Chapter 56 Chapter Fifty Six The Date
Sarah’s POV
We sat behind a marble table at Madam Divine Great, one of the best, in fact, if not the best restaurant in Marinda View. The rich and the powerful dined here, the type of people whose names carried weight and whose perfume lingered long after they left.
I had never stepped foot in this kind of place before. The chandeliers glowed like soft fire above our heads, the scent of roasted meat and expensive wine hung in the air, and every plate that passed looked like art. But now, because of Dave, I was here.
“So, do you come here often?” I asked, pretending it was a casual question, though deep down I was curious. A man who could afford this place wasn’t just doing well; he was successful. And if this was one of his usual spots, then maybe he was doing even better than I thought.
He chuckled softly, that deep kind of laugh that made people look our way. He raised his hand to signal the waiter while keeping his eyes fixed on me with a small, teasing smile tugging at his lips.
“What?” I asked, feeling a little embarrassed.
I knew I probably sounded silly. After all, this was the most expensive restaurant in Marinda View. Only the city’s elite ate here. They came here because they felt safe, unseen, and untouchable. It was a world far above the one I was used to, and sitting here made me feel like I had stumbled into a dream I didn’t quite belong to.
The waiter appeared almost immediately, dressed in a crisp blue suit and a short, straight skirt that stopped neatly at her knees. Her movements were graceful, rehearsed, like part of a performance.
“Welcome to Madam Divine Great. What would you like to order, sir, ma’am?” she asked with a polite bow.
“I’ll take the chef’s special steak, medium rare, and a glass of your best red wine,” Dave said smoothly, his voice calm and confident.
“Excellent choice. And for you, ma’am?” the waiter turned to me.
I hesitated for a moment. I didn’t even know what half the names on the menu meant. Still, with the laminated menu before me, I forced myself to act like I’d done this a hundred times.
“I’ll have the lobster tail with butter sauce,” I said, steadying my voice. “And a bottle of chilled rosé.”
The waiter smiled approvingly. “Excellent choice, ma’am. Your order will be ready shortly. Would you care for dessert before it’s served?”
“We’ll see later,” Dave replied, clearing his throat politely.
“If that will be all, sir, ma’am.” The waiter bowed again and walked away with graceful precision.
“You’re always perfect,” Dave said suddenly once she disappeared.
His words caught me off guard. My cheeks warmed. It had been so long since a man had said anything that felt genuine. I’d heard words before, too many in fact. Abraham used to shower me with sweet talk, especially when he was trying to win me back. But Dave’s compliment didn’t sound rehearsed. It sounded real.
There was a quiet moment between us. I looked at him closely. The man I once knew in college, shy, unsure, always standing at the back of the room, was gone. The man sitting before me radiated control, elegance, and quiet power.
Change was constant, they said. And I could see that truth written all over him.
He suddenly cleared his throat, catching me staring. “Ahem,” he said with a small grin. “To answer your earlier question.”
He leaned back in his seat and gave me a broader smile. “Yes, I come here often. But not as a customer.”
I blinked. “What do you mean?”
He tilted his head slightly, his tone turning almost casual. “I own this place.”
For a second, I just stared at him. My jaw fell slightly open.
“What?” I asked before I could stop myself.
He chuckled again, that same easy, confident laugh. “Yes, Sarah. I own Madam Divine Great.”
My mind raced. He owns it? The most expensive restaurant in the entire Marinda View? How? When?
He must have read the questions in my eyes because he smiled faintly and leaned forward, lowering his voice like he was about to let me into a secret part of his past.
“After college,” he began, “things didn’t exactly go smoothly for me. The bullies who used to torment me didn’t stop. In fact, it got worse.”
He looked away briefly, his gaze hardening as the memory came back to him. “You remember them, don’t you? About six of them. They made my life miserable.”
“Yes,” I said quietly. “I remember.”
“They came to my parents’ house one night, our graduation night,” he said. “My parents were working a double shift, and I was home alone. They didn’t like that I graduated with distinction. It bruised their egos, I guess. They started throwing eggs at my window, shouting insults.”
I could picture it, the young, angry version of Dave standing in his yard, finally too tired of being the quiet victim.
“I went out to confront them. I was done hiding. I grabbed one of them by the shirt, ready to finally fight back. But then one of them pulled out a gun.”
He paused. The air between us grew still.
“I didn’t even know where he got it. It was real. Loaded. His eyes looked empty. ‘Let him go,’ he said.”
I held my breath.
“I did. I let him go. But he didn’t lower the gun. He smirked, squeezed the trigger. The bullet didn’t hit me. It hit someone else. My neighbor, Francis. A kid. Just seventeen. He was taking out the trash.”
My heart sank.
“He fell. I ran to him, held him. His blood was everywhere. His parents came out screaming, thinking I did it. Before I could even explain, the police were there. They didn’t ask questions. They arrested me.”
I felt a sting behind my eyes.
“In prison, I met an old man,” he continued, his tone quieter now. “He was on death row. He listened to my story, pitied me. He said, ‘You have a second chance. When you get out, be someone different. Inherit my wealth and use it wisely, to bring justice to your pain.’”
Dave smiled faintly, exhaling as though lifting a heavy memory off his chest.
“That’s how I got here,” he said finally, his tone shifting from sorrow to pride. “That’s how, today, I became the richest man in Marinda View.”
He looked up at me again, his eyes soft yet piercing. “I hope I didn’t bore you.”
I shook my head slowly, speechless.
No, he hadn’t bored me. He had just shown me the kind of pain that could build an empire and the kind of man who could rise from ashes and turn his scars into power.