Chapter 46

CHAPTER 46 A blue bugatti went past Benjamin as he kept staring at the mobile screen. “2.25 million dollar purchase?” his head felt like it grew heavy. “Who the hell is using the card?” he dialed Alfred.“ I just got the message. Someone made a 2.25 million dollar purchase using the platinum card you tried to give me. Do you know who it is?”

“I know, Master.”

“Who is it?”

“It’s someone from the Sterling villa,” Alfred didn’t reveal the name on purpose.

“What?” Benjamin was startled. His in-laws’ faces popped up in his mind, but then he mainly doubted Elizabeth and Veronica as only those two didn’t have jobs. He even thought of Lisa or Roshan having it, but he didn’t even think of the possibility of the maids or the butlers using the card. “Who is it?” his voice grew deep.

“I’m sorry, but you need to find that out by yourself, Master,” Alfred demanded. “Be responsible for your money.” Saying that he ended the call.

Benjamin got lost in thought for a few minutes while sitting on the bike at the side of the road. “I didn’t want to use my dad’s money, but this sneaky old bastard is forcing me to find the card. Fine. I’ll find and then break it. Jacob, Shawn, Selena, and Rebecca earn well and so likely don’t have the card with them. That leaves Louis, Bella, Veronica, and of course, Elizabeth and her kids. One of these six must be having the card with them.”

The blue bugatti went past him again at a blistering speed, this time the opposite way.

“Whoever is behind the steering wheel,” Benjamin wondered, “they don’t seem afraid of getting a ticket.” He put the mobile in his pocket and started driving. Though he drove fast, he made sure his driving wasn’t reckless. He took his next delivery to a police station, and the cops were surprised when he asked for the pizza’s money. They said they would be lenient on him in case he were to be found for speeding or breaking traffic rules, but Benjamin still asked and eventually got paid. One of the cops followed him secretly afterward. And the cop followed patiently until Benjamin made a mistake by not stopping at a stop sign. The cop soon caught up with Benjamin on a bike and fined him with a 200 dollar ticket. Benjamin argued with the cop for a while, but that only made the cop increase the fine to 250 dollars. Benjamin eventually had to pay as the cop didn’t let him take his motorbike.

At the end of it all, only the cop was smiling as he earned more than what he spent for the pizzas.

Benjamin didn’t look happy. Time never really dragged on this job except during these kinds of situations, of course, where the real money earned was little to nothing. The cop literally took away Benjamin’s meal ticket.

Had Benjamin not charged the cops for the pizzas, this wouldn’t have happened, but Benjamin still felt like he did the right thing.

When he went to the Rye’s Pizzas, Jasmine proposed to Christopher, but he refused. Jasmine ran out of the hut, crying and sobbing. The other workers believed that she was probably going to quit the job.

Benjamin walked up to Christopher’s desk with a faint smile on his face. “I guessed she was gonna propose sooner or later, but I didn’t expect you’d refuse.”

“Rye’s Pizzas was first established by a young girl named Rye,” Christopher said. “Once it got popular, she sold the business to to a guy named Samael. And my dream is to become the CEO of this company and then hopefully buy this business from Samael one day.” “You’ve got high aspirations, but what does that have to do with denying Jasmine?” “Her bushy hair.”

“What?”

“I asked if she can comb her hair properly, and she said she liked the way she looked.” “T-That’s it?” Benjamin couldn’t believe what Christopher was speaking. “Yeah. How can I marry someone who can’t even do such a simple thing for me?” “Then why did you act all lovey-dovey with her until today?” Christopher gave him a long stare. “You sure seem to have a lot of free time after being promoted to a seven-star deliverer.” “If you don’t want to answer, just say so,” Benjamin said and then minded his business. Christopher then briefly thought about Jasmine. “She had been asking me to buy a Nikon camera the past two days, saying she wanted to travel around the country. I surely didn’t expect her to propose to me with her parents’ rings. I don’t hate her, but then I don’t really love her. I hope she’ll at least buy the camera somehow and travel the country.”

Jasmine went to her apartment. A file and a flower were left at the doorstep. She picked them up and went into the room. It was a black rose. She dropped the flower petals in the aquarium and then sat on the sofa and opened the file. It was a one page contract titled ‘The Little Flower That Denies Falling.’

“What the heck is this?” she wondered for a second. “Wait... is it related to the random form I filled online about a week and half ago? They promised me a free trip to Hawaii, but what’s this rubbish about flowers?”

Her phone rang. It was from an unknown number. She answered. “Hello, this is Jasmine.” “Uh, a beautiful name you’ve got there,” a strange voice came from the other side. “Excuse me? Who are you?” “I’m the bee that will help you frame your destiny,”

he replied. “All you need to do is sign the contract, and you’ll receive a down payment of 10 grand.” “’T-Ten grand?” Jasmine’s eyes widened. “Are you serious? This isn’t some kind of joke, right?”

“We only choose women who date more men than the number of periods they go through a year.”

Jasmine went silent.

“Read the contract carefully. You have until tomorrow morning to choose.” The call ended.

Jasmine felt something was off, but the ten grand down payment made her overlook that unease, and she began to read the contract. At that point, she had no idea that the contract she was reading was intended to buy her and her freedom.