Richard’s laugh was short and dismissive.
“A couple of street punks think they can walk in here and talk back to us?”
“You know who the Rossis are? The most powerful family in Oakhaven, and they back us. So I’d think real carefully about your next move.”
Stella went still for a beat. She looked at Vincenzo. He looked back. Something dangerously amused passed
between them
The Rossi family?
As in Vincenzo’s Rossi family?
Vincenzo’s mouth twitched When he spoke, he took his time.
“Backer?”
He let the silence hang, eyes moving from one smug Stratton face to the next
“Funny thing. That backer you’re so proud of? You’re looking at him. I am Vincenzo Rossi
The Strattons burst out laughing. Every single one of them, like he’d just told the funniest joke they’d ever
heard.
“Vincenzo? Any nobody off the street can drop a name. That doesn’t make you somebody’
“Your last name’s Rossi, so what? Have you looked in a mirror, buddy? You think anyone’s buying this?
Caleb was practically vibrating with contempt.
“Yeah, and I’m the Pope. Look at you, cheap tattoos, biker jacket. You’re going to stand there and pretend you’re old money? You don’t even know how much trouble you just walked into.”
Stella and Vincenzo looked at each other again. They genuinely hadn’t expected this-that anyone in Oakhaven could be this clueless.
That someone could be staring right at them and have absolutely no idea who they were
