Chapter 3 Trade Off

"Now, there are three options. One is fire Annie, two is let her spend the night with me, and another is all of you can forget about doing business in this city."

Duane, a wealthy and powerful billionaire, could shut down this bar within half a day. The manager didn't dare delay and quickly complied. Duane wanted to persuade Annie to reconsider and accompany him to a hotel tonight, but Annie was resolute. She had come here to work seriously and earn clean money, not to sell herself or sleep with playboy billionaires.

So, Annie was directly fired and didn't receive any payment. Before leaving, the manager couldn't help but offer some advice.

"You may appear beautiful, but don't be so stubborn. Sometimes, a little compromise can make life easier. He just made a pass; you wouldn't have lost anything. Sometimes, you have to be more flexible."

"For instance, if you had obediently followed Duane's orders tonight, he would have generously given you a significant tip. You wouldn't have been fired, and if luck favored you, your life might have taken a different path."

Annie left, returning to her empty home. She was alone inside, not turning on the lights, sitting quietly on the bed, tears falling silently. The lingering feeling of disgust on her back continued to haunt Annie, making her loathe herself even more. Her cheap pride had made everything worse, and now, the medical bills remained unpaid, her mother's condition deteriorated, and even her sole family member couldn't receive proper care. The sense of helplessness overwhelmed Annie, causing her tears to fall on her pale face, wetting her collar.

What was the value of her pride now that Annie had fundamentally succumbed to life's hardships? She sobbed for a while until her tears seemed to dry up. Annie turned around slowly, got up, and went to the bathroom to clean herself thoroughly. She scrubbed her back so hard that it felt like she was peeling off a layer of skin, trying to rid herself of the feeling of disgust. Then she retrieved Sofia's business card, which she had neatly stored in a drawer.

Annie stared at the phone for a while, finally making up her mind. She picked up her phone and called Sofia. Sofia picked up quickly, and in the stillness of the night, her cheerful laughter was crystal clear in Annie's ears.

"Well, my dear sister, isn't this a surprise? The girl with so much pride and purity is calling?" Sofia teased, not waiting for Annie to speak.

Without waiting for Annie to respond, Sofia already knew what she wanted to say and chuckled teasingly. She pursed her lips, her eyes gleaming with satisfaction, and after a few seconds, she continued, "I'll ask again: are you willing to help me take care of my crippled and foolish fiancé, Finn?"

Annie clenched her lips, reluctantly accepting even though her heart was unwilling.

"I agree."

Sofia scoffed, her arrogant and cold attitude unchanged. "Agreeing sooner would have been better, my dear sister. Showing hesitation and reluctance is quite repulsive."

Sofia then briefly recounted her situation and that of her current blind fiancé, Finn, to Annie. The engagement between Finn and Sofia had been arranged when both families were wealthy and prosperous. At that time, Finn was the only son in his family, handsome, talented, and possessed strong business acumen, making him a dream marriage prospect for many young women. Given the affluent circumstances of Sofia's family, they were considered a suitable match.

However, recently, after Finn's mother passed away, his father hastily remarried a younger, beautiful stepmother, who had a son from a previous marriage, older than Finn by two years. Finn's father appeared to favor this stepson, Hubert and even had plans to groom him as the future heir to the family business. Consequently, Finn went from being the esteemed heir to an outcast in his family.

Subsequently, a series of events led to Finn's temporary blindness, and whether or not he would regain his sight depended on luck and fate. In such circumstances, as Finn's fiancée, Sofia naturally had the responsibility to take care of him, be by his side, and encourage him to overcome this predicament.

However, Sofia, now living a lavish and privileged life as an aristocratic young lady, despised Finn's blindness and his abandonment by his father. She had no intention of caring for Finn.

"Why should I endure this hardship when he's blinded and disowned by his father?" Sofia remarked. "If it weren't for fear of public opinion and the disdain for greed and poverty, I would have abandoned my fiancé's status long ago."

"Furthermore, while Finn may no longer be the heir to the family fortune, he still holds shares in the company and has his own successful business. Who knows, circumstances might change, and Finn could become even more successful and wealthy than he is now. Then I could enjoy wealth and bask in the praise of others as a virtuous fiancée."

"So, your current task is to take good care of Finn for me; as I promised, I will pay you one million dollars. If you perform well, there may even be additional rewards."

Sofia had no concerns about Annie potentially replacing her as Finn's fiancée, as the two were identical twins, and their striking resemblance often led people to mistake them for one another. Even their parents had occasionally mistaken them for each other when they were young. Besides, Finn had only met Sofia a few times before, so Sofia was confident that this switch would go unnoticed.

"Do you understand?" Sofia concluded, condescendingly asking if Annie comprehended. Annie obediently responded that she understood and would do her best. Satisfied, Sofia provided Finn's address to Annie, reminded her of a few crucial points, and then hung up.

Finally, the space returned to silence. Annie sat in her empty house, feeling suffocated to the point where she couldn't breathe properly. Once again, she found herself doing something she hated, using deception to gain money. Annie sat motionless on her bed in the midst of the pitch-black night, feeling like her life had become just as blurry and uncertain as that of a blind person.