Becoming the Richest Man Alive

Chapter 296

Casper sighed heavily as he wondered how he always bumped into some ignorant fools wherever he ate.

He went straight to the point and asked, “What are you trying to do here? Do you think I’m a pauper? Well, that’s too bad for you, but I’ll come clean now. I’m actually a billionaire.”

Everyone in the restaurant burst into laughter upon hearing what he said. From the way he dressed, Casper seemed nothing like a wealthy person.

“You’re a rich man? If you are, then wouldn’t that make me the wealthiest man in the land?” exclaimed someone mockingly from the table that Billy was sitting at. The man was clearly taking advantage of his strength in numbers to come forward to bully Casper. He continued, “All right then. Young lady, why don’t you add Billy on WhatsApp? Let’s see just what this poor fool has got!”

Lillian smiled coldly and retorted, “Why should I add him just because you asked me to?”

“Billy is a social media influencer in Horington! He has millions of fans online and a huge fanbase. Both of you had better watch out, or they’ll search you up online!” threatened the group.

Casper was a little confused by this turn of events. He didn’t understand why these men could be so brazen and arrogant just because one of them was a social media influencer. With just that as a basis, they had dared to go on and threaten others outrightly in public.

“How can you people say such things in front of this many eyewitnesses? Is a social media influencer really that impressive?” asked Casper aloud.

“Weren’t you the one that first started putting on an act? What’s the point of a pauper like yourself pretending to be a billionaire? Any idiot out there can see that you don’t have a single cent to your name,” retorted one of the men.

Casper sighed heavily once more as he wondered why these men repeatedly brought the issue around to focus on money. Do I really have to force myself to use money to prove who I claim to be? Isn’t that just the same as spending money to crush them and lord over them?

“What will you do if I manage to prove or show that I’m truly a billionaire?” asked Casper in a low voice.

“I’ll eat this table straight away if you’re really the billionaire you claim to be!”

“You’re still keeping up with this act? I’ll eat feces if you’re as wealthy as you say!”

Casper hurriedly gestured for the men to stop with the promises. He said, “All right, that’s enough. Why don’t you come up with a more realistic set of punishments or penalties? Let’s not be this unrealistic, all right? If we want to make a wager, we should at the very least bet something that we are capable of and willing to do.”

Casper had evidently spent too much time around Eugene. Gambling and betting were now all he thought of.

Billy sized Casper up for a moment before he remarked, “Haha! What an idiot! I used to think that you were just a simple pauper, but now I realize that you’re an idiot as well! What gives you the right or basis to make a bet with us?”

“Hand over your Paypal account number,” instructed Casper calmly.

Billy was taken aback and countered, “What do you mean?”

“I’ll transfer ten thousand over so we can make this bet. How about that?” replied Casper.

“Oh? Ten thousand?” repeated Billy in disbelief as he shared his Paypal account number with Casper. He didn’t believe that the latter would really have the money to transfer as promised.

However, Casper only shook his head. Boring… How utterly boring! How can problems that can be resolved by money be considered problems?

Less than a minute later, Billy’s phone lit up and indicated that he had received a notification. He glanced briefly at the screen, and his face fell immediately upon noting that he had truly just received ten thousand.

“The money is in your account now. Shall we begin the wager?” asked Casper.

As he spoke, he forced all the meat he had before him straight into his mouth and snapped his fingers at Billy.

“Is he for real? Billy, did this fool really transfer you ten thousand so that you would make a bet with him?”

“That’s right! Did it really happen? I bet he just took out about a thousand to continue with his act!”

Billy’s face twisted into an awkward expression as he nodded and replied, “I did indeed receive a transfer of ten thousand into my account.”

His acknowledgment instantly sent everyone in the restaurant into an uproar. None of them had expected such a shocking turn of events at this pivotal moment. Now that Casper had proven himself to be a wealthy man, things had surely gotten exciting, and the crowd around them soon increased in numbers as more people gathered to watch the show.

“What now? Could it be that you no longer dare to gamble with me now that you’ve received my money?” asked Casper with a loud sigh as he provoked the group. He added, “I can understand how you feel. Now that you’ve managed to make a little money out of nowhere, you want to hold on to it and make sure you keep it secure. How about this? I won’t ask for the money back. Let’s just take it that I gave it as a form of dowry.”

With that, Casper directed a provocative look at Billy, which only served to enrage the latter further. The latter leaped straight to his feet and yelled, “I refuse to believe that you’re a billionaire! Come on, let’s have a match! Let’s see who exactly has the most money between the two of us. I don’t believe it!” Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

Casper and Lillian exchanged a glance before they collectively asked, “How do you want to compete? Explain to us.”

They refused to believe that this social media influencer could be as wealthy as Casper. The fact that Casper had readily and willingly used money to resolve this matter meant that he truly understood that wealthy people didn’t consider such matters to be problems worth much of their time or attention.

Billy was taken aback by their sudden question. He didn’t know how they should go about comparing the size of their fortunes or how wealthy they were. Off the top of his mind, he could only think of comparing how much cash they could withdraw from the bank or even how much they could afford to burn. However, he didn’t dare to proceed with the latter option since that was clearly illegal.

Casper gestured at Billy’s clothes and suggested, “How about this? I see that you’re rather fond of showing off. Since this steakhouse happens to be in a mall, why don’t we each spend about thirty minutes or so to head out and buy something? Let’s see who managed to return here with the most precious and expensive item. We can compare our purchases here when we return.”

Billy nodded and replied, “All right, then. Just you wait! I’ll show you today what it truly means to be wealthy!” With that, he turned to the rest of his group and instructed, “I want each of you to head out to purchase your heart’s desire! I’ll foot the bill for all your purchases today!”

The group collectively whooped with joy and quickly scattered as they went about on their shopping spree. Billy made to leave as well, but Casper quickly blocked his path and asked, “There’s no need to rush. Shouldn’t we first set a punishment or penalty for the loser?”

Billy glared at Casper and retorted, “You’re bound to lose this bet, you pauper! Do you know who my mom is? Do you know how much allowance I get every month? Do you really think you can scare me off just because you were able to pull out ten thousand instantly? Since you’re that keen on playing around, I’ll mess with you to the very end!”

Billy had let loose with a tirade of hateful words but had clearly failed to mention any form of penalty. Casper sighed yet again and suggested, “Why don’t you go first? What would you like me to do if you win?”

Billy turned to eye Lillian, who was standing next to Casper, and declared, “I want your woman! She has to stay with me for a night.”

Casper rolled his eyes internally as he wondered if all these wealthy wastrels only had their minds fixated on such matters. Other than women and acting stupid, they really didn’t have much to them. Now that he gave the matter further thought, he realized that each and every wealthy kid he had dealt with always ended up claiming, “Since I was young, I’ve always managed to get what I wanted, but…”

Casper stewed on this for a moment and reflected. Isn’t this just an issue of them not having anyone at home to teach them how to behave and bring them up well? How can they end up like this if the only difference between their families and a typical one is that they have just that little more money? Why can’t you people just walk the straight and true path in life?

Lillian’s face darkened with rage as she cursed aloud, “Just die, you sc*mbag!”

Billy was enraged and moved to slap Lillian hard in the face, but he was blocked by Casper. The latter said, “You want someone to spend the night with you, correct? Sure! If you win, I’ll spend the night with you, but you had best be prepared if you lose. I’ll get two burly men over to join you at night instead.”

Billy’s hand writhed in pain as it remained caught in Casper’s tight grip. He hadn’t expected that Casper would have such immense strength. Now that his group wasn’t with him, Billy didn’t dare to employ brute strength against Casper. Furthermore, he didn’t set his mind to what Casper had proposed and quickly nodded in agreement to his terms.

Casper smiled wickedly as he loosened his grip and rejoined Lillian at their seats by the table.

Billy took a few steps back to increase the distance between himself and Casper. Before he rushed out to make his purchases, he remarked, “Don’t even think of fleeing! I want to see just how you’ll make a comeback thirty minutes from now!”

As Casper nonchalantly sat down, Lillian turned to him and whispered, “What are you going to buy?”

“Shouldn’t we first eat our fill before we head out for shopping? Let’s have some beef before we continue,” replied Casper as he chuckled. He picked out more steak and had the shop prepare his order accordingly. It was clear to everyone around him that he didn’t have the slightest intention of heading out to buy anything. They soon erupted in fervent discussion as they suspected that he had given up on the wager. Suddenly, Casper turned to the man next to him dressed in the steakhouse’s uniform and asked, “Are you the manager here?”

The man froze for a moment before he nodded and replied, “Yes, I am. What’s wrong?”

Casper chuckled and asked, “Do you run this shop by yourself? How much did it cost you?”

“Slightly over a million or so?” replied the man as he seemed to have guessed at what Casper was planning to do.

Casper pulled out his phone and said, “All right then. Here’s two million. I’m buying over your shop. I’ll only take about half of your earnings every month.”

“No, no. I can’t do that. This shop is my lifeblood! It’s the result of all my hard work. How can I just casually hand it over to someone else?” replied the manager.

“Here’s three million instead. I won’t touch a single item in the shop. You’ll remain the one in charge of the place, and you can continue to operate it as usual. Let me know if you ever want to open a chain. I’ll fund you accordingly,” promised Casper.

“It’s a deal!” declared the manager.