At this point, the classmates didn't care whether Elias Cross and Colton could settle the bill. After all, they weren't the ones paying. They had already started eating and drinking to their heart's content.
Lena Frost sat next to Colton, her expression equally grim. She knew that Colton didn't have enough money to cover today's expenses. Even if Elias could pay, it would probably cost him everything he had. Was it really worth spending all his money just to save face?
Thinking about this, Lena looked at Elias with even more disdain. She felt that Elias had no need to compete with someone like Colton, a rich kid. Winning once wouldn't change the fact that Elias was still a nobody.
After more than two hours, everyone had eaten their fill. The classmates started glancing nervously at Elias and Colton, worried that they might not have enough money to pay the bill.
The beautiful manager, in her high heels, gracefully walked over to Elias and Colton. In a soft voice, she said, "Gentlemen, your total for this private room today is $18,000. Will you be paying in cash or by card?"
Eighteen thousand dollars!
Everyone gasped in shock upon hearing the amount. No one had expected the meal to be this expensive. Colton stared blankly at the manager. If the total was $18,000, then his share would be $9,000. Colton didn't have that kind of money on him!
Just as everyone was reeling from the shock, Elias pulled out a credit card from his pocket and handed it to the manager. "Charge it to my card," he said softly.
"Alright... okay!" The manager seemed genuinely surprised by Elias's generosity. He didn't even blink at the $18,000 bill.
"But I'm only covering half of it. The other half is his responsibility," Elias added, pointing to Colton just as the manager was about to leave.
Inside the private room, all the classmates stared wide-eyed at Elias, their expressions filled with shock. They couldn't believe how generous Elias was, spending over $9,000 without even blinking.
Even Colton was sweating profusely, sitting there not knowing what to do.
"Alright then!"
The beautiful manager nodded slightly, then looked at Colton and asked softly, "Sir, will you be paying with cash or card?"
Colton's mind went blank upon hearing this. He had known that today's meal would be expensive, and he had secretly borrowed over $3,000 from his friends. But he never expected the bill to be a whopping $9,000!
"Let me... make a call..."
Colton stammered, then picked up his phone to make a call.
Before they came out to eat, no one had expected that the one who couldn't pay would be Colton, not Elias. The beautiful manager understood that Colton was trying to gather the money, so she didn't say much and turned to walk back to the front desk.
A few minutes later, the manager returned and handed Elias Cross back his card, and said softly, "Sir, your bill has been settled!"
"Good!" Elias nodded lightly, then walked straight out of the private room. Whether Colton could pay the bill or how he would manage it was none of Elias's concern.
Seeing Elias leave, Graham, Tyree, and Felicity quickly followed him out of the room.
"Elias, wait up!" Graham called out loudly after leaving the private room.
Elias turned his head towards Graham and asked with a cheerful smile, "Graham, is there something you need?"
"Hey, Elias, where did you get all that money? Did breaking up with Lena Frost mess you up or something?" Graham asked, frowning in confusion.
"This has nothing to do with Lena!" Elias replied with a laugh, then continued, "I won the lottery a couple of days ago, so I have some extra cash now!" Elias didn't want to reveal his true identity to everyone, so he made up an excuse.
"Oh, I see!" Felicity nodded lightly, then frowned and said, "But if you won the lottery, why not use the money to buy yourself some nice clothes or do something more meaningful? Spending it on treating everyone to dinner seems like a waste..."
"I didn't really think it through!" Elias said with a chuckle.
"No wonder you could afford to treat us to a place like this!" Tyree remarked softly.
"Do you guys need anything else? If not, I'll head home now!" Elias asked quietly, worried that if he continued talking, he might slip up.
"By the way, Elias, what's your WeChat ID? Our class has a group chat, and you're the only one missing. Let me add you," Felicity said as she pulled out the latest iPhone from her pocket.
"Uh..."
Elias was taken aback by Felicity's request and replied helplessly, "Well, my phone doesn't have WeChat. I'll add you tomorrow after I get a new phone."
"Alright then," Felicity nodded, not pressing the issue further.
Elias quickly turned and headed out of the hotel.
Graham and Tyree watched Elias's back with a hint of confusion in their eyes. Although Elias had explained that he won the lottery, both of them could sense that the current Elias Cross seemed like a completely different person from the one they knew before.
Meanwhile, Colton was in the private room, frantically calling all his friends, but none of them could lend him any money. The restaurant manager, seeing that Colton had no money, had the security guards block the students inside the private room. If Colton didn't settle the bill, no one would be allowed to leave.
"Honey, you need to think of something fast!" Lena said anxiously to Colton as she saw the security guards blocking the room.
"I'll call my dad and ask him to send me some money!" Colton replied, his tone filled with frustration. He never imagined that things would turn out this way, and now he felt utterly humiliated in front of his classmates.
"I need to use the restroom!" Lena said, getting up and heading towards the door.
"I'll go too..." Farrah and Taylor quickly followed, seemingly afraid that Colton might ask them for money, and they both left the room.
In the restroom, Farrah took out her makeup and started touching up in front of the mirror.
"Lena, Farrah, don't you think Elias seems like a completely different person now? He actually spent $9,000 to treat everyone to dinner. It's unbelievable!" Taylor said softly while washing her hands.
"Spending $9,000 doesn't change the fact that he's just a delivery boy. He's only doing this to show off in front of Lena because she dumped him. There's nothing strange about it!" Farrah replied disdainfully.
"Elias, that loser. I must have been blind to date him in the first place. Now that I think about it, I really regret it. Spending his entire year's living expenses on dinner, he might be generous today, but what about the future? I really don't know what goes on in Elias's head!" Lena said, pouting.
"Yeah, he's just trying to put on a show," Taylor nodded lightly.
"Smack!"
At that moment, a blond young man reached out and slapped Lena on the butt, grinning as he asked, "Hey gorgeous, how about joining us for a couple of drinks?"
Lena was dressed very provocatively today, enough to catch the eye of any normal guy.
After being slapped, Lena immediately turned around and slapped the guy across the face, her big, watery eyes glaring as she shouted, "Do you even know who you are? Do you think you're worthy of buying me a drink?"
Ever since she started dating Colton, Lena's temper had become quite fiery. Plus, the incident with Elias earlier today had left her in a foul mood. So when someone came looking for trouble, Lena wasn't about to hold back.
The young man was stunned for a moment after being slapped, then he gritted his teeth and yelled, "You bitch, how dare you hit me?"
"Ah!" Before he could finish his sentence, he let out a scream and slowly crouched down, clutching his groin. Lena had taken advantage of his distraction to kick him in the crotch with her high heel.
"Next time, watch yourself. Not everyone is someone you can mess with!" Lena shouted coldly, then walked out of the restroom without looking back.
"Stupid loser, thinking he can buy our Lena a drink. Just as disgusting as Elias!" Farrah sneered at the young man with disdain before following Lena out of the restroom.
"You three, just wait!"
The blond young man crouched on the ground, his face twisted in pain as he shouted.
Lena, Farrah, and Taylor didn't take the young man's words seriously and went straight back to their private room.
Once inside, Lena noticed that Colton was on the phone with his dad, and she could faintly hear his father's angry scolding. The atmosphere in the room was incredibly tense, and everyone kept their heads down, not daring to speak. Lena knew that Colton was in a terrible mood today, so she didn't bring up the fact that someone had taken advantage of her in the restroom.
About half an hour later, Colton's father arrived at the hotel in his car.
As soon as Colton saw his dad, he quickly stood up and called out, "Dad, you're here!"
Smack! The middle-aged man stepped forward and slapped Colton across the face, his eyes glaring as he yelled, "You little brat, who do you think you are? You spent over nine thousand dollars on one meal! Just wait until we get home..."
The classmates looked at Colton with expressions of helplessness. They had known him for a long time but had never seen him so humiliated.
Colton, having been slapped by his father in front of all his classmates, felt utterly embarrassed. He blamed it all on Elias. If it weren't for Elias, he wouldn't have been humiliated like this today!