Chapter 1

“You have a new food delivery order. Please accept it in time.”

The notification on my phone pulled me back to my senses.

None of that mattered anymore.

Noah was still waiting for me at the hospital to earn money for his life-saving treatment. I couldn’t slack off.

By the time I walked out of Tomson Riviera, a torrential downpour had suddenly started outside.

I hadn’t brought a raincoat, and the raindrops pounding against me hurt.

But the heavier the rain, the higher the payout for each delivery.

I didn’t have time to care about my own body. I stuffed my phone into a waterproof bag and hurried off to keep delivering food.

It wasn’t until dawn that I finally stopped taking orders and got ready to go home, take a shower, and rest.

A call from an unknown number came in.

“Hello?”

“Bring me a cup of coffee. I have to go to the office at 8:30.”

That voice……

“Claire Morgan?”

She seemed to frown, her tone impatient.

“Aren’t you doing food delivery? Get it here within half an hour, and I’ll tip you five hundred.”

Then she hung up.

I didn’t understand what Claire Morgan meant by that.

But five hundred dollars was enough for me to run a lot of orders.

Without hesitation, I quickly went to a nearby upscale café, packed up a cup of coffee, and rode back toward Tomson Riviera.

I rang the doorbell, and Claire Morgan opened the door very quickly.

Her eyes swept over my dripping wet hair and clothes, and she gave a mocking smile.

I knew she must be feeling pretty damn satisfied right now.

Back then, Ethan Carter had broken up with her for five million dollars. Now, for a measly five hundred, he was willing to flatter her shamelessly and bow and scrape to please her.

My throat tightened, but I still kept smiling as I handed over the coffee.

“Ms. Morgan, your coffee.”

Claire Morgan took it and had a sip.

Then her face darkened immediately, and her tone turned extremely rude.

“These beans are way too low quality.”

“Ethan Carter, I gave you five hundred to buy cheap garbage and try to fool me?”

I hurried to explain.

“This cup cost seventy. It’s not cheap.”

But Claire Morgan clearly wasn’t listening. She said impatiently,

“Buy it again!”

Then with another loud bang, she slammed the door shut again.

I had no choice. For the sake of that five hundred dollars, I could only go back out into the rain and buy another coffee.

This time, though, I learned my lesson.

I went straight to the café near Tomson Riviera. A cup cost one hundred and fifty, so expensive it made people wince.

But Claire Morgan still wasn’t satisfied.

“The beans have to be espresso extract, not a dark-roast blend.”

“Buy it again!”

Another one hundred and fifty.

But when it was delivered, Claire Morgan suddenly changed her mind again.

“I suddenly don’t want an iced Americano anymore. I want it hot. Buy it again!”

“It’s too weak. I want a double espresso. Buy it again!”

“It took too long. The ice melted, and now the coffee tastes watered down. Buy it again!”

……

Again and again.

My soaked clothes chilled me so badly I was trembling all over.

Even if I were slow to react, I could still tell Claire Morgan was deliberately making things difficult for me.

I glanced at the time. A whole morning had been wasted like this.

Taking a deep breath, I said helplessly,

“Ms. Morgan, there’s no need to toy with me like this. I really am living badly right now. Just take it as me getting what I deserve. I don’t want the five hundred tip anymore. Pretend I owe you.”

“Six cups of coffee came to a total of nine hundred dollars. Can you settle that for me?”

“I still have things to do this afternoon. I can’t keep wasting time.”

Sure enough, Claire Morgan’s face only got worse after hearing that.

She snorted and sneered,

“So you’ve run out of patience already? You were pretty patient when you were cheating me out of money back then, weren’t you?”

“I get it. People like you only sell yourself when the price is right.”

“Five hundred isn’t enough? Then how about five thousand?”

Before I could answer, Claire Morgan picked up the wallet beside her.

She pulled out a thick stack of bills and flung them straight at my face.

“Pick them up.”

“Take it as me throwing you a bone. Don’t you love money the most?”

The bills were all new.

The corners were sharp, and when some of them hit me, they cut my cheek.

They left a long streak of blood on my face.

There was a lot of money on the ground, far more than five thousand. It was enough that Noah’s medical expenses for next week wouldn’t have to be worried about.

Dignity?

Poor people don’t have dignity.

A sharp pain spread through my chest, but it quickly went numb.

I bent down and neatly picked up the money on the ground.

One bill had been deliberately pinned under a black leather shoe.

I paused, then raised my face to look up at Claire Morgan. I smiled at her without a shred of shame.

“Ms. Morgan, sorry.”

“Your foot……looks like it’s stepped on one. Could you please lift it?”

Claire Morgan’s contemptuous gaze fell on the streak of blood on my face.

She froze for a moment, then quickly looked away.

Her brows tightened in disgust again, and she moved her foot aside before turning and walking back inside.

Facing Claire Morgan’s indifference, my eyes instantly turned red.

I suddenly remembered how, a long time ago, even if I sneezed a few extra times from a cold, the woman in front of me would nervously come over, touch my forehead, and force me to drink more hot water.

Forget it.

I forced down the sourness in my nose.

As long as I made money, that was enough. Noah was still in the hospital waiting for me to bring him food.

After I picked up all the money, I left without making a sound.

Over there, Claire Morgan came back out again. She stared blankly at the empty hallway, then lowered her head and looked at the cheap adhesive bandage she’d dug out after rummaging through drawers.

She gave a self-mocking laugh.

Claire Morgan, five years.

How are you still this damn cheap?

Just as she raised her hand, ready to throw it into the trash, the phone in her pocket suddenly started vibrating.

She swiped to answer.

Her assistant’s hesitant voice came through the receiver:

“Ms. Morgan, we found something.”

“Mr. Carter seems to……have a child, in the hospital.”