Henry Lin remained silent.
Victor turned back to Naomi.
“I asked for someone who speaks Mandarin.”
Naomi answered quietly.
“I do.”
Victor blinked.
Then he laughed again.
“You?”
“Yes.”
“You speak Mandarin?”
“Yes.”
“Fluently?”
“Yes.”
Victor leaned forward.
Something almost amused appeared in his expression.
He had found a game.
“You don't look like someone who speaks Mandarin.”
Naomi stared at him.
She had heard that sentence in different forms throughout her life.
You don't look like a lawyer.
You don't look like a college graduate.
You don't look like you belong here.
People often thought appearance was evidence.
It wasn't.
Naomi took a breath.
“Would you like me to ask the manager to come over?”
“No.”
Victor shook his head.
“I want you to stop pretending.”
Naomi said nothing.
He continued.
“You're making this uncomfortable.”
Naomi looked at his guests.
They looked uncomfortable too.
One of them finally spoke in Mandarin.
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.