The young man shot a menacing re at Charlie and shouted, “Hey, kid, you better pay us up while I’m still being nice! My girlfriend and I want to hit the hot springs, so do us a favor and get lost!”


    Charlie replied icily, “What if I choose not to?”


    The young man scoffed. “You’re all just a bunch of pretentious, broke losers. Just wait here; I’ll show you what happens when you refuse to pay.”


    He pulled out his phone and made a call. “Hey, Mr. Hicks, I’m at your resort, and some morons scratched my car in the parking lot. They’re refusing topensate me and are causing a scene. Send some people here immediately!”


    After hanging up, he smirked and said, “Loser, consider this your final chance topensate me for the damage and apologize. When Mr. Hicks arrives, you’ll be in serious trouble!”<fn39ee> ?????? ???? find{n}ovel</fn39ee><h3 style="background-color:DodgerBlue">


    Loreen, worried about Charlie’s safety, quickly interjected, “Alright, I get it. I’ll pay. How much do you want?”


    “You scratched my car, which means its original paint is ruined—this is a lifetime pain! You need to pay half the value of the car! I’ll even give you a discount—forty grand!”


    “What?! Forty grand?!” Loreen eximed, furious. “You’ve got to be joking! Even if we go to a Maserati shop, the paint for one side only costs about five hundred! With some additional work, it wouldn’t exceed one thousand five hundred!”


    “What the hell? One thousand five hundred?!” The young man spat on the ground in disgust, nearly hitting Loreen’s feet in the process. He cursed through yellowed teeth, “Are you serious right now? Do you know what I do for a living? You think you can settle for just over a grand? Listen up, it’s forty grand—no discounts! Pay up or you won’t be leaving this ce! If you can’t afford it, leave your ID and details, and I’ll take an IOU. Interest is ten grand a day,pounded!”


    “This is outrageous! You… this is outright ckmail!”


    ire chimed in angrily, “If you keep being unreasonable, we’ll just call the police!”


    “Go ahead! Call whoever you want!” the young man retorted mockingly. “Oh, I’m so scared… Bah! I’m well connected with the cops and the underworld!”


    Loreen felt resigned to her bad luck. Money wasn’t the issue for her, even if it were four hundred grand! She simply didn’t want to drag Charlie into this mess.


    Her intent in inviting them to the resort was to spend more time with Charlie, and she didn’t want this incident to ruin his day.


    Frustrated, she finally said, “Fine, forty grand it is. Just give me your bank details, and I’ll transfer the money right now.”


    “Wait, are you serious?!” The young man was taken aback by her willingness to hand over forty grand so easily!


    He had expected to haggle down to around two thousand dors, which would still have been a great deal for him. But now, he was shocked that she was ready to pay forty grand without a second thought!


    This was turning into a huge windfall for him!


    Just then, Charlie intervened, asserting coldly, “Hold on a moment, don’t give him a single cent. I’m curious to see how this unfolds!”