A surge of joy rose in my heart when I heard Danielle agree to pay back the money.

Even though the 80 thousand dollars wasn't a huge deal to me, forcing this greedy family to cough up what they owed me still felt great.

Danielle pulled out her phone and started tapping away. I glanced over and realized she was taking out online loans. That delighted me even more.

A few minutes later, 80 thousand dollars hit my account.

She shoved the transfer record in my face. "Take a good look. The money's been transferred. Can you get lost now?"

To keep her from noticing anything unusual, I arranged my face into a scowl.

"Danielle, don't think I can't do anything to you. We still have to settle your theft of my family heirloom. It's far from over!"

She sneered and leaned close to whisper in my ear, "I'm about to be a multimillionaire. What could a broke loser like you do to me?"

"We'll just see about that," I said, scoffing coldly. "Let's see who really comes out on top."

With that, I turned and walked away.

The Daltons continued hurling insults after me, but I pretended not to hear them. I had both time and money now. I could play their game all day—and I was curious to see how long they'd last.

After leaving the Daltons, I immediately called my childhood friend Galvin Stabler. He had connections and knew how to get things done, so he was the perfect person to help me both sell the stamp and deal with the Daltons.

We soon met at our usual spot. He was with his younger sister, Lucy Stabler, who had just returned from studying in Jomera. Both were excited to see me.

They were furious when I told them about the stamp.

Galvin couldn't help grumbling, "I told you ages ago that woman was bad news. You wouldn't believe me, and you kept throwing your hard-earned cash at her. Now you see, right?"

"Wy, don't be too sad," Lucy teased as well. "Losing a bad person means the universe is looking out for you. There are plenty of good women out there, and I happen to be one of them. How about it? Will I do?"

"That's right," Galvin chimed in, egging her on. "My sister beats Danielle by miles in both looks and character."

Truth be told, they'd made these jokes before, but since we grew up together, I'd always seen Lucy as a younger sister and never thought of her that way.

The first time I met the Stabler siblings, Galvin was 12 years old, while Lucy was only seven. Back then, their father had gone to prison, and the siblings only had each other. More often than not, they went hungry.

As their new neighbor and classmate, I often stole money from home to help them out.

Later, when their father got out and became a big shot, things skyrocketed for them, and they moved out of our neighborhood.

However, our friendship remained.

After they got rich, they repeatedly offered me financial help, but I'd always refused. I didn't want our precious friendship to be tainted by money.

So when they learned that I'd obtained a stamp worth over 10 million dollars, they were even more excited than I was.

Galvin had barely sat down before he started reaching out to buyers. Eventually, he reached an agreement with a well-known collector and arranged the transaction for two days later.

After settling the stamp matter, he suggested teaching the Daltons a lesson, and I readily agreed.

We knew they had no real channel to quickly fence the stamp for cash, and that they'd be eager and impatient. So, if someone were to offer them funds right now, they'd definitely go on a crazy spending spree.

By the time they found out the stamp was fake, they'd already be speeding down the road to ruin.

Galvin chuckled when he heard my plan.

"Just sit back and enjoy the show, buddy."

Lucy called me early the next morning. She'd just returned to the country, so she wanted to buy a car to get around, and she wanted me to go choose one with her.

I accompanied her to several places before she finally decided on a 300-thousand-dollar Porsche.

While discussing details with the manager, Barney Johnson, Lucy excused herself to the restroom. Suddenly, I heard a cold scoff from behind.

"What is a broke loser like you even doing here? This isn't a place you can come to."

I turned around and saw Danielle and her ex-boyfriend, Drew Evans. She had her arm linked through his in a very intimate position.

"Why are you here? Do you know how expensive the cars here are? Even if you sold yourself, you still wouldn't be able to afford one," she said, cackling.

Hearing her mockery, I seized the opportunity to provoke her.

"I can't afford one? You had to take out online loans just to pay your debts, and you think you can afford it?"

I'd just been fretting over not finding the right chance to deal with her, and now here she was, handing herself to me on a silver platter. There was no way I'd let such a perfect opportunity just slip by.

"Who do you think you are? You dare to compare yourself with Dani? She's about to become a multimillionaire, while you're just a broke loser who can't cough up 100 thousand dollars to get married.

"Here's the thing—Dani's not just buying herself a car today. She's going to buy me one too. How about that? In your face!"

Drew was already barking at me like a rabid dog before Danielle had even said a word.

"That's right," Danielle said, looking at me with utter contempt. "I'm not only buying myself a car today, but I'm also gifting one to my dear Drew. Too bad you can only watch from the sidelines and drool over it.

"Take a good look. You'll never be able to own a car like this in your lifetime."

Right then, Lucy came out of the restroom and heard what Danielle had just said. Furious, she marched over and confronted them.

"Who says Wy will never be able to own one? I'm buying the car right now and giving it straight to him!"

She walked up to me, looped her arm through mine, pointed at Danielle, and asked, "Wy, is this woman the ex-girlfriend who betrayed you?"

Before I could nod, however, Danielle lunged forward and roared at me.

"Wyatt Pollock, you piece of trash! We just broke up yesterday, and you've already latched yourself to someone wealthy? Or were you two already hooking up behind my back?"

I sneered coldly. "Stop spouting nonsense. Things between Lucy and me have always been completely innocent. You, on the other hand, were constantly sneaking around with your ex, and you dare accuse me?"

Even after being exposed, Danielle felt no shame. In fact, she even looked smug.

"Since you already figured it out, I'll be frank. Yes, I never actually broke things off with Drew, even when I was with you. If you hadn't been a useful source of money, I would've ditched you long ago. And now that I have money, you're worthless to me.

"If you're smart, you'd better get out of my sight right now, or don't blame me for what happens next."

Before I could respond, Lucy stepped forward and retorted, "What big talk. This is a dealership, not your house. What right do you have to tell us to leave?

"We came here today to buy a car. We're customers. The ones who should get lost are people like you who come in here just to run their mouths and not actually make a purchase!"

With that, she signaled for Barney to throw Danielle and Drew out.

Danielle's composure cracked, as if she had been triggered.

She shouted at Barney, "Who said I wasn't going to buy a car? I'm buying that Porsche!"

The sales rep apologized. "I'm sorry, miss. We only have one unit of this model in the store right now, and Ms. Stabler and Mr. Pollock have already reserved it."

Danielle's expression turned smug when she heard this. "So what if they reserved it? I'll pay more! I'm willing to pay an extra 50 thousand dollars for this car!"

Barney's eyes lit up at the mention of extra money. He quickly confirmed it with Danielle. "Miss, are you sure you want to buy this car for 350 thousand dollars?"

"Of course!" she answered firmly before shooting us a triumphant look. "You think you can compete with me? I'm a multimillionaire now. 50 thousand dollars is pocket change to me. Do you think you can keep up?

"Now, get lost. Stop embarrassing yourselves here."

Her words had barely left her mouth when Lucy raised a finger to signal to Barney.

"I'll pay 400 thousand dollars," she countered, then gave Danielle a mocking glance.

Danielle, who was clearly provoked, screamed hysterically at the sales rep, "I'll pay 500 thousand dollars! I refuse to let them buy this car!"

Lucy was about to raise the price again, but I stopped her. I had finally gotten Danielle where I wanted her. There was no way I'd let her wriggle away now.

I smiled at Barney. "Since she's willing to pay 500 thousand dollars, we won't fight for it anymore. But just a friendly reminder—some people love to talk big. They may act like they're loaded, but in reality, they don't even have a single coin in their pockets. Who knows? They might even be in debt from online loans."

Hearing this, Barney signaled for his staff to guard the doors, then looked at Danielle and Drew suspiciously.

"How would you like to pay, miss?"

Danielle confidently handed over her card. "Swipe it!"

After two beeps, the card reader announced that 500 thousand dollars had been received.

She shot me a smug look. "Open your eyes and look carefully. This is real power—"

However, before she could finish, a group of black-clad men stormed into the dealership and grabbed Danielle.

"You bitch!" one of them snarled. "How dare you use a fake stamp as collateral to get a loan? Are you itching to die?"