Chapter 91

“Zinnia, let’s go eat. I’ve already reserved a table,” Maisie cheerfully called out to everyone after school.

“Okay,” Zinnia said as she slung her bag over her shoulder and followed Maisie.

They all walked out of school together, and Maisie had cars waiting for everyone. As they piled into the vehicles, they chatted and laughed, filling the air with a lively buzz.

“Zinnia, we’re here,” Maisie called out as their car pulled up to Cloudy Moon, an upscale restaurant renowned for both its exorbitant prices and exquisite cuisine.

This made it a place that students still in school, whose pocket money was strictly controlled by their parents, were reluctant to dine at.

Getting into Cloudy Moon required more than just money or a prestigious family background. One needed the right connections, too.

“Maisie, you actually got us into Cloudy Moon? I love their food. I came here last month, and it cost me half my monthly allowance. I couldn’t even afford a new bag,” a girl squealed excitedly.

Maisie grinned, “Honestly, we only got in thanks to Yannis’s connections. Order whatever you want. It’s my treat.”

“Zinnia, what’s wrong?” Maisie asked, noticing that Zinnia had suddenly stopped walking and followed her gaze.

Zinnia’s gaze landed on a man and a woman entering the five-star hotel across the street. From this distance, she couldn’t quite make out who they were.

“It’s nothing. Let’s go in,” Zinnia said as she averted her gaze. The man she had just seen looked strikingly like Donald, but the woman beside him definitely wasn’t Maelis.

Realizing this, Zinnia frowned, her brows knitting in suspicion. ‘Is that Donald entering a hotel with another woman?’ she wondered.

She shook her head. She must be hallucinating. Donald was known for being head over heels for his wife. Everyone in the circle knew that. There was no way he’d be sneaking off to a hotel with another.

Besides, even if it were true, it was none of her business now that she had left the Shaw family.

Zinnia pushed aside the strange feeling in her heart and walked with Maisie and the others through the main hall into their private room.

Inside the private room, everyone had already finished ordering. Maisie handed the menu tablet to Zinnia with a smile and asked, “Zinnia, what would you like to eat?”

Zinnia glanced at the dishes on the table. They’d ordered Western food, and each dish cost thousands, some of the pricier ones even tens of thousands. Even a simple plate of vegetables ran over a few hundred dollars.

Everyone had already ordered a dish. After all, with over twenty people eating, ordering too little just wouldn’t cut it. This meal was going to cost a fortune. Zinnia flipped through the menu and ordered roasted beef.

Zinnia glanced at the price and sucked in a breath. ‘3,000 dollars? Ouch, that’s a bit steep,’ she thought.

With this money, she could get so many different snacks.

Only after dining at this restaurant did Zinnia truly grasp Jinston’s exorbitant prices.

So it was not that Jinston’s prices were low. It was just that upscale restaurants and small diners were worlds apart.

Only after leaving the Shaw family did Zinnia realize just how many delicious foods there were out there. Jinston wasn’t all just rabbit food.

Before leaving the Shaw family, Zinnia had always thought expensive meat was normal. But after moving out on her own, her spending plummeted.

She thought, ‘A plate of pasta costs 5 dollars, with egg, tomato, and sausage included.

‘3,000 dollars divided by 5 equals 600. I can buy 600 portions of pasta with that.

‘A bowl of Caesar salad costs 25 dollars, with grilled chicken, vegetables, croutons, and cheese.

‘3,000 dollars divided by 25 equals 120. That’s enough for over a hundred bowls of Caesar salad.

‘And a serving of chicken stew costs 10 dollars, with chicken, mushrooms, carrots, potatoes, and onions. 3,000 dollars divided by 10 equals 300. That’s enough for 300 servings of chicken stew.’

Zinnia fell silent as she compared the prices to her favorite street snacks. She thought, ‘This is still pretty expensive.

‘Master is so generous. All that money, those ginseng pills, expensive herbs, and tonics… He never hesitated to give me the best.

‘Master generously provided me with all those for free. If he had sold them instead, we could’ve bought tons of delicious food.”

It stung a little to spend this much, but when it came to good food, Zinnia never hesitated. It was not like she ate at places like this every day, so she might as well enjoy it when she did.

She didn’t mind paying more for good food. But at the Shaw residence, they spent a fortune just eating like rabbits. That was a complete waste of money.

The food here looked absolutely delicious.

The dish names here sounded so fancy. She thought to herself, ‘I’ve got to at least try a bite of each one.

‘I’ve barely used my one million dollars yet. As long as I don’t frequent these high-end restaurants, I won’t go broke. Even paying for this meal won’t even make a dent in my savings.’

The others kept ordering more dishes and desserts, and soon the room was alive with laughter and cheerful chatter again.

Growing up together, they all had that easy, familiar bond. Zinnia wasn’t super close to Maisie and Ethan, but their playful banter kept the atmosphere cozy, and Zinnia couldn’t help but smile.

It was always a joy to be around people who just clicked with her.

Seeing that everyone was almost finished eating, Zinnia leaned over to Maisie, who was chatting away, and whispered, “Maisie, I’m heading to the restroom.”

“Okay,” Maisie replied, still playing games with the person beside her. She’d just lost a round and now had a sticky note plastered to her cheek.

Zinnia quietly slipped away from her seat. When someone asked where she was going, she simply said she needed to use the restroom.

As she stepped out of the private room, she saw a waiter outside.

“Hello, I’d like to settle the bill for our private room,” Zinnia said as she walked up to the waiter and pulled out her card.

“Certainly, the total comes to 160 thousand dollars,” the waiter said as he took out the card reader.

“Zinnia?” A familiar yet puzzled voice called out from nearby.

Yosef approached, his gaze fixed on Zinnia with an unreadable expression.

“Zinnia? What are you doing here?” Yosef asked, the scent of alcohol clinging to him. He’d come for a business dinner and never expected to run into her.

“Please process the payment with this card,” Zinnia said coolly, pointedly disregarding Yosef as she extended her card to the waiter.

“Don’t charge her,” Yosef cut in. “Put it all on my tab. Whatever she spends, charge it to me.”

The waiter hesitated awkwardly, his eyes darting between the two of them.

“I don’t know him,” Zinnia said firmly to the waiter. When the waiter hesitated, she took her card and swiped it herself.

Yosef frowned at her, irritation rising as she denied their relationship. “Zinnia, I’m your brother.”

“Like hell you are,” Zinnia said coolly, tucking her card away. I’m not taking their money, she thought.

“Using your money is still using the Shaw family’s money, isn’t it?” Yosef scoffed. ‘Where else would she get it? She’s just being stubborn. It all comes from us in the end,’ he thought.

Zinnia shot back, her brows knitting at his entitled words, “Has anyone ever told you you’re shameless?” The Shaw family never ceased to amaze her.

At first, she just thought they were clueless, but now she knew they were actually pretty shameless.

Yosef shot back, “That’s impossible. We give you a monthly allowance. If we didn’t, how could you even afford to eat at a place like this today?”