Chapter 21

Everyone around the table gasped, their eyes wide with envy. "We haven't even touched our plates yet, and it already feels like we're drowning in jealousy!"

Vivian chimed in teasingly, "When are you going to bring your boyfriend around for us to meet? A guy like that is a rare find."

Lilian chuckled, her cheeks flushing slightly. "Okay, I'll definitely introduce him when I get the chance."

As Lilian chatted, her eyes frequently drifted to Cynthia. When she saw that Cynthia seemed unfazed, a wave of disappointment washed over her.

Just then, a waiter approached with a tablet displaying the menu. Lilian quickly handed it to Cynthia. "Cynthia, order whatever you want—go all out."

Cynthia took the tablet and swiftly began making her selections. A few minutes later, she returned it to Lilian. "Want to take a look?"

Lilian handed the tablet back to the waiter. "With your taste, there's no way you can go wrong."

Soon, the food began to arrive. At first, everyone enjoyed themselves. But after a while, Lilian started to feel that something was amiss. Two hours had passed, yet dishes kept coming, along with countless bottles of wine. Everyone was too busy enjoying the mouthwatering food and praising Lilian's generosity, so she remained silent.

Finally, the waiter arrived with the bill. Lilian's jaw dropped as she saw the total—$326,000. She stared at the waiter in disbelief. "How can it possibly be this expensive?"

The waiter explained patiently, "You ordered everything from our menu, including some rare dishes. The food alone totals $60,000. Plus, you ordered four bottles of our premium wine at $62,000 each. And there's a 5% service charge as well."

Lilian felt dizzy. There was no way she could afford this. She had thought that even if she splurged, the total wouldn't exceed $3,000. How could it have skyrocketed to this amount?

The others at the table were just as shocked, directing their frustration at Cynthia.

"Cynthia, are you trying to pull a fast one? You racked up a $326,000 tab! What were you thinking?"

"Have you never had a nice meal? So you just took advantage of Lilian as much as you could?"

"I think Cynthia should foot the bill. She ordered everything, so she's responsible."

Cynthia responded with a sweet smile. "When you were eating, why didn't anyone say anything? Black truffle casserole, Kastron steak—didn't those sound too fancy? And about the wine, I only ordered one bottle. The rest were extras you all added."

"Cynthia, you can't just dodge the blame!" one of the colleagues retorted.

Cynthia shrugged. "Since everyone cares so much about Lilian, why don't we just split the bill? We all ate the same amount, so splitting it seems fair."

Everyone fell silent. If they split the bill, each person would end up paying nearly $30,000—a significant blow to their budget for several months.

"Lilian's boyfriend is amazing. She's going to be rich and won't even worry about dinner costs," a girl next to Lilian exclaimed.

This cleaned-up version addresses grammatical errors, improves punctuation, and enhances readability. It also uses dollar signs ($) for currency.