Chapter 4
I jerked my hand away without mercy: “Didn’t you tell everyone I was dead? Don’t talk to dead people–you might catch some bad luck.“]
River’s face went dark.[]
We just stood there in silence for a while.
Finally, he spoke first: “Lily will send you the bill. Remember to pay.“]
I glared at him, too pissed for politeness: “None of your damn business!“]
He frowned: “It’s my car. How is it not my business?”
I choked on my words.[]
He continued: “You never used to swear.“]
I couldn’t be bothered to look at him anymore and turned to leave.[]
I used to be a rich girl with plenty of money and plenty of love.[]
So I was emotionally stable, polite to everyone, and never lost my temper with anyone.[]
But now I was just a regular working person.[]
We working folks are like this–questionable manners, fight fire with fire.[]
After wasting so much time at the police station, I went home, packed up my stuff, and headed out to set up my cart.
This time I picked a spot by an elementary school and managed to score a bunch of one–cent lemonades from three different delivery
apps.
ང 1:|:1:|:ཀྱི ནི ཆོ ཀྱི
DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub were in some crazy price war, so I discovered this new hustle–buying discounted drinks from all three apps to resell at my cart.]
To elementary kids, fancy branded lemonade was the ultimate luxury.]
Plus a corn dog and lemonade combo for just five bucks was a total steal.]]
After most of the kids left, I finally got a chance to sit down.[]
I found some random steps to plop down on and pulled out my phone.[]
TikTok showed Tyler had sent me a bunch of messages, with the latest one popping up:
[Are you selling corn dogs in front of Lincoln Elementary? I saw someone who looked just like you.]]
I shot up and looked around frantically but didn’t see anyone who looked like a wannabe gangster.
Holy shit, that scared me![]
I quickly chugged some lemonade to calm my nerves.
The lemonade was still in my mouth when an uncertain voice came from behind me: “The queen of hand dancing?“]
I spun around, and the shock made me choke on the lemonade.[]
I started coughing like crazy.]
He rushed over to pat my back: “I know your boy’s handsome, but you don’t gotta be THAT shocked.“[]
It was that familiar cocky tone–definitely Boss Tyler.
I stared at his face, totally speechless.
Boss Tyler with such a gangster username should’ve been some skinny dude in tight jeans and knock–off shoes with bleached hair, right?
W
Who the hell was this broad–shouldered, narrow–waisted, long–legged absolute UNIT standing in front of me?]
M
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43
Holy SHIT!
If I’d known he looked like this, forget dinner–he could’ve asked me to eat glass and I would’ve skipped over happily.[]
That said, when Tyler actually invited me to dinner, I ran.
.0
I pedaled my little tricycle as fast as I could while he chased after me just as hard.[]
“Yo, don’t be a chicken!“]]
“Didn’t we agree I’d take you to dinner, pay your debts, and you’d marry me when we met up?/
I couldn’t take it anymore and slammed on the brakes:[]
“First off, I’m not chicken–I’m being CAREFUL.“[]
“Second, my name’s not ‘yo‘–it’s Jade Morrison.“[]
“Third, stop drawing these unrealistic–ass pies for me, or I swear I’ll turn YOUR face into a pie.“[]
“Shit.”
Tyler muttered under his breath, looked at me, and suddenly his face went red as he got all shy:
“Jade… you’re gorgeous. How much does your family owe? I’ll pay it all off–just marry me.‘
At that moment, my speechlessness reached cosmic levels.
Dear God, please send someone to collect this idiot!]
I still didn’t go to dinner with him.]
Really wasn’t being chicken this time.
Main thing was, looking like THAT and still willing to make me promises?
“0
What’s that saying–as long as he’s willing to put in effort for me, I’m good.]]
I was scared I’d lose my head and actually marry him on the spot.]
That evening when I was getting ready to stream, I suddenly got a message from Lily.
She’d transferred me ten thousand dollars.[]
[It really was my fault that day. You don’t need to pay for the car repairs. I heard about your family situation–please take the money. If River asks you to pay later, just transfer it to him. The extra is for medical expenses since I can see your hands haven’t healed yet. If you feel uncomfortable anywhere later, definitely contact me–I’ll cover all medical costs.]]
Reading her message, all the frustration I’d been bottling up for days finally exploded.]]
I burst into tears instantly.]
See? Lily was always so gentle and kind.[]
I typed and deleted in the chat box over and over, finally settling on just two words: [Thank you.]]
Right after I sent it, another message came through.
[Don’t get the wrong idea–River and I aren’t together. River… he’s always liked you. He didn’t actually want you to pay for the car either. He was just mad that you broke up without saying anything. He only wanted to use this as an excuse to make you contact him.][]
“Liked“-I stared at the letter, spacing out for a moment.
Until Tik Tok started pinging with notifications-
Boss Tyler:
**
20
Jade, why haven’t you started streaming yet?]]]
[Jade, you’re seven minutes late–how can you face your fans like this?
[No way, no way–you stopped streaming just to avoid me?]]
[Come on, talk to me. I’m not even ugly, right? It’s not bad enough to make you stop streaming, is it?*|
[…]]]
His messages snapped me back to reality.
Screw all this “liking” bullshit–don’t mess with my money–making.
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