Babel Novel
Chapter 27
Chapter 27
Chapter 27 Pretense
“Finny, are you really not visiting Max at the hospital? After all, he is your cousin. Your Uncle Adrian’s family members are your kin!”
“But some relatives are no better than outsiders, like the Mdm. Dickson and her family, who used to live next door. How can Uncle Adrian’s family even compare to them?” Finnegan. countered.
“Quiana, don’t trouble Finny anymore. Even I don’t want to waste my time entertaining them either when I look at your brother’s family’s repulsive demeanor.”
“Mom, Dad, I am going to Bellridge to visit a patient. I may be away for a few days, but do call me if anything happens.”
Quiana fell silent.
The next morning, Finnegan rejected Quiana’s pleas once again before leaving the house. He asked Alisha to send him to the car showroom.
The trip might take a few days. Finnegan intended to give Lindsey an acupuncture treatment first. At the same time, buy Rhiannon a car as a birthday gift. He wanted to avoid being pressed for time if he were to do those things upon his return.
However, Finnegan found out Lindsey was still on the way when he
got there.
While waiting, Finny looked at the vehicles on display. The sales staff recognized him as Lindsey’s friend, so they left him alone.
“Mister, are you interested in buying a car?” asked a new saleswoman who had just started working there yesterday.
She didn’t meet with Finnegan the other day.
He noticed her nametag: Lucy Watson.
Finnegan nodded. “I want to buy a car for my sister to gift to her as a birthday present.”
A seasoned saleswoman, Wendy Mabins, chuckled, “Hey, handsome, quit teasing the young lady. You’re a friend of Ms. Jennings, and your sister has been here many times. How can your family afford a car? If you want to see Ms. Jennings, wait in her office. Don’t bother the girl for no reason.”
The other salespeople also snickered, as they were certain Finnegan was just joking with Lucy.
Finnegan had heard of how snobbish the salespeople at a car dealership could be. Unexpectedly, he encountered the experience that day, not to mention from Lindsey’s subordinates.
He sighed inwardly and turned to Lucy, “If you’re busy, I can wait for your manager to come.”
“It’s all right. There aren’t many customers this morning, so I’ll show you around.”
Lucy smiled sweetly, not looking down on Finnegan like Wendy and the others.
The girl’s innocence left a good impression on Finnegan. “Can you recommend a car that’s suitable for girls to drive? Prioritize the suitability without minding the price.”
Hearing Finnegan’s tone, Wendy whispered disdainfully, “We are well aware of his background, so why is he still keeping up the pretense?”
Finnegan heard her but didn’t bother to respond. Instead, he followed Lucy to look at the
cars.
A moment later, a man and a woman walked in. The man wore an expensive suit with a luxury watch worth hundreds of thousands on his wrist. Even his leather shoes were worth tens of thousands. Although the woman wasn’t wearing any branded items, her outfit alone was worth tens of thousands.
Wendy, an experienced saleswoman adept at identifying potential customers, quickly got up to greet them, “Are you two here to survey a car?]
Her attitude did a one-eighty from before as she was now approaching the customers with great passion.
That man, Yosef Haimowitz, grunted in response. “I’m getting engaged on Saturday, and I want to gift my fiancée a Porsche 718. Can you recommend one?”
“Sure, follow me,” said Wendy while leading them to the exhibition area where Finnegan and Lucy were also present.
Wendy uttered in disdain, “Get out of the way. I’m showing the cars to my clients. Don’t block the way.”
The tall and beautiful woman, wearing heavy makeup, stared at Finnegan and asked tentatively, “Finnegan?”
Finnegan turned around and immediately recognized the woman calling him. “Ximena, it’s been a while.”
He was very familiar with the woman before him. She was Ximena Larkin, the daughter of his Uncle Raymond She had frequently bullied him and Rhiannon when they were young.
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Finnegan never expected to meet her there.
After confirming that it was really Finnegan, Ximena sneered and hooked her arm around. Yosef’s, “I thought Uncle Desmond was kidding when he said you’ve returned. I didn’t you to dare to come back. Aren’t you afraid of being beaten to death by Mr. Killian?”
Yosef glanced at Finnegan and said contemptuously, “Is he your younger cousin you mentioned who hit Mr. Killian?”
expect
“That’s him.” Ximena said sarcastically. “When my Uncle Desmond was a teacher, his family. was doing very well. Finnegan and his sister bullied me a lot. Fortunately, karma caught up with him. He offended Mr. Killian and caused his family’s downfall. Subsequently, our family flourished.”
Finnegan merely grinned in silence while taking in her detestable mien as she distorted the
truth.
He had discerned his relatives’ true colors after the incident five years ago. While pointing to a car, he said to Lucy, “This one will do. Please help me process the order as soon as possible because I’m giving it to my sister as a birthday present in a few days.”
Ximena laughed out loud, “Finnegan, this is a top-spec Porsche 718. The total cost is probably close to two million. Don’t fool around with me. If you can afford this car, why does your family still live in a run- down house? Miss, don’t waste your time with him. We are your real potential clients.”
Wendy was afraid to lose the chance of securing the sale, so she hastily pushed Lucy aside. “Hurry up and take him elsewhere. Don’t affect me from closing this deal. Otherwise, you can forget about passing your internship.”
Lucy was caught off guard and was shoved to the side. Fortunately, Finnegan quickly grabbed hold of her. “Are you okay?”
Ximena mocked, “Finnegan, don’t embarrass yourself here. I’m your cousin, and if you cause a scene, it will also bring shame to me. My fiance won’t be pleased if that happens.”
Finnegan let go of Lucy and handed her a card, “I’ll make full payment by card.”
What?
No one expected Finnegan to react in such a straightforward and terse manner.
Ximena was also taken aback Could this guy be rich now?
However, she quickly dismissed the thought and oncluded that Finnegan couldn’t be wealthy Otherwise, his family wouldn’t have been arving in such poverty for the past five years. And seeing how he was dressed in cheap clothes from head to toe further convinced
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her belief.
She continued to ridicule him, “Finnegan, do you think you’re Mr. Miles’ son?”
In an effort to please her customers, Wendy chimed in, “Exactly. Your sister often comes to our store, so we know about your family’s financial situation. What are you still pretending
for?”
Finnegan ignored their jeers. He flashed a faint smile and said, “Miss, stop daydreaming and just swipe the card.”
Lucy hesitated before receiving the card. “Please give me a moment.”
She brought over the point-of-sale machine and processed the payment in front of everyone.
The sardonic smile on Ximena’s lips became even more pronounced as she prepared to humiliate Finnegan severely if the payment failed.
To her surprise, after a few seconds, the point-of-sale machine beeped with the sound of a successful payment and began to print out a receipt.
Everyone was stunned. Yosef looked at Ximena in confusion. “Didn’t you say he’s poor?”
Now that Finnegan had successfully made the payment, it seemed that Ximena was the one who had been proven wrong, but Yosef felt he was indirectly humiliated too.
Ximena shook her head and looked at the bill costing one million nine hundred and twenty thousand that had just been successfully paid. After confirming that it wasn’t an illusion, her mind raced to come up with an excuse to comfort herself. “Finnegan, you are such a spendthrift. If I’m not mistaken, this is your family’s demolition compensation, right?”
Hearing that, Yosef nodded slightly, “So he’s using his relocation fund to act rich. How interesting.”
He looked at Finnegan with an increasingly scornful expression.
Finnegan couldn’t be bothered to explain. He took back the card, put it in his pocket, and beamed at Lucy. “I shall trouble you to handle the subsequent procedures and insurance- related matters. Please pass the documents to your manager after they are ready, and she will hand them to me.” He then went to Lindsey’s office to wait for her arrival.
Lucy, who was still in a daze from closing such a profitable deal on her second day of work, muttered, “All right.”
Wendy looked at the bill enviously. Her voice was laced with a hint of jealousy as she uttered, “He’ll definitely ask our manager to cancel the order later. He only swiped the card to keep
up the pretense.”
Ximena’s eyes lit up after she heard Wendy’s remark. She grew more at ease. “I see. This cousin of mine is so good at pretending.”
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