Part 1

"So, what's your position at Coskun Company?" Claire looked lazily at the man sitting across from her. His name was Erick, the son of one of her mother's social circle friends.

At first glance, Erick was quite handsome. He had a tall stature, fair and clean skin. His face was free of acne or any scars, which Claire suspected was the result of regular visits to a beauty salon. His clothing also hinted at affluence.

Of course, Claire's mother mentioned that Erick's father was a diamond entrepreneur, making him undeniably wealthy. On a scale of one to ten, Claire rated him a nine based on appearances alone.

However, that was just the external assessment. For the past half hour, Erick hadn't stopped talking about himself and his family, boasting but consistently belittling others. He commented on every person who entered his field of vision, offering unnecessary judgments and excessive self-praise. Now, it seemed he was evaluating Claire.

If it weren't for the need to uphold her mother's reputation, Claire would have loved to splash the cold drink in front of her on Erick. If not for her mother's request, she would have wanted to leave this place within the first five minutes of her arrival.

"I'm just a regular staff," Claire replied truthfully.

"Staff?" The man asked with a condescending tone that was evident to Claire. "Isn't your late father the owner of a cement factory?"

"Yes," Claire replied briefly.

"Then why aren't you working in your father's company?"

"Isn't your father also a diamond entrepreneur?" Claire retorted. A sweet smile played on her lips. The man answered Claire's question with an enthusiastic nod and a visibly proud expression. "So why are you unemployed and not working as hard as your father?" Claire continued, her smile freezing the man.

"W-who said I don't work hard?" The man stammered.

"Well then, if we were to get married, how much monthly allowance would you provide me?" Claire asked challengingly. She leaned back, resting her back against the chair and folded her hands in front of her stomach. "I need funds for the salon, for facial and body treatments. Looking beautiful like this isn't cheap. The cost of facials, whitening injections, botox, and even a medi-pedi is not cheap either."

"Plus, there's clothing and handbags. You must know that the price of a set of branded outfits is not cheap. How much was your watch, a hundred thousand dollars? Shoes? Especially for us women, our outfits are obviously more expensive than that.

"And yes, I like changing phones. I always have to have the latest release. I won't use a phone under fifteen million. For household chores, I have a housekeeper and a gardener of my own.

"I might just be a staff at Coskun, but my income as an investor in several companies and my inheritance in the bank are not small. So, I want a husband whose bank balance is more than mine.

"It's okay if he looks like an unemployed person, but he must bear my living expenses. Because I won't spend a penny of my money to support my life with my future husband.

"Yes, at least, my future husband should have a balance twice as big as mine. But it's even better if it's multiple times," Claire said, leaving Erick speechless with a pale face.

Claire straightened up again, leaning her shoulders forward over the table. She rested her elbows on the table and extended her right hand towards Erick.

"Let me see your balance. You have mobile banking, right? I want to see how much is in your ATM." Claire asked with an interested expression, raising an eyebrow and demanding Erick to show his phone silently, but he seemed flustered by the request.

"My balance is significant; you don't need to doubt that," the man said nervously.

"Yeah, I know your balance is big. You're the son of a diamond entrepreneur after all. So, show it to me," she said with a sweet smile on her face. "If it's bigger than mine, I'll tell Mom that I want to be your future spouse," she continued, still with a seductive and teasing tone, making Erick swallow hard.

"I-I'll go to the restroom first," he said as he stood up from his seat. Claire continued to smile and nodded. Her eyes kept watching him, occasionally turning his head to look at her. After Erick disappeared from view, Claire sighed. She knew that after this, she would receive a barrage of angry phone calls from her mother.

Sure enough, two hours later, just as Claire had stepped out of the bathroom, she saw her phone screen light up with her mother's name displayed.

"What on earth are you doing?" Claire responded to her mother's anger with a nonchalant tone.