The deal was done.
"Go sit outside for a bit," Dexter said with a smile. "I'll make the next one for you—takeout."
Karen's eyes flicked to the side, and she immediately understood why it had to be takeout. "Mr. Ding," she said, "you really hate Lip, don't you?"
"Do you want the honest answer?" Dexter thought for a moment and asked.
"Sure," Karen nodded.
"The truth is, I'm actually helping him," Dexter replied. "He just can't see it yet."
"????" Karen was genuinely shocked. She couldn't wrap her head around that.
"Alright, out you go," Dexter said, offering no explanation and shooing her away.
Karen was a little scared of Dexter—not because of anything specific, just pure instinct.
So she didn't say anything else. She obediently left the kitchen, found an empty seat, and waited quietly.
---
Outside the restaurant, in the car.
Lip saw her. His gaze shifted, then he glanced at the sign on the restaurant door that read Lunch Service Has Ended. His brow slowly furrowed, irritation flooding his chest.
Annoyed, Lip pulled out a cigarette and smoked aggressively, one drag after another, venting his frustration.
About ten minutes later—
Dexter personally came out of the kitchen and set Karen's food down in front of her.
"Thanks," Karen said as she stood up. She took the bag and walked out of the restaurant with a light step.
"Boss, do you do takeout here too?" a beautiful customer who had already been waiting a while asked with a bright smile.
"No," Dexter replied flatly as he walked away.
The woman was confused. "But didn't that girl just get takeout?"
"You saw wrong," Dexter said with a smile.
The customer: "????"
Dexter disappeared back into the kitchen.
The woman snapped out of it, growing annoyed. She immediately pulled out her phone, opened Twitter, and posted:
"The owner of Dex Restaurant is pretty handsome, but sadly his brain doesn't work. Friends who want to eat here, be mentally prepared to get pissed off by the things he says! I'm already too angry to be hungry anymore. Hmph!"
---
Outside the restaurant.
In the used BMW.
"Sorry to keep you waiting," Karen said apologetically to Lip. She gently placed the food in the back seat, then started the car. "Let's head back to school."
Honestly, she thought takeout was perfect.
Setting everything else aside…
Eating this at school was going to make so many people jealous.
So satisfying.
Lip had a cigarette hanging from his mouth. He didn't respond, keeping his tone as calm as possible. "The sign said lunch was over. How did you still manage to buy food?"
"I went in, apologized to him, and acted a little cute," Karen replied without hesitation, lying smoothly. "That's how I got it."
Lip didn't buy it. "That's it? That easy?"
Karen nodded immediately, then smiled slyly. "He's a guy. I can tell he's into me. He just didn't dare do anything because I'm underage. I acted cute, so of course he agreed."
Was that really it?
Lip was still skeptical, but he didn't ask any more questions.
Since Lip dropped it, Karen didn't add anything either and drove toward the school.
---
At school.
Karen deliberately chose a crowded spot, opened the packaging, and let the aroma spread.
"Lip, I know you hate Dexter, but…" she said casually, "do you want to eat together? It's a pretty big portion. I can't finish it myself."
The truth was, Lip still hadn't eaten lunch, and the smell was insanely tempting.
He was already practically drooling.
"No thanks. I'm not interested," Lip said proudly, swallowing his saliva. "You eat first. I'll come find you later."
"Okay," Karen replied reluctantly, not trying to stop him.
Before long—
Students followed the smell and gathered around her, chattering nonstop, asking what she was eating.
"I just bought it from Dex Restaurant," Karen answered happily, practically glowing with pride.
The moment she said that—
The students around her exploded with envy, all talking at once.
For a moment, Karen felt like a queen.
Amazing. It felt so good.
And then—
There were still at least twenty-nine more chances like this!!!
Haha!
Karen truly felt this was the happiest day she'd had in a very long time.
---
More than half an hour later.
In a hidden grove of trees, tucked away in a corner of campus—
Thinking about the fifteen thousand dollars, Karen didn't hesitate at all. She leaned close to Lip's ear and whispered seductively, "xxxxx."
In that situation, Lip's IQ had already flown straight out the window. He naturally did whatever Karen said.
Everything happened naturally.
---
Outside Karen's house.
Frank, who had gone back and forth in his head countless times but still couldn't work up the courage to call Monica himself, looked at Karen's house, grinned, and shouted, "Sheila!"
Inside the house, Sheila heard him and hurried to the window to look outside.
When she saw Frank, she got excited. "Frank! Where have you been? Why haven't you shown up for so many days?"
Earlier that day—before Dexter broke Frank's right leg for the first time—Frank had successfully hit it off with Sheila and hadn't forgotten about her.
But after that, both his legs had been broken one after the other, and since Sheila couldn't leave the house, coming here had been extremely inconvenient. That was why he hadn't visited.
Now, things were different.
"I had some stuff happen," Frank replied, gesturing at himself. "As you can see."
Sheila clearly noticed and gasped. "What happened to you? Come in, come in!"
"Sure, right away," Frank said readily. He turned to Carl and added, "Carl, once I get this settlement money, I'll give you six hundred bucks. In exchange, after dinner every day, you come here, push me to Albert Bar, and then push me back at night. Deal?"
Carl nodded immediately, flashing a cool grin. "Deal."
"Good man!" Frank laughed, clearly pleased.
After a bit of effort—
Carl successfully wheeled Frank into the house.
Frank sweet-talked Sheila for a while, easily spinning her around his finger. Then, without wasting time, he got to the point. He pulled Monica's phone number from his pocket—the one he'd gone home to get earlier—and asked Sheila to make the call for him.
Sheila wasn't very sharp. After all of Frank's smooth talk, she didn't think twice and immediately agreed.
A few minutes later—
Just like in the original story, Sheila followed Frank's instructions and successfully fooled Monica.
"All done," Sheila said proudly after hanging up.
"Fantastic!" Frank praised her lavishly, hyping her up without holding back. Then he suddenly changed the subject. "I'll come see you again tonight. I've got something important to take care of first."
"What?" Sheila was still riding the high. Hearing that Frank was leaving right away, she froze. "You're leaving already? Does it really have to be done right now?"
"It's really important," Frank said curtly. Having gotten what he wanted, he couldn't be bothered to say more. He waved to Carl. "Come on, son. Let's go."
Watching this, Carl—though not the sharpest—still sensed how shameless Frank was.
In Carl's mind, Frank was impressive.
"Cool."
Just like that, Carl pushed Frank out of the house.
Sheila stood behind the window, pouting, looking deeply wronged.