Chapter 10 Be My Daughter's Father

• Mia asked Ben to wait for her for a few more years. When things had settled down on her end, she would bring him over to live together before getting married again. Regardless, he told her that he would not go to the States with her. If she decided to leave, they would have to break up. Finally, she decided to leave anyway to pursue her career in the United States, leaving him behind at the wedding alone.
• This was already a considerable shock to him, but it was even more significant for his family. After all, the bride ran away on the day of the wedding. To his parents, this was even more serious than Ben's expulsion from the university. More importantly, their reputation had suffered.
• After that, his mother was so mad that she fell gravely ill. She had been receiving treatment at the hospital, using up all their savings. Meanwhile, Ben borrowed money from everywhere and stayed with his mother in their hometown. Still, she passed in the end, and his father chased him out of the family.
• Hence, he returned to Hillwood City, where his heart was broken, with a tremendous amount of debt and heartache that would not heal.
• He found a couple of jobs, but the pay was insufficient to pay his debt. Ultimately, he started a skewer stall on the street behind his university. Even though it was tough and tiring, he earned way more than he would at an office job.
• All this while, he had been working hard to clear his debt and trying to heal from the emotional wound Mia left behind.
• Not long after he came out of Calvin's place, he took the public bus to the hospital and went to the ward he had visited before.
• This time around, the door was shut. Just as he was about to knock, it suddenly opened, followed by the BMW woman walking out. Both of them were shocked to face each other out of a sudden.
• As soon as she saw him, she immediately frowned. Then, she turned around to look at her daughter before showing him out of the ward and shutting the door.
• "Let's talk over there," she suggested in a low voice and pulled him to the staircase to talk to him.
• Hence, he followed her lead.
• When they reached the spot, she turned around and asked coldly, "Why are you here again? Did you find the ring?"
• "No. I lost it." He shook his head.
• "So, why are you here?"
• "Here's 10 thousand for you." With that, he took a stack of money and passed it to the woman. It comprised the 8 thousand he had just gotten from Calvin and Jamie and another 2 thousand he forked out on his own.
• "I can only manage to get this amount for now. You can take it first, and I promise to return the rest without a single cent less. We can also sign an agreement for me to return a fixed amount to you each month. If not, you can sue me," he said seriously.
• The woman remained silent. She merely looked at him without taking his money.
• "W-What?" He felt slightly guilty when he met her gaze.
• "I'm not one of those bankers who would accept your installments." With that, she looked at him again and asked, "Your name is Ben Walton, isn't it?"
• "Yup, that's right." Then, he showed her his identity card. "Please trust me. I will pay you back. This is my identity card – you can take it if you don't feel that I'm trustworthy."
• "Your job is to sell barbeque skewers?" she asked again, ignoring everything he had just told her.
• "Yeah."
• "It doesn't bring a lot of money, does it?"
• "Why do you say so?"
• "I hardly see a person as poor as you."
• "I know I'm poor, but the business is doing well. On a good month, I can earn up to tens of thousands; on average, I can earn ten thousand a month. I was poor because I had a lot of unsettled debts, so I used all my money to pay the debts. Nevertheless, don't worry – even if I'm poor, I will pay you back, which will be my priority." He stressed his point again.
• "I don't have the time to wait for you to pass me money month after month, and I don't care about the small amount of money anyway. The money means nothing to me; it's the ring that has sentimental value," she said.
• "I know, and for that, I could only apologize. I don't want things to end up this way as well." He nodded.
• "I have a few more questions for you. First, why did you call me this morning? Honestly, you didn't have to do that; it's not like I can find you anyway. Furthermore, if you lied and kept the ring, you could sell it and earn some money. Even if you lost it, you wouldn't have to pay me back if you hadn't called me. Second, why did you come here to tell me the truth, even willingly passing me your identity card? On top of that, you don't have much money to begin with. I'm sure you are smart – there were no surveillance cameras last night and no other witnesses. No one can prove that I passed the diamond ring to you. Even if I call the police or sue you, you can completely deny it. You should know this well."
• "Indeed." He nodded.
• "What's with all this then? I'm sure if another person were in your shoes, they wouldn't have done this," she asked, confused.
• "I think I'm just naive and silly, but we should have our principles and bottom lines, and this is what I live by – I only take what belongs to me, and I will never take anything that is not mine. You asked me to hold onto your ring for a while; it's yours. No matter how much it costs, I will not take it. However, the 500 bucks is something that I deserve, so you should pay me back. Now that I lost your ring, I should also take full responsibility for it," he replied honestly.
• After hearing his explanation, the woman remained silent without saying anything.
• A long moment passed, and she finally said, "I already told you just now that I won't accept installments, and I don't have the energy to wait for you to return the money month by month. On top of that, you don't seem to be doing well in life. How about this? You do me a favor, and I'll pay you a salary deducted from the sum you owe me. Just treat it as helping me out with the lost ring. Will you accept it?"
• He froze upon hearing that. "What do you want me to do?"
• "Be my daughter's father," she said seriously.