Gold Digger? She’s the Richest Donna Chapter 04
I shrugged indifferently. “Suit yourself.”
Selina took a dramatic half step back. “Vincent, this place smells terrible. Let’s get out of here. She
clearly doesn’t appreciate our help anyway.”
But Vincent’s gaze locked firmly on me, showing no sign of leaving.
Selina shot me a cold glare. “It’s just cutting off your nose to spite your face. Tell you what, we’re meeting an investor today and we’re short a waitress to serve drinks. If you’re willing to take the job, I’ll pay you fifty thousand dollars. That should be enough to cover a whole year of living expenses for someone like you, right?”
Vincent finally reacted. “Emma, you’re just too stubborn. You won’t take free money, so you have to accept payment for work, right?”
I almost laughed out of sheer anger.
“Are you two bored out of your minds? I don’t have time to play your rich people’s charity game. Just get the hell away from me.”
To put things in perspective, I’d turned down several important surgeries just to squeeze out three days off to take my son on vacation for summer break.
And they actually wanted me to serve drinks?
How ridiculous.
My repeated refusals turned Vincent’s face livid. Even the always elegant Selina couldn’t help rolling her eyes.
The crowd around us immediately burst into chatter.
“Mr. Ricci, this woman is poor and stubborn. How can you let her wait on our honored guest?”
“Honestly, just call it off. If she offends someone, we’ve all wasted our trip today.”
The waiter panicked and immediately called for security. “Hurry up and get her out of here! The presentation is about to start, and the distinguished guest staying in the penthouse suite could come down any minute now.”
What?
The suite I was staying in?
While I was stunned, the waiter glowered at me through gritted teeth. “Ma’am, everyone here today is a prominent figure from the East Coast! Especially the young heir of the Montague family-he even brought his wife and kid with him. This is the biggest event our hotel has ever hosted! On a normal day, I’d turn a blind eye if you’re digging through the trash. But not today! Making a scene here will ruin our hotel’s reputation among high society. I’m just a lowly waiter, I can’t take the blame for this… I beg you, just leave.”
The security guards, who had stayed relatively restrained until now, immediately stepped forward and began dragging me out by force.
I wrenched myself free. “I’ll leave by myself!”
Seeing I was finally going, everyone in the room let out an audible sigh of relief.
“Wait a minute!”
Vincent suddenly snapped, stopping me.
His gaze locked hard on the seashells in my hand. The hand hanging at his side was clenched into a fist so tight his knuckles turned white.
“Emma.” His voice was rough and gravelly. “Why don’t you still get it… I don’t need these seashells
anymore.”
I looked down at the shells in my palm, and my mind drifted back to the past.
The year he broke up with Selina, the Ricci family started sponsoring me.
Back then, Vincent wandered through life like a zombie. He’d sit on the beach all day staring out at the ocean, not crying, not laughing, just empty. Vincent’s mother was worried about him, so she asked me to check on him whenever I had time.
I took the request to heart. I’d sit with him on the beach for entire days, just keeping him company.
Once he got swept out by a wave. I pulled him back to shore with every ounce of strength I had, then collapsed from exhaustion and passed out.
He held me and cried like a baby. Half-conscious, I grabbed a seashell from beside me and held it out to him. “Vincent, from now on every time I give you a shell, you smile for me, okay?”
He nodded through red, teary eyes and smiled.
From that day on, every time I went to the beach I’d collect a big handful of shells, just to get a few more smiles out of him. So many years had passed, I’d almost forgotten this whole memory if he hadn’t brought it up today.
