Chapter 5 A Walking ATM

What?

Conor's words made everyone around gasp in sheer amazement.

He gestured towards a collection of items that were exceedingly expensive, their combined worth hundreds of thousands!

Nearby, Kyra stood motionless, equally shocked.

She muttered silently, "It's been ages since I last saw him. Could he have lost his senses?"

Even the store clerks had a hard time holding back their laughter at the way Conor was throwing money around so freely.

These employees had been here a while, yet this was their first encounter with such an odd shopper.

Normally, people would try on various outfits several times before selecting maybe one or two to purchase.

Who in their right mind would casually point at five or six luxury items and decide to purchase them without a second thought?

Was he mistaking this place for a clearance sale or a street market?

"Sir, are you serious? Each item in our store costs a small fortune. The pieces you've picked out are hundreds of thousands totally!" Joyce said, barely containing her laughter.

"I know it adds up to hundreds of thousands. Go ahead and run the payment - I'm in a bit of a rush," Conor said with an easy smile as he handed Joyce a simple-looking bank card.

Was this actually happening?

"Please... Please hold on a moment," Joyce stuttered, accepting the bank card and swiftly disappearing into the back office.

She came back moments later, her face alight with astonishment.

Just to be certain, she had taken the bank card to the back office to verify it, and what she discovered left her stunned.

The account held an astonishing four million and four hundred thousand dollars.

And every bit of it was in liquid cash.

Even in a place like Chasey, possessing over four million dollars in cash was uncommon.

This young man was clearly from a wealthy family.

His humble attire suggested that he was attempting to avoid drawing attention.

That had to be the explanation!

Within moments, Joyce's perception of Conor shifted dramatically - from an apparent nobody to a low-key wealthy heir.

When Joyce came back to Conor to verify the details, she turned her gaze to Kyra, still visibly in shock.

"Kyra, why are you just standing there? Hurry up and help Mr. Sanderson pack the clothes."

What?

Pack the clothes?

Could there actually be funds on that card?

After tallying everything up, Conor had purchased five articles of clothing, bringing the total to an impressive 169, 048 dollars.

The payment was processed, and the garments were bagged.

As Conor effortlessly executed the card transaction, the sales staff's jaws dropped in awe.

His flair during the swipe was notably cool.

It even made them involuntarily gasp in amazement.

"By the way, should the commission from this sale go to Kyra?" asked Conor, holding the garments and turning towards Joyce.

"Absolutely, that's not an issue at all! Oh, and here's our store's diamond membership card. Make sure you keep it safe," Joyce responded, presenting him with a sparkling membership card, all smiles.

Conor accepted the card nonchalantly and slipped it into his pocket, then faced Kyra. "My phone number's the same. Give me a ring when your shift ends."

A blush tinted Kyra's cheeks at his statement. "Okay."

"Alright, I'll get going now. I won't keep you from your work," Conor said as he walked out of the store, shopping bags in hand.

No sooner had Conor exited than Kyra found herself encircled by her colleagues.

"Kyra, seriously - how could you keep a boyfriend that rich and good-looking a secret? Do we even count as your friends at this point?"

"And does this mysterious man of yours have a brother? Or perhaps, I could charm his father instead. A man that striking must have equally handsome father," one of the female clerks joked, visibly obsessed.

"Why are you all doing this? I... I'd rather not discuss it," she responded, flustered.

Kyra had thought about clarifying that she and Conor were no longer together, but she feared that they might pry further, so she chose to remain silent.

"Come on, with the commission from that sale, you're a few thousand richer. Surely, you can treat us," another colleague interjected.

"Fine, fine, but let's plan it for another day," Kyra responded with a resigned shrug.

"We get it," they said, exchanging knowing glances among themselves.

...

Conor had always known that those with money had a taste for extravagant watches.

With more than four million dollars to his name now, it was only natural that Conor had his sights set on owning a high-end watch.

Leaving the store, he made his way directly to a luxury watch store.

Despite his understated look, the sales clerk, spotting the luxury clothing bags, recognized him as a man of means from the luxury store.

She greeted him with a warm welcome.

Even if he hadn't been carrying indications of his recent splurges, his striking appearance alone would have drawn her eager attention.

Certainly, who could resist the chance to converse with such an attractive man?

Conor spent only a brief moment before selecting a timepiece from the Overseas collection.

In a mere two minutes, he picked out a watch priced at one hundred thousand dollars.

This decision almost rendered the female sales clerk speechless, overwhelmed with delight.

She had dealt with wealthy customers in the past, but none had ever shown such open-handed generosity.

As he stepped out of the watch shop, Conor looked over the items he'd just picked up - worth nearly two hundred and seventy thousand dollars - and muttered to himself, "Shopping really takes it out of you..."

Even so, his gaze kept drifting toward the nearby boutiques, as if he still wasn't satisfied.

"Excuse me, sir, perhaps you'd like to browse our eyewear?"

"Sir, a fine pair of leather shoes would complement your style."

"Sir..."

By now, people walking past could hardly believe their eyes. Was this really still Chasey EON Mall?

It was starting to feel more like a wholesale bazaar than a luxury shopping center.

Now, every luxury boutique was competing for Conor's attention at their thresholds. They couldn't resist; Conor had spent a fortune here.

In their eyes, he was a walking ATM.

...

Back at the inpatient department of Chasey United Hospital.

"Madisyn, just look at the man you're dating! If he's this bold now, what will he be like once you're married? Will he become totally unrestrained?" Lydia scolded from her hospital bed, clad in a gown and connected to an IV drip, yet her demeanor remained arrogant.

"Lydia, please, spare me the commentary. I told you from the beginning that this plan was flawed," Henrik retorted, exasperated as he watched Lydia.

"Henrik, just take a good look at yourself. Can you even call yourself a man? That bastard humiliated us and struck Kaiden, and you couldn't even open your mouth to speak up! If you had any real ability and could make enough money, would I have to ask Conor to buy us a house? And now you have the nerve to blame me? Everything I've done has been for Kaiden's sake!"

Lydia's tirade caused Henrik to bow his head and exit the room swiftly.

"Utterly worthless!"

"Mom! Want me to hire someone to take Conor out?" asked Kaiden.

"And what? After he's gone, who's going to buy you a house?" Lydia countered sharply.

Kaiden was taken aback, stammering, "Uh..."

Lydia then turned her attention to Madisyn.

"Madisyn, didn't your friend introduce us to this man? I believe your friend leads him. Could you ask your friend to lean on him, perhaps to secure some compensation for our emotional and hospital fees?"

"Absolutely! And don't forget about compensation for that kick - nothing less than thousands should suffice," Kaiden added quickly.

"Not just thousands - no less than tens of thousands!"

"Right, at least thirty thousand! That kick rattled me so bad I'm still feeling the aftershocks," said Kaiden, stretching out across the hospital bed and playing up his pain.

Madisyn took a deep breath as she watched her brother groaning in pain on the bed.

"Fine, I'll make the call to my friend right now..."