She had stopped being surprised by it.
Still, she answered:
“Would you like me to prove it?”
Victor smiled.
“Oh, absolutely.”
Henry looked up.
“Victor—”
“No, Henry. This is amusing.”
Victor turned toward Naomi.
“Tell them what I said about the project.”
Naomi could have translated immediately.
Instead, she waited.
Victor's smile widened.
“You can't.”
“I can.”
“Then do it.”
Naomi looked at Henry.
She spoke in fluent Mandarin.
“Mr. Hale said the waterfront project is already fully approved, and that the city has guaranteed the zoning changes necessary for the final phase. He also said the investment opportunity is nearly risk-free.”
The table became silent.
Victor's smile disappeared.
Henry slowly removed his glasses.
“Interesting.”
Naomi lowered her eyes.
Victor stared at her.
“How did you—”
“You spoke English.”
Victor laughed nervously.
“I was testing you.”
“No,” Naomi said quietly.
“You were insulting me.”
The other two businessmen looked at one another.
Victor's face darkened.
Then, suddenly, he smiled.
Not because he was amused.
Because he had found a new game.
“All right.”
He reached for his wine.
“I'll make you a deal.”
Naomi waited.
“If you can speak one complete sentence in Mandarin, I'll give you fifty thousand dollars.”
One businessman raised an eyebrow.
Victor continued.
“Not three memorized words. Not something from a language app. One complete sentence.”
Naomi stared at him.
“Fifty thousand dollars?”
Victor smiled.
“I have a lot of money.”
There was something deeply unpleasant about the way he said it.
Naomi thought about the medical bills from her father's final year.
The leaking roof of his small house.
The student loans she had deferred.
The legal studies she had abandoned.
Fifty thousand dollars could change her life.
Victor tapped the table.
“Actually…”
He paused.
“Let's make it one hundred thousand.”
A murmur spread through the nearby tables.
Someone whispered:
“Is he serious?”
Victor looked directly at Naomi.
“One hundred thousand dollars.”
Naomi's heart began pounding.
She could pay off every remaining bill.
She could finish law school.
She could stop working double shifts.
She could give her father a better life.
But she wasn't accepting because of the money.
She was accepting because she recognized the look in Victor's eyes.
He didn't expect her to succeed.
He wanted an audience.
He wanted laughter.
He wanted to prove that money gave him power over her.
Naomi placed her order pad on the table.
“All right.”
Victor smiled.
“Good.”
Henry leaned back.
“Then perhaps you should listen carefully.”
Naomi turned toward him.
Henry spoke in Mandarin.
“If you truly understand us, tell Mr. Hale that we have serious concerns about his proposal.”
Naomi didn't hesitate.
She answered in Mandarin.
“We can discuss those concerns after dessert.”
Henry smiled.
Victor's face went blank.
Naomi continued.
“But I think Mr. Hale has misunderstood something.”
Victor frowned.
“What?”
She looked directly at him.
“The bet is not about whether I speak Mandarin.”
A pause.
“The bet is about whether you are willing to listen.”
For the first time that evening, nobody laughed.
Victor's expression hardened.
“Fine.”
He reached for his phone.
“One hundred thousand.”
He placed it on the table.
“If you can impress my guests with one complete conversation, I'll pay.”
Naomi nodded.
“Then let's begin.”
She had no idea that the next hour would change her life.
Or Victor Hale's.
The Woman Behind the Uniform
Naomi Carter had never intended to become a waitress.
When she was twenty-two, she had graduated from Stanford with a degree in international relations.
She had wanted to become an attorney specializing in international business.
She had spoken Mandarin since childhood.
Her mother had taught her.
Her father had encouraged her.
“You'll sit at tables where powerful people make decisions,” he used to say.