Chapter 8 She Got The Money

Bruce's lips twitched as if he wanted to say something, but in the end, he said nothing. His jawline was cold and perfect, his eyes indifferent. He pulled out a pen and quickly wrote a number on a check.

Jasmine hadn't expected him to be so decisive. She had only just steered the conversation toward money without even discussing the amount, and yet he wrote the check so readily?

His face beneath the brim of his hat was shadowed, expression hard to read. Without a word, he handed her the check.

Tears streaming down her face, Jasmine stared at the check but hesitated to take it.

Would reaching for it now make him suspicious?

If she played the part too well, would it seem fake?

Probably not-after all, she had already given a convincing performance of being pushed to suicide: crying, causing a scene, and threatening to hang herself.

Bruce had been fed up with her and eager to get rid of her. Since he was willing to give her money, it meant he had no doubts-maybe he just didn't care.

Jasmine thought for a long time about what expression she should give him.

After a moment, she settled on a sad and humiliated look. Her lips pressed tight as silent tears fell.

She whispered, "You really won't accept me?"

He remained tight-lipped.

Jasmine stood there for a long time.

It seemed that from the moment she mentioned money, Bruce had stopped speaking.

Maybe for a wealthy tycoon like him, money was the simplest and most straightforward solution to problems.

Her hands trembled as she took the check, feeling numb as if her heart had been shattered, tears falling helplessly.

Bruce said, "If you don't abort the child, I'll do it for you." Then he turned and walked away.

"Wait!" Jasmine called after him.

Bruce turned his head to look at her.

He was tall, and when he glanced sideways at her like that, it felt like he was looking down from above.

He said, "If the money isn't enough, contact my assistant. He's fully in charge of handling everything related to you and will meet all your demands."

Without pausing at all, he walked away slowly.

Jasmine was stunned for a moment. She waited until his car had driven far away, blending into the neon-lit chaos of the city, before bending down to pick up her hat. She pulled the brim low over her face, slung her shoulder bag on, and boarded a bus.

Sitting in the very last row, her sad expression gradually faded, replaced by a cold, indifferent blankness.

She glanced at the check in her hand-ten million dollars!

She had asked for ten million dollars, and he actually gave her ten million! Without even giving her a chance to negotiate...

Wasn't this a windfall from the sky?

She had thought this would be a drawn-out battle, even prepared herself for a long, tangled negotiation. She never expected him to be this straightforward!

Ten million dollars, really!

That wasn't a small sum.

How could he give her such a huge amount without asking questions or saying a word?

In Jasmine's memory, Bruce was the type of man with severe emotional cleanliness-almost pure-and had been trained by Darlene since childhood to be a "good man." But in the unpredictable world of business, he was a ruthless king, almost invincible.

She carefully reviewed everything that had happened over these days, making sure she hadn't made any mistakes. Only then did she relax, certain that Bruce wouldn't suspect her. If he had, he wouldn't have given her so much money. He was just desperate to get rid of her and her troubles.

To a rich man like him, ten million dollars was nothing.

For them, problems that could be solved with money simply weren't problems.

A faint smile tugged at the corner of Jasmine's lips, and a spark of joy lit her clear eyes, erasing all the sadness from before.

When she got back to Felix's apartment, it was already one in the morning. He wasn't asleep, lying on the couch like a dead log, a towel wrapped around his waist, playing games on his laptop.

When he noticed Jasmine had come back, Felix asked, "Got it done?"

Jasmine stared at him for a long moment. Her usually indifferent face gradually brightened with eagerness, like spring returning to the earth, shining with excitement and joy.

She hopped over to Felix in a few quick steps, waving the check around like she was about to burst with happiness. "Ta-da! Felix! Look at this!"

Felix's pretty eyes followed the waving check, then suddenly snatched it from her hand and inspected it closely.

He jumped up from the couch, "Holy crap! Ten million dollars! That guy is way too generous! I thought you'd squeeze maybe two million dollars out of him, but he handed over ten million at once! How'd you pull that off? Bruce's from a prestigious family-he's no fool. How'd you get him to shell out that much money all at once?"

As he stood, the towel around his waist slipped to the floor.

Jasmine's excited face instantly darkened.

She grabbed a chair and threw it at him. "Hey, I'm still a lady here! Can you watch what you're doing?!"

Felix dodged the chair just in time and hurriedly grabbed the towel to wrap it back around his waist.

He shrugged it off and said, "What kind of man haven't you seen by now? But seriously, how could Bruce just hand over that much money so easily? And all at once? Even if you're pregnant, you're not worth that kind of cash."

Jasmine grabbed a bottle of mineral water from the fridge and gulped it down for a long time. Probably because she had cried so much, she felt like a dried-up fish about to die.

After finishing the whole bottle in one go, she said, "I didn't expect it either. Given his relationship with Darlene, five million dollars was the most I thought I could squeeze out. I even prepared myself for a back-and-forth every few days. But I never thought he'd just throw down ten million dollars right away. He's probably just desperate to get rid of me, this troublesome burden. Better to pay me off clean and quick than get tangled up. That amount's pocket change for him."

Felix's eyes widened as he stared at her. "‌Jasmine, I'm starting to admire you more and more. You don't even blink when scheming-just straight up get a cool ten million dollars. Damn. Don't you feel even a little guilty about your so-called bestie, Darlene?"

Jasmine said, "I just want the money, not the man. What's there to feel guilty about?"

"I heard your bestie went missing. Aren't you worried something might happen to her?" Felix asked.

Jasmine quickly pulled out her phone and dialed a number, saying, "Nothing's going to happen. Bruce wouldn't let her get hurt. I asked Bruce about it, and he said it's all fine, so it is."

Over the years, Jasmine had become almost an expert on Darlene's love tactics. Every time they argued, Darlene would stir things up by saying she didn't love Bruce or that she loved another man, trying to provoke him. The poor sucker Bruce always believed her, and they ended up hurting each other in this immature back-and-forth. He was even strangely fascinated by Darlene's push-and-pull tactics.

If it weren't for Bruce's status as an heir of a wealthy family, Jasmine really wondered if such a handsome guy might be a little clueless about relationships-like a boy with zero dating experience, so pure it was almost shocking.

This time, they were probably playing out another over-the-top soap opera drama, which basically came down to their personalities.

The proud emperor-like Bruce met the proud queen-like Darlene. Two extremely proud people together, both with huge egos. Once they stepped on each other's toes, it was bound to be a battle to the death.

Jasmine wasn't interested in men. She only wanted money. In her mind, as long as she took the money and left, it was inevitable that Darlene and Bruce would end up together.

Right then, as soon as she got the money, she quickly dialed a number that made her shiver all over.

It didn't connect.

She stubbornly tried more than ten times before an annoyed voice finally came through, "Jasmine, can you please check the time when you call? It's almost two in the morning! If this isn't about paying me back, I swear I'll cut you to pieces!"