Chapter 5 What Are You Going To Do?

Daphne stayed very still, refusing to move. Nicholas lifted his gaze and stared at her again. This time, he spoke in an impatient voice. “A warning, I don’t like ignorant women!”

‘This girl isn’t that young, but she’s still acting like a kid. Forget it. I’ll let her off the hook. Just this once!’

Locked in this place, Daphne could see nothing else but the man in front of her.

Daphne weighed the consequences of continuing her stance. She bit her lips and walked toward him.

At this point, opposing Nicholas was equivalent to inviting disaster.

Daphne chose the furthest spot away from Nicholas on the couch and sat down. She stared at Nicholas warily and asked, “What did you want to discuss?”

‘This is just too weird!’

Daphne was under the impression that her one and only contact with Nicholas would have been last night. She never expected to be kidnapped all the way here, and she didn’t even know why!

Daphne wasn’t wearing her glasses, so she was staring at Nicholas blurrily through her limpid eyes. Nicholas was reminded of a few enchanting scenes from last night, thanks to her pure and innocent gaze.

“I’d like to discuss your compensation,” Nicholas replied.

‘Compensation?’

“What compensation?” Daphne frowned suspiciously.

“The compensation for my phone!” Nicholas waved the receiver around as he eyed Daphne gloomily. Then, he added with a faint smile, “Setting aside the fact that you’ve used my phone without my permission, you’ve dropped it and damaged it to boot! You’re going to have to compensate me!”

‘I’ve damaged the phone?’

Daphne was in shock. She lowered her head in thought. She vaguely remembered the receiver slipping through her fingers just now.

‘Was it damaged?’

Daphne looked at Nicholas. “If I’ve damaged it, I’ll pay you back!”

“Hmph, big talk. Aren’t you going to ask how much it costs?” Nicholas stared at Daphne with a forced smile.

Daphne was beginning to have a bad feeling about this. She gulped and forced her fears down, then asked, “How much?”

Nicholas eyed Daphne steadily, then parted his thin lips, ever so slightly, and calmly revealed the sum with his melodious voice. “1,800 bucks.”

‘1,800 bucks!’

Daphne leaped from her seat and stared at Nicholas. “1,800 bucks!” she exclaimed in disbelief. “This is extortion!”

How could a phone cost 1,800 bucks? Everyone used a cell phone now. If Nicholas had pulled out a cell phone and told Daphne that it cost 1,800 bucks, perhaps she might actually believe him.

But a telephone… An object that was close to extinction couldn’t possibly be worth 1,800 bucks!

This was obviously blackmail!

Nicholas smirked when he saw the accusation in Daphne’s eyes. He stared at Daphne in a lofty manner, then said, “Allow me to correct myself. By 1,800 bucks, I meant European currency.”

European currency!

A phone worth €1,800!

Daphne gasped, glared at Nicholas, and cried, “Stop lying! It’s just a tool for communication. Yes, that phone of yours is styled like an antique, but it can’t be that expensive!”

She could still remember that the phone she had used was built with a rotary dial.

This telephone was rather unique, but it should be handcrafted, at most!

Nicholas crossed his arms, smirked, and said, “Calling you an ignorant country bumpkin would be high praise! Whoever told you that this phone was used for making calls?”

Daphne frowned at Nicholas, speechless.

“This was once used by an English prince. One might consider it an antique. It was put there for decorating purposes, and you used it to make a call and broke it too!”

“€1,800 is the price I paid for it at the time. The value has probably increased by now, and I haven’t calculated your phone bill.”

Nicholas’s aloof tone made it sound like he was doing Daphne a huge favor.

‘It’s an antique…’

Daphne stared at Nicholas in disbelief. She paused, gritted her teeth, and snapped. “I don’t believe it! Show me the phone!”

Since it was an antique that had been preserved for many years, how could she have broken it so easily?

Nicholas tossed the phone at Daphne. She dodged it from the side, and the phone narrowly missed her head.

She had no time to argue with him. Daphne picked up the phone and examined it closely.

She didn’t have her glasses, so her squinting made her seem very strange. She looked like a blind woman with an eye disease.

The expression on Nicholas’s handsome face changed. He stared at Daphne in utter bemusement. “Are you blind?”

‘You’re the blind one!’ Daphne cursed internally.

She paused, then put down the phone in front of her eyes. “It’s not that, I’m short-sighted. I can’t see without my glasses,” she explained.

Did he think that he could fool her just because she was “blind”?

Nicholas raised his brow, then relaxed his tensed muscles, and leaned back again.

‘As long as she’s not blind, it’s fine. Otherwise, it seems…’

However, Nicholas soon knit his brows irritably again.

‘That would mean that this girl couldn’t get a good look at my face at all last night? That explains why she didn’t recognize me!’

Daphne scrutinized the telephone for a very long time. She couldn’t find anything wrong with it. She may be short-sighted but could still see very clearly within a short distance.

“Your telephone isn’t broken at all!” Daphne had completed her examination and frowned at Nicholas.

Nicholas raised a brow. “Says who? The upper right corner of the receiver, see for yourself!”

Daphne paused, then picked up the phone and examined it again. She put it down after a long pause. “It’s obviously alright! There’s nothing wrong with it at all!” She snapped irritably.

She simply couldn’t find anything wrong with it.

“There’s a paint chip, right there. Can’t you see it?” Nicholas insisted.

Daphne was speechless. ‘A paint chip…’

“What do you want, Nicholas Wolfe?”

Daphne would be an idiot if she still couldn’t tell that he was playing her.

“I want you to compensate me. €1,800. Will it be cash or credit card? Or cheque?” Nicholas stared at Daphne with a forced smile on his face.

Daphne lowered her head, speechless.

‘€1,800… I don’t have that much money.’

“Looks like you don’t have the money?” Nicholas asked, despite already knowing the answer.

The intel that he had received today was very clear—Daphne had been doing part-time jobs ever since she was a freshman at high school. She had been paying for her own school fees and living expenses.

“Yes, I don’t have the money.” Daphne nodded.

There was nothing to deny. She really didn’t have the money.

“What are you going to do? Since you don’t have the money.” Nicholas eyed Daphne. The tone in his voice was enough to drive her up the wall.

Daphne paused and asked, “What do you want me to do?”