Part 3The Villain's Gold-Digger Ex

When I opened my eyes in the morning, the sunlight was blinding.

Rushing out of the bedroom, I found breakfast on the table and a note.

Caleb had already taken Coco to school and went to check out nearby real estate agencies to list the house.

[Caleb is almost thirty, how does he still have so much stamina?]

[All night! The screen was black all night! Better than some eighteen-year-olds!]

[Damn girl, you're lucky. Let me in for two episodes.]

Looking at the comments, I sipped my soy milk calmly on the surface, but behind my phone, my face was burning red.

By the time I leisurely got ready, it was afternoon. Time to check on the shop.

I opened a café in a quiet alley in the south of the city. It unexpectedly went viral on social media, with people coming to check in every day. I hired someone to manage it later, just popping in occasionally.

"Boss Lola."

The staff greeted me with smiles. I arranged the flowers I bought in a vase and sent Caleb the location.

He was done with his errands and coming to find me.

The shop was almost full. I scanned the room, took off my coat, and started trimming the plants.

Little Joe, a staff member, ran up to me, whispering mysteriously, "Boss, the customer in the corner looks just like you. When I served her earlier, I almost mistook her."

Text flashed before my eyes.

[Holy sht, why is the heroine here?]*

[Because of the villain, the heroine fought with the male lead all day and ran away from home. Didn't expect her to end up in the ex's shop.]

[She's been crying all morning. Honestly, the male lead is trash for using women.]

[Omg, the substitute meets the original. What a soap opera scene.]

I finally noticed the girl in the baseball cap sitting in the corner, constantly blowing her nose.

"Get her some tissues and send over a dessert on the house," I whispered, lowering my head. Once she entered the shop, she was a customer. Taking care of customers' moods was our job.

About an hour later, the shop door was slammed open. A group of bodyguards in black rushed in, checking customers one by one, finally stopping in front of the girl in the cap.

Most customers were scared off, leaving a few bold ones watching the drama.

The bodyguards formed two lines, and a man in a suit walked out from behind them.

"Sir, this is my shop. If you have issues, please resolve them privately. Don't scare my customers." I secretly signaled Little Joe to call the police and walked up to the man, raising my voice to remind him of some manners.

The man paused slightly upon seeing my face. Recovering, he pulled out a check, indicating he would compensate for all losses today.

"Ethan Zhou! What are you doing here! Take your people and leave! Stop embarrassing yourself!" The girl in the cap looked mortified, dragging the man named Ethan Zhou towards the shop.

[Fck, the male lead is here?]*

[This tiny shop is turning into a chaotic pot of porridge.]

[I really don't want to watch them fight anymore. My brain hurts.]

So this was the culprit behind Caleb's bankruptcy. I raised an eyebrow at the check in my hand and walked up to him.

"Sir, this amount..."

"Is not enough."

Ethan Zhou froze, looking at the check filled with zeros, confused.

Just then, the door was pushed open. It was Caleb.

Carrying a cake box, he looked wary seeing the crowd.

Oops, forgot to text him not to come.

[The villain is here too. Now we have a full table for Mahjong.]

[Chaos. Chaos is good. Porridge is best served hot.]

[This scene... I dare you to broadcast it, I dare not watch.]

"Caleb..."

The girl in the cap spoke, her voice tearful.

"I'm sorry. I really didn't know the document he asked me to steal was so important. If I knew, I would never..."

Caleb looked at the pair through the crowd, stunned for a moment.

Ethan Zhou reacted like a cat whose tail was stepped on, stomping around and smashing things on the table.

I looked down at the check.

Well, now it's definitely not enough.

"You ran away just to see him, didn't you!"

"I looked for you all day, and you're here meeting your old lover!"

Ethan Zhou's eyes were red, acting like a madman.

I pulled Caleb back a step to avoid collateral damage.

"Sir, you might be mistaken. Ah-Jing came to see me." I took Caleb's hand, took the cake from him, and chided, "Why buy this? The shop sells cakes."

Caleb stared at our joined hands, swallowed hard, his Adam's apple bobbing.

We were together for six years. Countless days and nights.

He was the type to ignite at a touch.

I knew exactly what he was thinking without even trying.

In this situation, and he's still thinking about that.

I threw his hand off, glared at him viciously, and found a seat. My legs were tired from standing.

Caleb knew he was busted. Feeling guilty, he scrambled to find my hand again. "When I dropped off Coco, she said she wanted to see Daddy pick her up with a small cake after school. I bought it. Didn't know your shop had them."

The girl in the cap watched us, moving her gaze to my face, inch by inch, as if memorizing every pore.

She seemed to realize something, eyes widening in disbelief.

"Caleb, you've fallen this low," Ethan Zhou sneered, mocking Caleb to the extreme. He had worked hard to bring Caleb down; of course, he had to trample him a bit.

"What?" Caleb's face showed no embarrassment. Instead, he leaned his head on my shoulder naturally, raising an eyebrow at Ethan. "No woman wants you?"

"Jealous again?"

Caleb's mouth. I always said he'd get beaten up one day because of it.

Sure enough, as soon as the words left his mouth, Ethan's rage spiked visibly. He strode forward, grabbing Caleb's collar.

I rushed to pull his hand away. In the struggle, someone elbowed me. I stumbled back, hitting my head on the corner of the wall.

I felt liquid sliding down my forehead. The arguing turned into a sharp ringing in my ears, then the wail of sirens.

I clutched the check tightly.

The last thought before losing consciousness was:

If I don't make him pay until he loses his pants, my name isn't Lola Gu.