Chapter 356

Victoria Langley smiled faintly and said no more.

William Langley strolled into the restaurant without a care in the world—until he opened the menu. His entire body stiffened.

"The cheapest steak costs four figures?"

Evelyn Langley quickly handed him a membership card. "We get a discount."

William exhaled deeply and took a sip of lemon water. "How much of a discount?"

"Five percent."

He nearly spat out his drink.

"Dad! Manners!"

Sophia Laurent was already doubled over with laughter.

When the first bite of steak touched his tongue, William had to admit—sometimes expensive meant exquisite.

Meanwhile, Linda Lombardi and her son choked down terrible fast food near the Forbidden City.

As soon as they left the tourist area, Tyler Lombardi demanded, "I want proper Western food! The most expensive kind! If you try to cheap out, we're going somewhere else!"

Margaret Evans barely suppressed the urge to roll her eyes.

Fate had a cruel sense of humor. They chose the exact restaurant where Evelyn was dining.

Only a curtain separated the two private rooms.

A server handed them a tablet menu.

Linda stared helplessly at her son.

Tyler, however, leered at the server's curves with undisguised vulgarity.

The server subtly took two steps back.

Linda randomly tapped the prettiest-looking dishes without reading descriptions.

They ended up with nothing but appetizers and desserts.

Under the server's bewildered gaze, mother and son devoured the food with gusto.

Margaret wished the floor would swallow her whole.

Evelyn recognized the voices next door immediately.

She couldn't be bothered to acknowledge them.

"Dad, try this Beef Wellington."

She carefully cut a portion and placed it on William's plate.

Victoria immediately protested, "Where's mine?"

"I thought you hated food someone else touched?"

"My own daughter doesn't count as 'someone else.'"

Evelyn laughed and served her mother an even larger portion.

Watching this warm family moment, Sophia's eyes shimmered with quiet envy.

When Margaret excused herself to the restroom, cheerful laughter drifted from the next room.

The sight of William and Victoria's refined table manners twisted the knife in her heart.

Finally, she understood the magnitude of her mistake.

She'd rejected a priceless pearl—only to choose a worthless pebble.

And ended up shackled to these two grotesque creatures.