He paused, then disdainfully transferred a thousand to me. "Is that enough now?"

His look seemed to say, "See, you just love money. There’s your true face."

He took me away to hang out with his friends.

I stopped and said, "That's a different rate. A hundred per friend, plus extra for running errands and buying things."

Archer's face turned pale, and after a moment, he begrudgingly said, "Fine!"

4

"Payment first," I said, opening my hands.

Archer exploded in anger. "Do you think I'd stiff you?"

I lifted my eyelids slightly. "The three hundred from a few days ago took several reminders before you paid. This isn't the first time you've tried to dodge."

"You..."

Archer gritted his teeth, and to prove he wasn't short on money, he transferred five thousand dollars to me directly.

I calmly said, "I'll refund the excess or ask for more if it's not enough."

At the club, I mingled with Archer's friends as usual, but without the previous eagerness to please, my smiles barely concealed my disdain.

Since there would be no future dealings and no benefits to gain, I didn't care about them at all!

Archer's friends were not pleased and seemed to whisper something to him. Soon after, Archer pulled me aside and said quietly, "Why can't you just be civil?"

What did he mean by being civil? I was only treating them the way they treated me. Oh, and I hadn't even started insulting them.

If you want me to greet everyone with a smile like before, it's an extra two hundred dollars per person. You have five friends, plus the initial one hundred dollars, that’s three hundred dollars each now, a total of fifteen hundred dollars," I said.

Archer, grinding his teeth, agreed, "Fine."

With Archer's approval, I plastered on a smile and chatted with the others. Soon, someone asked me to buy things.

I turned to Archer. "Running errands is five hundred dollars a trip, you decide whether you or your friends will pay."

Archer was fuming, gritting his teeth. "I'll pay!"

I deliberately dawdled when I went out to buy the items because I didn’t want to deal with their faces. Around eight, I returned to the club, handed the items to Archer's friends, grabbed my bag, and told Archer. "I'm leaving."

"What? Ashley is leaving?" a friend joked, "Don't go, hang out with us."

Archer was stunned for a moment. "Why are you leaving?"

I raised an eyebrow. "Hour's up. If you want me to stay, you'll have to pay up."