Chapter 22: Chapter 22

Chapter 22 Give Me 1.5 Billion Dollars Upon listening to Kent’s analysis, Abigail narrowed her eyes. “All right. Let’s do this!”

She thought, “There’s no way I’m going to pick Benjamin. Besides, Julian and Alexander are on par with each other since they each have their respective supporters. To increase Alexander’s chances of winning, all I need to do is to oppress Annalise continuously. If everything goes well, I’ll become the lady of the Parks family in Jadeborough!”

With that in mind, she replied to Alexander’s message: “But, how about the wedding proposal? Is there not going to be one?”

Alexander texted back: “Just wait. You’ll get a surprise tomorrow!”

Abigail responded: “Okay! Love you!”

Upstairs, Annalise received a call from an unknown number after her shower.

“Hello? Who is this?” Annalise spoke into the phone while applying lotion to her body.

It was not unusual for her to answer calls from strangers because she was working on several business projects and had to deal with many people whom she might not know personally.

Upon hearing that, the person on the other end of the line said with disgust, “It’s me, Tony.”

Annalise knitted her brows. She continued massaging her body with lotion and said in a calm voice, “How can I help you?”

She thought, “Julian was right. Tony has approached me. Thank goodness Julian warned me about Tony. At least now I know how I should handle him.”

Abigail was ready to give it to Tony should he go overboard.

Tony said, “Meet me at Palm Rock Cafe tomorrow at noon.”

“I’m not available tomorrow. Sorry!” Annalise turned him down.

A vortex of anger swirled inside Tony. “Julian and you are now married, and I’m Julian’s dad. Can’t I ask you a few questions?”

“All right,” Annalise agreed reluctantly.

“If I refuse to meet him now, he’ll probably find other ways to meet me or even humiliate me,” she thought. Annalise texted Julian the next morning to ask if he wanted to come to the Barton residence.

Julian did not reply to her message.

A few seconds later, she remembered the medicine he had taken yesterday. The medicine might have dispelled the poison from his body, but it would cause him to be drowsy.

She then left him another message: “Sleep well. Come and meet me in the afternoon if you’re free. I’ll be busy with some work in the morning and noon.”

At noon, Annalise arrived at Palm Rock Cafe.

Although she was not late, Tony was already waiting for her in the cafe. A hard glint flashed across his eyes the moment Annalise entered the premises. He started voicing his dissatisfaction, saying, “I can’t believe you made me wait for you, Ms. Barton.”

“We’re supposed to meet at noon, aren’t we? I don’t think I’m late,” Annalise defended herself.

“Sit!” Tony said icily.

Annalise sat right in front of him.

Tony put on a serious face and did not look approachable. Neither did Annalise find him intimidating, nor was she afraid of him. She did not even try to get in his good books.

Upon noticing how calm she was, Tony snorted inwardly. “Ignorance is bliss, I guess?”

He then took out a check from his wallet and placed it right in front of Annalise.

Annalise looked up and asked, “What is this supposed to mean?”

She stared straight into Tony’s eyes. There was not a single trace of fear on her face.

“My son deserves a better woman. Take this check and stay away from him. Feel free to write the figure you want,” Tony said.

“Are you sure about that?” Annalise asked while flipping the check.

Tony despised her even more after seeing how she had shown interest in the check. “I didn’t ask you to come here to play mind games with you.”

Annalise started counting the boxes on the check and mumbled, “Hundred thousand, million, ten million…” She then looked up and asked Tony, “So I guess I could only write about 99 million dollars on this check?” Tony choked on the coffee he was drinking upon hearing Annalise’s question.

He thought, “What a greedy country bumpkin. How dare she ask for more than 99 million? I don’t think she knows how much 10 thousand dollars is!”

Annalise continued, “I can only cash out 99 million dollars from this check. The betrothal gift that Grandpal gave me was already worth 300 million dollars. Anyone with a sound mind wouldn’t give up 300 million dollars for 99 million dollars, right? Unless…”

Tony felt that he was about to explode in rage when he heard the word “unless” come out of her mouth.

“Unless what?”

Annalise answered in a serious tone, “Unless you give me 1.5 billion dollars!”

know what you’re talking about, Annalise? Do you know how much 1.5 billion dollars is?” Tony “Do you exclaimed.

He could not believe her words. “Why on earth did Julian fall in love with this kind of woman? Not only is she illiterate, but she also doesn’t understand how to read recipes. For someone who has never seen 10 thousand dollars in her life, how dare she ask for 1.5 billion dollars? How atrocious!”

“I have no idea how much it is, but I do know it’s definitely more than 300 million dollars,” Annalise said.

“You’ll pay the price for your greed, Annalise!” Tony snatched the check, tore it into pieces, and walked out of the cafe.

“A woman like her doesn’t deserve a single cent from me! Does she think she can become a member of a wealthy family by marrying Julian?” Tony thought.

“I can’t wait to see how the upper echelons of society in Jadeborough would ravage and humiliate her.

Once she succumbs to the pressure, she’ll eventually file for a divorce with Julian. Julian is just throwing a tantrum. I’m sure he’ll also divorce her in no time. After all, they come from two very different worlds. Who would fall for a woman whom everyone despised?” He smirked as he left the cafe.

Annalise looked at Tony’s back as he stormed out of the cafe.

She smirked and shrugged her shoulders. “What a hypocrite. I’m not even mad when he humiliated me and said that I’m not good for his son. Yet, he got upset just because I asked for 1.5 billion dollars? I guess I’ve overestimated this so-called prestigious Parks family!”

Right then, Annalise received a call from Madeline. “You guys are going to the charity dinner tomorrow, right? I’m going too. I’m itching to spend some money.”

Annalise fell silent.

Although her mentors had yet to meet Benjamin, they knew she was in a relationship with him.

When Annalise told her mentors about Benjamin, Madeline even searched for his photos and information on the internet and shared them with the other mentors.

All her mentors felt that Benjamin was chance.

Compatible with Annalise, but they thought they should give him a After all, finding a good match for her was not easy.

They were willing to accept Benjamin as long as he could treat Annalise well in the future.

“What’s wrong?” Madeline could tell Annalise was a little emotional. “Did Benjamin do something bad to you?”

“I broke up with him, Ms. Tuffin,” Annalise said.

She had thought of telling Madeline about her marriage with Julian but decided to keep it a secret in the end. She did not want them to worry about her since the marriage was only to last for three months.

“Broke up? Wait a minute. Did you dump him? Or did he dump you?” Madeline asked.

“I broke up with Benjamin because he cheated on me. So, I guess I dumped him?” Annalise pondered for a moment.

She then answered her, “I dumped him, Ms. Tuffin.”

Upon noticing Annalise’s hesitation, Madeline shook with fury. “You’re not telling the whole story because you’re trying to protect him, are you? I’ll destroy him tomorrow night!