Chapter 10

Over the past three years, that woman from earlier would occasionally come to school to find Riley. I don't know what she said to him, but Riley gradually became quiet and stopped talking much. "There are a few troublemakers in our class who saw Riley like this and often called him names or bullied him in the restroom. Those guys come from influential families. "Though I wanted to stand up for Riley, I'm just a poor student and can't compete with them. All I could do was comfort Riley and stick with him in everything we did. "Since it's the weekend, so I'm working here part-time to earn some living expenses. I didn't expect to run into her and be recognized by her. And you know what happened after that." As Ronaldo spoke, his voice grew quieter, and he kept his head down. He couldn't meet Samantha's eyes. Samantha pursed her lips. She was shaken with anger. After a while, she took a deep breath. "Ronaldo, thank you for telling me all this. Otherwise, I wouldn't have known. "You've done well. Don't blame yourself too much. And I sincerely appreciate you being there for Riley." With that, Samantha took out the same bank card from her bag and placed it on the table before pushing it toward Ronaldo. She said thoughtfully, "Ronaldo, there's one million dollars in this card. It should cover your living expenses and tuition fees in the future." Upon seeing this, Ronaldo was shocked. He quickly pushed the card back to Samantha. "I can't accept this. Riley is my good friend. I'm just doing what I should do. I can't take this money." Pursing her lips, Samantha insisted and forced the card into Ronaldo's hand. "You're almost the same age as Riley. Technically, I'm like your sister. Consider this money as a loan from me. Take it for now, and when you earn money in the future, you can pay me back." With Samantha not giving him much of a choice, Ronaldo reluctantly accepted the card. "Samantha, I promise I'll pay you back." Samantha didn't mind at all. "No worries. Just use the money for now." Then, she checked the time and suggested, "It's almost dinner time. There's a good restaurant upstairs. How about we have a meal together before you go? Minnie has a car, so she can drop you off after that." Ronaldo couldn't refuse Samantha's kindness. He nodded. "Alright. I'll go along with your plan." The three of them spent over an hour in the cafe before heading upstairs to the restaurant. It was quiet there with few customers, so Samantha chose a table by the right-side window, which offered a nice view below. Since Mina was a member, she went to order while Samantha and Ronaldo waited at the table. Having nothing to do, Samantha turned her head and gazed out the window to pass the time. Suddenly, footsteps approached from behind her, accompanied by a woman's familiar, flirtatious voice. "Joe, the foie gras here is delicious. You should try it later." Upon hearing this voice, Samantha couldn't help but furrow her brow. Suppressing the urge to confront Erica, she took a deep breath as if nothing had happened and continued to look out the window. Unexpectedly, Erica exclaimed and tugged at Joseph's sleeve. She pointed toward Samantha. "Joe, Samantha seems to be here too." A faint expression finally crossed Joseph's face when he heard that. He followed Erica's finger and indeed saw Samantha. A slight smile tugged at his lips. Indeed, he thought she simply mentioned divorce to him as a tactic to draw his attention. Otherwise, why would she coincidentally appear in the same restaurant as him? But then, Joseph's smile faded when he noticed Ronaldo sitting across from Samantha. They hadn't seen each other for a few days, and she was already with another man, and such a young one at that! She was disrespecting him more and more. With a cold snort, Joseph instinctively shook off Erica's hand and strode angrily toward Samantha. Erica stared at her empty hands. Feeling angry and aggrieved, she turned her gaze toward Samantha. Joseph would only pay attention to Samantha whenever she appeared. He had even abandoned her to approach Samantha. She wondered what Samantha did to make Joseph suddenly so attentive to her. "Samantha, didn't you hear what I said yesterday?" Joseph walked up to Samantha's side, frowning as he questioned her. Samantha was already in a bad mood, so hearing Joseph's words made her rage even more. "Joseph, is Lynch Group about to go bankrupt? Why would you neglect your own company and come here to bother me? Why should I listen to your bullshit?" Seeing Samantha's dramatic reaction, Joseph sneered, pointed at Ronaldo, and accused her. "Samantha, we haven't divorced yet, and you're already with another man? He looks quite young. Don't tell me he's not even of legal age yet. Is he the reason why you wanted to divorce me?" Anger clouded Joseph's eyes as he thought that Samantha might be divorcing him because of the boy. Samantha couldn't believe how Joseph could say such things. He was the one who cheated on her with Erica first, but now he was here accusing her. She retorted sharply, "Well, you cheated too, didn't you? So what's the problem with me seeing someone else?" "Samantha, you better not provoke me." Joseph's veins bulged on the back of his hand. He looked terrifying and sinister. A smirk appeared on his face as he glanced at Ronaldo disdainfully. "So, you're into this type of guy?" Samantha deliberately provoked him. "Yes. Even if it's not him, there will be others to replace you. After all, besides you, there are plenty of other men worth liking." Her remark greatly provoked Joseph. Joseph snorted and lifted Ronaldo up from his seat. He then clenched his fist and aimed it straight at Ronaldo's face. "Since you like him so much, I'll let this little pretty boy know the consequences of offending me!" In the next moment, Joseph smashed his fist toward Ronaldo's face, causing Ronaldo to close his eyes in fear. Upon seeing this, Samantha acted swiftly and extended her hand in front of Ronaldo's face. She caught Joseph's fist firmly. Joseph stared at Samantha in disbelief. Just now, he had used all his strength in that punch. He was a trained fighter, and most men couldn't have withstood that punch. Samantha was just a weak woman, so how could she have easily caught his fist like that? He wondered if she had other secrets that he didn't know about.