She understood every word.
Why is he treating her like this?
Naomi almost smiled.
Instead, she said nothing.
Victor noticed.
“You don't understand them, do you?”
Naomi looked at him.
“I understand.”
“Prove it.”
Naomi could have done so immediately.
Instead, she asked:
“Would you like me to?”
Victor smiled.
“Yes.”
He looked around the dining room.
Several people were now watching.
“I'll make you a deal.”
Naomi waited.
“If you can speak one complete sentence in Mandarin, I'll give you fifty thousand dollars.”
One of his guests frowned.
Victor continued.
“Not three memorized words. Not something you picked up from a language app. One complete sentence.”
Naomi raised an eyebrow.
“Fifty thousand?”
Victor smiled.
“You heard me.”
She looked at him.
“That's a lot of money for one sentence.”
“I have a lot of money.”
There was something deeply unpleasant about the way he said it.
As if money gave him the right to challenge anyone he pleased.
Naomi glanced toward Henry Lin.
He was watching her.
Not laughing.
Not smiling.
Just watching.
Victor suddenly changed his mind.
“Actually…”
He tapped his fingers against the table.
“Make it one hundred thousand.”
A murmur passed through the restaurant.
Someone near the bar whispered:
“No way.”
Victor looked directly at Naomi.
“One hundred thousand dollars.”
Naomi felt her heartbeat accelerate.
That amount could change her life.
It could pay off the remaining medical debt from her father's illness.
It could repair the roof of the small house where he now lived.
It could allow her to finish the legal studies she had abandoned years earlier.
It could give her options.
But that wasn't why she accepted.
She accepted because of the look in Victor's eyes.
He wasn't offering money.
He was offering humiliation.
He wanted to watch her fail.
Naomi had spent years learning that some battles were not worth fighting.
This one was.
She placed her order pad on the table.
“All right.”
Victor smiled.
“All right what?”
“I accept your bet.”
The room became silent.
Victor leaned back.
“Then let's hear it.”
Naomi turned toward Henry Lin.
For the first time that evening, she smiled.
She spoke in Mandarin.
“Mr. Lin, I apologize that this dinner has become uncomfortable. You came here to discuss an important investment, and I hope we can continue your conversation without allowing a misunderstanding to interfere with your evening.”
Henry Lin's expression changed.
His eyes widened.
Naomi continued.
“I also want you to know that the restaurant has prepared the private dining room upstairs if you would prefer a quieter place to continue your discussion.”
The older man's face broke into a smile.
He answered her in Mandarin.
Naomi replied immediately.
Victor's smile disappeared.
The other two guests joined the conversation.
Naomi answered every question.
She explained the menu.
She discussed the wine.
She clarified an ingredient that one guest was allergic to.
Then Henry Lin asked her something that had nothing to do with food.
Naomi's expression became serious.
She answered.
Henry Lin looked at Victor.
Then back at Naomi.
“Where did you learn Mandarin?” he asked in English.
Naomi smiled.
“My mother.”
Victor stared at her.
“You're actually fluent.”
Naomi looked at him.
“You offered one hundred thousand dollars.”
Victor shifted in his seat.
“Yes.”
“You'll pay it?”
He hesitated.
Then Henry Lin spoke.
“No.”
Everyone turned toward him.
Henry Lin looked at Victor.
“You will pay.”
Victor's jaw tightened.
Henry continued.
“A man should keep his word, especially when he offers money publicly.”
Victor reached for his phone.
“Fine.”
Naomi stood quietly.
Victor transferred the money.
The confirmation appeared on Naomi's phone.
One hundred thousand dollars.
For one sentence.
But Henry Lin wasn't looking at the money.
He was looking at Naomi.
“You have a business degree?” he asked.
Naomi nodded.
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“Stanford.”
Henry smiled.
“And you are working here?”
Naomi looked at her uniform.
“Yes.”
Henry nodded slowly.
“Why?”
Naomi looked toward Victor.
Then back at Henry.
“Because sometimes life makes you choose survival before ambition.”
The restaurant went quiet again.
Henry Lin stared at her for several seconds.
Then he said:
“I would like to speak with you tomorrow.”
Naomi blinked.
“About what?”
“Business.”
And for the first time that evening, Victor Hale looked genuinely worried.
Naomi woke before sunrise the next morning.
She lay in bed staring at the ceiling.
The events of the previous evening replayed in her mind.
Victor's insult.
The bet.
The hundred thousand dollars.
Henry Lin's offer to speak.
She reached for her phone.