Chapter 13

I left without looking back.

What a broke loser, daring to cling to me.

I went back to Xiao Wang’s cabin, trying to calm down.

Compared to that, Xiao Wang was still the most perfect option.

At this time of day, he should be pushing his uncle’s wheelchair to dinner.

I stood in front of the mirror putting on lipstick, planning to wait for him to come back so I could casually bring up the shopping card and the loan.

If he could give me a reasonable explanation, then-

“Ding… ding… ding… ding… ding…”

A phone buzzed in the room. Xiao Wang had forgotten his cell.

I opened it without the slightest hesitation.

I’d already memorized his lockscreen password during our intimate moments.

Five messages jumped out at me.

“Have you settled that woman yet?”

“When are you getting her to invest?”

“I checked, she’s got more than five million in savings.”

“Before the cruise ends, you have to seal the deal.”

“That sugar-daddy old man of yours still breathing?”

My hand shook as I marked the messages unread, then I turned and walked out the door.

Xiao Chen had been right after all.

This handsome Xiao Wang wasn’t just a fake rich guy-he was running a pig-butchering scam.

I walked some distance down the corridor, fingers weakly clutching the strap of my bag, then sank to the floor.

After a long time, I staggered back to my feet and walked along the wall for support.

Fortunately.

I’d caught on early and hadn’t lost a single cent.

I’d even enjoyed Xiao Wang’s body. However you looked at it, I’d come out ahead.

But misjudging him, nearly falling for a pig-butchering scam, was a brutal slap in the face.

My limping, dazed walk caught the attention of a middle-aged man.

He was gentle and refined, the very picture of an intellectual.

He helped me to a scenic spot on the deck to sit down.

He said to me, “Miss, what’s wrong? If there’s something on your mind, you can talk to me.”

I looked up at him. He smiled kindly. “I’m a psychiatrist.”

He handed me his card. I grabbed it in a daze, my whole body trembling.

Something was off.

Something was really off.

Xiao Chen, Xiao Wang, Old Li and his wife, the real estate agent, and now the psychiatrist in front of me.

I kept feeling like there was some strange thing they all had in common.

Were they all scammers?

No, that wasn’t it.

Then what was it?

In a flash, it came to me.

For tickets this expensive, there wasn’t a single real rich person on this ship.

I grabbed the psychiatrist’s sleeve, manners be damned, and demanded loudly, “Where did you get your cruise ticket?”

In the distance, the nighttime performance on the cruise ship began.

The trip was nearing its end; tonight, the grandest show would be held in the main hall.

Against the swell of strings and drums, my face twisted into something almost grotesque.