She Called Me Her Rich Idiot

My dad had been nagging me about blind dates for three whole years.

He always sighed and said that after he and my mom were gone, leaving me alone in this world would be too lonely.

To put his mind at ease, I went to meet the girl his old friend had introduced---Sienna.

She was sophisticated and down-to-earth, not materialistic, the most compatible blind date I'd ever met.

My dad couldn't stop praising her, urging me every day to act fast, saying a girl this wonderful wouldn't wait around forever.

Just the night before I was secretly planning to propose with the diamond ring I'd already ordered,

I accidentally came across a screenshot from a high-society girls' group chat.

"Ladies, Ive found a rich idiot. Stupid and loaded. I'll have him completely trapped tomorrow."

Below it was a candid photo she'd secretly taken of me eating, showing my profile.

My fingers trembled as I scrolled down:

"I've got my eye on that limited edition Herms Birkin. Tomorrow I'll spike his drink, and when he's out of it, I'll just swipe his card. That's how I handled the last old guy with a Mercedes. Worked perfectly, no problems at all."

Just then, my phone suddenly vibrated.

Sienna sent me a message:

"Tristan, I've booked your favorite restaurant for tomorrow night. Let's have dinner together."

I looked at those screenshots over and over, unable to believe it.

Sienna, who was always so dignified and proper, was this vile online.

But the photo was right there---my jacket, my hands. How could I not recognize myself?

The evidence was ironclad.

Breaking into a cold sweat, I took a deep breath and replied: "Sure, see you tomorrow night."

The next day I arrived at the restaurant to find Sienna already there early, with all the dishes already ordered.

Seeing me enter, she quickly stood up with a smile and pulled out my chair.

"Tristan, you're here. You look so sharp today."

The picture of a refined young lady.

We'd barely eaten a few bites when I heard her say, "Tristan, we've met several times now. We should make it official. My dad says he'll arrange our engagement for next week."

I nearly dropped my fork.

Including today, we'd only met four times, and we hadn't even confirmed our relationship. Engagement already?

I swallowed the curse words on the tip of my tongue.

"Sienna, I don't think we're compatible."

Sienna's smile froze. "What are you saying, Tristan?"

"I'm saying we're not compatible. You can't force a relationship. Let's not contact each other anymore."

Sienna's face immediately darkened.

"Tristan Parker, what do you mean? Are you playing games with me? If you weren't interested, why did you keep meeting me?"

I listened wordlessly, not responding.

Sienna snorted coldly and pulled a piece of paper from her bag, slapping it on the table.

"Fine, you want to break up? Let's settle the accounts first."

I looked down to see an itemized list of dating expenses.

A long string of items, with a total at the bottom: Forty-eight thousand dollars.

I was shocked and looked up at her.

She looked completely justified. "Not a penny less."

"But I treated you too. It's not like you were the only one paying."

As far as dating expenses went, I'd spent about the same amount as her.

"That was your choice. I didn't force you."

I laughed in disbelief. "You're charging me for the Uber ride you took to get here?"

It said two hundred dollars for the ride, but it only took her twenty minutes to get here.

"If I wasn't coming to see you, would I need to make this trip? Who else should I charge if not you?"

I pointed at the line that said "beauty treatment, two thousand eight hundred" and asked again, "What does your spa treatment have to do with me?"

"If I wasn't meeting you, would I need to maintain my appearance?" Sienna said self-righteously.

I was so angry I nearly choked.

"Then show me the receipts, the order screenshots. Let's go through it line by line. I'm not taking your word for it."

Sienna slammed the table. "What receipts? You have no idea how much effort I put into dating you? You think you can just take advantage and run?"

Her aggressive manner finally matched that bitter woman in the screenshots.

Instead, I calmed down.

"How about this---take a photo of this list and post it on your social media. Get two hundred likes, and I'll transfer the money immediately. Not a penny less."

Sienna's face stiffened. Her eyes darted around, and she immediately switched to a gentle expression.

"I was just speaking off the cuff earlier. Tristan, I like you. I don't want to break up. I was just joking with you. Don't take it to heart."

She pushed the red wine on the table toward me.

"Come on, have some wine and calm down."

I stared at the glass of red wine for a moment, then reached out and picked it up.

Seeing me pick up the wine glass, Sienna's eyes lit up.

Probably thinking I was about to fall for her trap, she started with the sweet talk again.

"Tristan, I was too anxious earlier. You're right---feelings can't be forced. If we're not compatible, that's okay. Let's part on good terms. We can still be friends."

My hand trembled, and the entire glass of red wine spilled onto the table.

Sienna's face immediately went pale, staring at the pool of red wine, unable to speak.

I set down the empty glass and followed her lead. "You're right, let's part on good terms."

Right in front of her, I pulled out my phone and directly called the matchmaker, Raymond.

"Tristan, are you calling to set a date? I told you Sienna was reliable! Your dad found the right person through me!"

"Raymond, this match isn't going to work. Sienna and I aren't compatible."

Raymond immediately turned hostile.

"Not compatible? Tristan Parker, you're thirty years old. What are you being so picky about? You'll never find a wife this way!"

I hung up before he could finish.

Sienna watched me execute this series of moves smoothly, completely stunned.

She wanted to blow up but it was too late---after all, she'd just said they should part on good terms.

She glared at me hatefully, stood up, and slammed the door on her way out.

From the looks of it, she wouldn't let this go easily.

Sure enough, a few days later while I was at work, my colleague Mike rushed over with news.

"Tristan, you better go downstairs and check it out. Someone's making a scene at the company entrance, cursing you out by name!"

I went downstairs to find Sienna, her father, and Raymond all blocking the company's main entrance.

A crowd had gathered around them.

Sienna's father was squatting on the ground, slapping his thighs and wailing.

" God is blind! Everyone come judge this situation!"

"Tristan Parker dated my daughter for half a month, scamming her for food, drinks, and affection, conning my daughter out of tens of thousands of dollars, then just walked away!"

"Her mother died young. I raised her as a single father. How are we supposed to live now!"

My colleagues were whispering to each other.

"I really couldn't tell. Tristan seems like such an honest guy normally. Is he really a freeloader?"

"Tens of thousands of dollars? That's way too much, isn't it? He ate and then refused to pay?"

"So shameless. Don't let him ruin our company's reputation!"

Raymond pulled me out from the crowd, playing the mediator.

"Tristan, I have to be fair here. Even if you don't want to continue the relationship, you should return the money Sienna spent on you, right?"

"Sienna's family isn't well-off. She spent so much money on you and kept track of every expense, clear as day!"

He solemnly pulled out that same itemized list from last time and stuffed it into my arms.

"Just take pity on Mr. Sullivan. Return the money. He raised Sienna all by himself---how hard that must have been. Can you really bear to watch him squat here like this?"

Sienna walked over with red-rimmed eyes.

"Tristan, don't blame my dad. He's just worried about me. I genuinely liked you. Can you give me another chance? I promise I'll never bring up these things again."

The looks my colleagues gave me became even more strange, all shaking their heads.

The commotion was too big. Our manager, Mr. Wilson, walked over with a dark expression.

"Tristan Parker, I don't want to get involved in your personal affairs, but causing a scene at the company has too negative an impact. They've brought out the account book. Hurry up and return the money, or the company can't keep you."

After the manager spoke, I didn't panic at all. Instead, I smiled.

"I won't give you a single cent."

I said calmly, "Not only will I not give you money, I'm going to collect what you owe me."

Hearing this, Sienna's father squatted back down and started wailing again.

"Help! This punk is trying to drive us father and daughter to death!"

"My daughter works so hard to earn money, working early and late every day, exhausting herself. He scammed away all the money she finally saved!"

"And now he's turning it around on us! You heartless scoundrel!"

My colleagues also criticized me.

"Tristan Parker, you've gone too far. How can you ask them for money? Playing the victim!"

"Exactly! Paying back debts is only natural. Have some shame!"

The manager had lost his patience. "Tristan, pay up quickly. Stop embarrassing yourself here!"

I ignored them and held up the itemized list for everyone around to see.

"Everyone, look carefully. This is the bill she wants me to pay."

"Sienna and I met a total of four times. She paid for two meals, and I also paid for two meals. I have payment receipts."

"Why is she calculating all four meals as expenses she paid alone?"

The murmuring stopped, and people crowded over to look.

I pointed at the list and continued.

"To get to the restaurant, she only needed a twenty-minute Uber ride, but she recorded two hundred dollars for the fare each time. Four times makes it eight hundred."

Sienna's father stopped wailing and jumped up, shouting.

"So what if she recorded it wrong! Everyone makes accounting mistakes!"

"You're nitpicking over this tiny error because you want to dodge the debt!"

"My daughter spent so much money on you, and you still have the nerve to find fault? You have no conscience at all!"

But the onlookers' expressions had already changed.

"A few hundred dollars off is a small error? This is obviously inflated reporting!"

"The fare doesn't match up either. A twenty-minute ride doesn't cost two hundred dollars. This is extortion."

"I don't think this is as simple as it seems."

Seeing things going south, Sienna's father rushed forward to grab the list but was blocked by several colleagues.

I simply started reading it aloud.

"Pre-date beauty treatment, two thousand eight hundred. Manicure, eight hundred. Eyelash extensions, six hundred. Uber fare, eight hundred. Cosmetics depreciation, one thousand..."

"Sienna, you treated me to meals, but I also took you to movies and coffee. I never took advantage of you."

"But why should I pay for your beauty treatments, manicures, and eyelash extensions before our dates?"

The crowd completely exploded.

"What the hell? She's charging him for beauty treatments? And manicures and lashes? Is this a blind date or a scam?"

"These prices are wrong too. Beauty treatment for two thousand eight hundred? Do they think we're idiots?"

"This is ridiculous! This is clearly extortion!"

The onlookers all turned against them. Sienna's face turned red and white alternately. In desperation, she raised her voice and shouted.

"Everyone, don't let him distract you! I gave him a twenty-thousand-dollar luxury watch! That was real money!"

I snorted coldly and pulled out an authentication report from my pocket, holding it up for everyone to see.

"I had this watch verified at the official store. The clerk said on the spot it was a knockoff. The same model online costs a few hundred dollars with free shipping."

I handed the authentication report to a knowledgeable colleague nearby. After looking at it twice, the colleague laughed.

"It's definitely fake. Even the movement doesn't match."

Now the crowd was truly furious, pointing at them and cursing.

"She gave him a fake gift and has the nerve to make a scene at the company entrance? This is completely backwards!"

"This is a scammer, isn't it? Call the police!"

I looked at Sienna, my tone ice-cold.

"The watch you gave was a few-hundred-dollar fake, but the gift I gave in return was a brand-new phone worth ten thousand dollars, plus expensive tea and supplements for your father. These items add up to fifteen thousand. Return it to me now."

The onlookers also told her to return the money, and some said they should call the police.

Sienna's face turned ashen as she pulled out her phone and transferred the money.

Sienna's father tried to stop her but was pulled aside by Sienna, who whispered something to him. Her father stopped protesting.

After Sienna transferred the money, she grabbed her father and ran.

Before leaving, her father glared at me viciously.

"This isn't over! Just you wait!"

On the weekend, I was resting at home when someone frantically knocked on the door.

My dad opened the door to find our neighbor Mrs. Davis looking anxious.

"Mr. Parker, you need to go see what's happening! Several people are livestreaming at our community entrance, saying your family scammed them out of money and affection!"

I thought to myself, it's finally here.

I immediately opened the livestream app, searched the local area, and quickly found it.

Sienna had found a popular streamer with hundreds of thousands of followers. The host was speaking passionately.

"Everyone, today I'm going to seek justice for this infatuated girl who was scammed out of all her savings!"

In the camera, Sienna looked haggard as she complained.

"Tristan Parker and I dated for half a year. Our relationship was always good, and we were even talking about marriage."

"His family demanded a thirty-thousand-dollar wedding money. We scraped together every penny we had, but after he took the money, he turned on us and blocked me."

Sienna's father was squatting on the ground wiping tears, crying heartbreakingly.

"I'm a single father... those thirty thousand dollars came from selling my hometown house and borrowing from relatives!"

"Now the son-in-law is gone, the house is gone, but the debt remains. We don't even have a place to live anymore! We can't go on!"

Raymond also spoke righteously.

"I've been a matchmaker my whole life. I've never seen such a black-hearted family!"

"I personally watched Sienna hand thirty thousand dollars in cash to Tristan Parker's father. His father was grinning from ear to ear when he took the money!"

The livestream had hundreds of thousands of viewers flooding in, with comments overwhelmingly cursing us.

"Marriage scam! Fraud!" "Expose him! Let him be socially destroyed!" "This kind of person teaches people?"

My dad and I had just walked out of the community entrance when the livestream camera was shoved in our faces.

Sienna's father pointed at me and howled.

"It's him! Everyone please help me make him return the money!"

He then pointed at my dad and cursed viciously.

" You call yourself an educator, but all you do is immoral things!"

For a moment, both the neighbors present and the netizens in the livestream were cursing our family.

"Scammer! Return the money!"

My dad was at a loss, frantically waving his hands.

"We didn't take any money! My son never even dated her!"

The netizens didn't believe him at all. The comments became even more vicious.

"The scammer is still trying to make excuses!" "Playing innocent! The evidence is right here!"

Raymond walked over triumphantly and said to my dad.

"My friend, so many people are watching. You should just return the money. Otherwise, your Tristan will never find anyone willing to marry him!"

I quickly supported my dad. "Dad, don't worry. Let me handle this."

The host came up to me.

"This is the person in question, Tristan Parker. They say you took thirty thousand dollars and then blocked them. What do you have to say? When will you return the money?"

I looked at the camera, neither humble nor arrogant.

"Sienna and her family are making false accusations. They have no evidence. I don't acknowledge it."

Sienna was prepared.

"We gave cash! Raymond is the witness!"

I snorted coldly.

"If you have evidence that you were defrauded of thirty thousand dollars, why didn't you report it to the police?"

I pulled out my phone, found that group chat screenshot, held it up to the livestream camera, and said word by word.

"They have no evidence, but I do!"