Chapter Seventeen: Life Has No Ifs

"Heh, what a small world... Fate really does have a way of bringing enemies face to face," Lan Tian remarked, not sparing Zhou Tao a single glance. Instead, his eyes fixed deeply on Li Mei. "Do you also think I’m a fraud?"

"Lan Tian, you should leave now..." Li Mei shook her head and said quietly.

"Heh... Li Mei, do you know what your greatest flaw is?" Lan Tian suddenly smiled, his expression settling into calm, and he spoke each word slowly, "Short-sightedness."

"What did you say, kid?! I haven’t even settled the score with you for last night. Don’t think you can get away just because you had someone put pressure on my old man. We’re not done yet!" Zhou Tao burst out, pointing at Lan Tian and shouting in anger.

"Miss Chen, this guy who boasts about buying Villa No. 3 is nothing but a penniless pauper. See? Even his ex-girlfriend has left him for me," Zhou Tao bragged to Chen Xiaoxuan as he wrapped his arm around Li Mei. Then he turned to Lan Tian, "Of all places to scam, you had to pick my neighborhood? You really just walked right into my trap."

"Mr. Zhou, Lan Tian is my friend. Watch your tone," Chen Xiaoxuan interrupted icily, her demeanor shifting from the playful girl who had just been teasing Wang Ling to the domineering CEO she was known as in Ning City’s business circles. Naturally, she knew Zhou Tao, the son of the city’s wealthiest man, but she showed him no deference.

Lan Tian glanced at Chen Xiaoxuan with surprise, a surge of gratitude rising in his chest. Clearly, she was a friend worth having.

Zhou Tao was caught off guard by her words, his face darkened instantly. "You don’t believe me?"

"Why should I?" Chen Xiaoxuan replied coldly. "Even if Lan Tian is, as you say, just a poor guy, he’s my friend and just joking with me. What business is it of yours?"

"Tsk! I have to admit, kid, your skill at playing the kept man is impressive," Zhou Tao sneered, too wary of Chen Xiaoxuan’s background to cross her, so he redirected his scorn at Lan Tian.

"Mr. Zhou, is it? Are you so sure I can’t afford this villa?" Lan Tian asked, his face unreadable.

"Pfft, stop pretending. I know all about your background. Haven’t even been paid this month, have you? Forget Villa No. 3—you probably barely have enough for meals," Zhou Tao scoffed, mistaking Lan Tian’s strange expression for fear.

"How about this, Xiaoxuan? Since your company isn’t far, why not have someone bring over a portable POS machine?" Lan Tian said calmly, unbothered.

"Um... Are you sure?" Chen Xiaoxuan hesitated, glancing at Zhou Tao’s confident sneer. She worried this was another one of Wang Ling’s pranks and didn’t want Lan Tian to embarrass himself.

Lan Tian rolled his eyes skyward—so much for thinking highly of her resolve.

"Of course I’m sure. Make the call," he said, face dark with annoyance.

"Oh, all right!" Chen Xiaoxuan, reassured by his nod, stepped aside to make the call.

Before long, a female sales agent in a uniform arrived on an electric scooter.

"President Chen, the POS machine is here. You can swipe the card directly," she said respectfully.

"Go ahead and swipe. I’m eager to see what kind of trick you’ll pull," Zhou Tao sneered.

"Wait a moment. If I really swipe, what then?" Lan Tian asked, pulling out his bank card, his patience thinning at Zhou Tao’s persistent smirk.

"Don’t stall. Go on—if you actually swipe eighty million, I’ll jump into that pond right there!" Zhou Tao laughed, pointing at a small pond nearby.

"Alright, you said it. Xiaoxuan, you all heard him?" Lan Tian grinned.

"Yes, we’re witnesses. Looks like Mr. Zhou will be taking a bath soon," Wang Ling and Chen Xiaoxuan replied, laughing.

"Talk is cheap. Swipe it. I’m ready for my bath," Zhou Tao scoffed.

"Fine, your wish is my command. Xiaoxuan, what’s the exact amount?" Lan Tian asked, matching his cold smile.

"It was originally eighty-one point two million, but since it’s you, Lan Tian, I’ll knock off the extra—let’s make it eighty million," Chen Xiaoxuan replied briskly, cutting the price by a million two hundred thousand.

"Now that’s generous. I’ll treat you all to a lavish dinner tonight," Lan Tian laughed, handing his card to the saleswoman.

What followed was a seamless transaction: card swipe, PIN entered, receipt printed, signature completed.

"President Chen, the eighty million payment has gone through—here’s the receipt," said the saleswoman, glancing at Lan Tian in astonishment. Even though she was used to large sums, seeing eighty million spent in one go was a first.

"What?! Impossible! How could that pauper have eighty million?!" Zhou Tao was dumbstruck, his scalp tingling. "I don’t believe it—you must have all conspired to trick me!"

"Nothing is impossible. Oh, and that car over there? I bought it just this afternoon. It’s not much—just four million," Lan Tian said mockingly, pointing to the Aston Martin nearby.

Zhou Tao’s face turned ashen, darker than a thundercloud. He’d assumed the Aston Martin belonged to Chen Xiaoxuan—never had he imagined it was Lan Tian’s.

After all, he himself drove nothing more than a Cayenne—not because his family couldn’t afford better, but because his father would never allow him to blow four million on a car.

Li Mei, too, stared at Lan Tian in disbelief, stumbling back, her face deathly pale. After three years together, she knew full well how little money he had—yet here he was, driving a luxury car and dropping eighty million on a villa without blinking.

What did this mean?

Was it possible he’d always been rich, and had merely been testing her all along? Or maybe he’d been impossibly lucky and won the lottery?

Whatever the truth, Lan Tian now had undeniable financial power—and everyone present had seen it with their own eyes.

If only... If only she hadn’t broken up with him, would she now be the one sitting in that Aston Martin, laughing?

Given how devoted he’d been, even if she’d asked him for ten or twenty million, he would’ve agreed without hesitation.

But life offers no second chances.

Now, all that remained was regret.

"So, Mr. Zhou, are you going to keep your promise?" Lan Tian asked, taking the keys from the saleswoman and turning to Zhou Tao, whose face was a mask of humiliation.

"Just you wait!" Zhou Tao spat, his face black with rage. Ignoring Li Mei, he stormed off without a backward glance.

"What a shame. I didn’t think the son of the city’s richest man would be such a sore loser. Not fun at all," Lan Tian laughed, exultant. No wonder so many people liked putting others in their place—turns out, it’s a truly satisfying feeling.

"L-Lan Tian, you... you actually..." Li Mei stammered, gazing at him as if seeing him for the first time.

Lan Tian looked at her with a complicated expression. She had been his girlfriend for three years, after all. To see her so lost and broken—it would be a lie to say he felt nothing.

But in the end, he steeled his heart. Without another word, he called for Wang Ling and Chen Xiaoxuan to get in the car.

As they pulled away, passing by Li Mei, the car window slowly rolled down.

"I know your bank account number. I’ll transfer five million to you. Take care of yourself..."

Then the window rose, and the luxury car that could have been hers vanished from sight.

The next moment, Li Mei’s tears fell like rain.