Chapter 3
A salesperson walked over, sized them up, and politely said to Rowena, "Ma'am, our priciest diamond rings go for over 3 million. Are you sure you want to check them out?"
Rowena, still adjusting to her sudden wealth, was stunned by the price. "Over 3 million? Why is it so expensive? Isn't a diamond just carbon?"
Everyone in the store cracked up at her words, and I couldn't help but laugh along too.
That was when Rowena and Wilmot finally noticed me and walked over. "What are you doing here? This place is way out of your league. Did you seriously follow us here, you broke loser?"
Wilmot looked so smug, like he honestly believed I was still hung up on him.
"Seriously? I got here before you did. If anyone's stalking, it's you," I shot back.
The salesperson spoke up in my defense. "Actually, this lady was here first."
Unable to win the argument, Rowena quickly switched gears and glanced at the jewelry I was checking out. "Can you even afford that? Just window shopping, huh?"
"Why do you care? It's not like you could buy it either," I retorted.
Rowena, convinced I couldn't afford it, got smug. "Please, obviously. How much for all these sets? I'll take them all."
The salesperson smiled. "Each set is 2 million, so that's 8 million in total."
Rowena and Wilmot went silent for a few seconds, then pretended not to care and started nitpicking. "Honestly, these sets aren't that special. Besides, I couldn't wear that many at once anyway."
I interrupted her impatiently. "Make up your mind. If you're not buying, I'll take them."
With that, I told the salesperson, "Wrap them all up for me."
Seeing her flex didn't work on me, Rowena was fuming, practically grinding her teeth. She quickly stopped the salesperson and pointed at a ruby set. "I want this one!"
Wilmot looked uneasy, gave Rowena's sleeve a tug, and muttered under his breath, "2 million? Isn't that a bit too much?"
Rowena was fuming, but she was dead set on getting it. She told the salesperson to box it up and ring it up.
They tried card after card, but kept getting declined for insufficient funds. In the end, they scraped together every last cent they had just to barely pay for it.
Three days flew by. Rowena finally scraped together enough cash for the house, found a real estate agent, got the paperwork done, and walked away with the keys.
As the time drew near, I headed over to the neighborhood.
By then, all my coworkers had already arrived. Everyone was there, eager to see how Rowena was going to strike it rich.
Rowena and Wilmot arrived soon after. Rowena looked around at everyone who'd shown up, and once she saw I was there, she gave a satisfied nod. "Alright, let's go up together."
As we walked, some of my coworkers looked around the neighborhood, looking puzzled. "Rowena, this place is pretty old. It can't be worth much, right?"
"Yeah, there's barely any greenery, and it's mostly just old folks living here," another chimed in.
"There aren't any schools nearby either. The only plus is that it's close to the office, but you quit, so that doesn't really matter anymore," someone else added.
Rowena gave them a look like they were clueless. "Yeah, the house is dirt cheap, doesn't go for much, but there's something valuable inside. Now that it's mine, everything in there belongs to me."
Hearing that, a few coworkers instantly thought of those viral stories online about people stumbling on bags of cash worth millions in auctioned houses.
Everyone was stunned, but the more sensible ones asked, "You haven't even set foot in the place. How do you know there's anything good inside?"
Rowena wasn't stupid enough to spill that she'd time-traveled, so she just shrugged. "That's a secret I can't reveal."
Her mysterious vibe totally fooled some of the coworkers, who instantly started sucking up to her. "Rowena, when you hit it big, don't forget about us, alright?"
Rowena was absolutely beaming, grinning ear to ear like she'd just struck gold.
When we got to the door, Rowena pulled out her key and tried to unlock it, but no matter how she twisted, the lock wouldn't turn at all.
Her smile froze awkwardly as she kept fiddling with the key, but the door stayed stubbornly shut.
One of the coworkers noticed something was off and spoke up, "What's going on?"
Rowena managed a strained smile. "Maybe the key's rusty or something. Guess it's just a little stuck."
As she kept struggling with the key, suddenly, the door was yanked open from the inside.
"Who the hell is trying to mess with my door? You got a death wish or something?" a woman's voice snapped from inside.