Flowers for a Liar

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It had been three years since I started running a flower shop to support him, and hed gone bankrupt again.

The first time, Id sold the house my grandmother left me, paying off seven hundred thousand.

The second time, Id dug out the savings account my mother had set aside as a nest egg for my future, settling a debt of one point six million.

Now, with his third bankruptcy looming, I stared at his vacant, dry eyes, my fingers hovering over the number of my estranged, billionaire father. I hesitated, wondering if I should call.

But that very evening, I stumbled upon a chat group on his tablet:

Mr. Davies, how much should we put down for the bankruptcy settlement this time?

Make it ten million. Otherwise, the little flower seller will just pay it off in one go. Wheres the fun in that?

You really know how to play, Mr. Davies. I hear the little flower seller nurtures flowers by day and nurtures you by night. Never gets old, does it?

I set the tablet down, picked up my phone, and dialed my billionaire father.

All you want is for me to inherit the family business and marry your protg, right? Fine. Ill do it.

Send someone to pick me up in three days.

01

Hanging up with my father, Louis Davies walked back in, a signed IOU in his hand.

Cathy, Im so sorry. I owe another ten million this time. Im useless.

His acting was flawless; the lost look in his eyes used to always elicit the same response from me:

Its okay, well work through this together. Well pay it off eventually.

But now, I just stared silently at the half-exposed watch on his wrist.

It looked unassuming, but Id seen it in a magazine. It was worth one hundred and sixty million.

Louis Davies, with a watch worth one hundred and sixty million, couldnt pay off a ten-million-dollar debt.

And I, with nothing to my name, was considering taking out a loan for him.

My sincerity had become the very fuel for his casual manipulation.

Noticing my gaze on his watch, Louis, without a flicker of expression, pulled me into a hug.

Its just a fake, Cathy. When Im rich, Ill buy you anything you want.

Knowing I was poor and didnt recognize luxury brands, he didnt even need to put much thought into his lies.

I averted my eyes, only to see another message pop up on the tablet beside me.

Mr. Davies, whats the little lady going to sell to pay off the debt this time? Flowers? Her house? Or herself?

The women Mr. Davies has played with must be quite something. If shes selling herself, Ill take her for a night!

The subsequent messages were a barrage of vulgarity and +1s.

Id been with Louis for three years, and Id paid off his bankruptcy debts twice.

The first time, I sold my grandmothers house.

Louis held me, promising to build a home with me.

Yet, we lived in a cramped, four-hundred-dollar-a-month basement apartment for two years before he returned with another two-million-dollar IOU.

I still didnt blame him. Instead, I used the nest egg my mother had saved for me, patching up his financial hole.

He knelt before me, saying that by accepting my pre-wedding gift, he was my husband, and he would love and cherish me forever.

But his promises were lies, from beginning to end.

Louiss attention was also drawn by the incessant pings from his phone.

He glanced at me, and seeing that I wasn't watching him, he confidently opened his phone to scroll through the group chat.

Soon, his brows furrowed, and his lips thinned into a line.

He tapped a few times on the screen, and his message appeared on the tablet:

All of you, get lost! Just wait and watch the show!

Louis put his phone down. After a long silence, he wrapped his arms around me again, his voice thick with affection.

Cathy, I promise this is the last time. Once this debt is paid, Ill marry you, okay?

I looked at the earnest expression on his face and suddenly found it incredibly laughable.

How precious must I be, to have a wealthy young master go to such lengths to deceive me?

Even going as far as to utter words like "marry you."

If at first, Id wanted to lay everything bare and ask him if he found any of this amusing,

Now, I didnt even have the energy to question him.

I calmly pushed him away.

But Louis, Im out of money.

Louis froze, perhaps not expecting such a reaction from me.

After all, in his mind, I should be desperate to find any means to pay off his debts.

But quickly, his face twisted into anger.

Cathy, are you just like the others? Do you think Im a failure? That Ill never succeed?

I knew it, I misjudged you!

With that, he stormed out, slamming the door behind him.

I watched his retreating back, understanding that he was using this tactic to pressure me into submission.

But I didnt call out to him. Instead, I pulled out my phone and blocked all his contacts.

Then I picked up the IOU. No borrower, no debtors fingerprint.

It was an obvious fake, yet Id foolishly fallen for it twice.

I gave a self-deprecating laugh and dialed the agent.

Hello, please help me sublease the flower shop on Central Street!

The flower shop was opened to support Louis.

Now that I was done with him, there was no need to keep it running.

Anyway, I was leaving.

02

The next morning, I stayed home to pack.

Looking around the small, dim rental, there was surprisingly little worth taking with me.

Birthday cards tossed from a bakery, pretty stones picked up from the street, rings fashioned from crumpled paper

Louis had presented these as surprises.

But each time I opened a blind box, he looked just as surprised.

Now, I realized these gifts were probably just random items someone else had arranged for him, and he likely didnt even know what was inside.

The only somewhat decent gift was a necklace hed bought for eighty dollars from a street vendor after his first successful venture.

At the time, I thought he was wasting money and got quite upset with him.

But Louis had just laughed, an amused look on his face.

He said I was silly, wondering what would happen if he ever truly became wealthy and I still couldn't bring myself to spend money.

I thought he was being considerate then.

Now, it seemed he truly thought I was an idiot.

In our dense chat history, Louis had called me silly a staggering 517 times.

When I ran through three streets to buy him his favorite late-night snack, hed say, How can Cathy be so silly?

When he had a fever, and I draped my only raincoat over him, carrying him to the hospital on my back, hed say, Shes ridiculously silly.

Even when I lay in his arms, dreaming of a brighter future with him, he would still type in the group chat:

Cathy is hopelessly silly, so broke yet still fantasizing about a future with me

Even in cold text, I could imagine the disdain and mockery in his tone as he wrote that.

But it didnt matter anymore. From now on, Louis Davies would have no place in Cathy Lords future.

I continued packing, but in the end, my large suitcase remained empty.

The trash can, however, was full.

I surveyed the home Id lived in for two years once more.

The walls stained with watermarks, a chair with a broken leg, a bed made of bricks and planks

When things were a little better, Id wanted to decorate this place properly.

But Louis always refused.

He said we wouldnt live here once we had money, so decorating was pointless.

Id believed every one of his promises, then stayed in this dilapidated house, foolishly waiting for those promises to materialize.

Thinking of all this, I suddenly felt a profound sense of futility.

I closed my suitcase just as the agent called.

Miss Lord, I cant finalize the flower shop sublease myself. Youll need to speak with the landlord personally.

03

At three in the afternoon, I arrived punctually at the appointed office building to meet the agent.

Down the opulent hallway, through a slightly ajar door, I caught sight of Louis.

He was dressed in a well-tailored suit, head bowed, fiddling with his phone.

Beside him, a woman, elegantly dressed, leaned intimately against his shoulder.

The moment I saw her, I recognized her.

Two days ago, the flower shop received an order for nine hundred and ninety-nine roses.

Because the customer specifically requested the thorns not be removed, Id painstakingly wrapped every single one, my hands bleeding.

When I personally took a cab to deliver them, the recipient was this woman: Tiffany Chase.

At the heart of the bouquet was a small card, as requested by the customer:

To my lifelong love, Tiffany. From: L.D.

It was only then that I realized L.D. stood for Louis Davies.

He knew perfectly well that I, desperate for money, wouldnt turn down such a large order.

So he deliberately made those demands, watching me scramble like a fool.

The thought of it brought tears to my eyes, almost making me laugh.

After returning home that day, I had even excitedly shared with Louis how much money Id made.

As he tenderly bandaged my wounds, was he, in his heart, calling me silly again? Viewing me as a joke?

As I wiped away the tears, the agent arrived.

Seeing me standing at the door, he asked, puzzled,

Miss Lord, the landlord is inside. Why dont you go in?

My eyes, still tearful, widened in shock as I looked at the agent.

Who did you say? The landlord? Louis Davies?

The agent looked bewildered.

Yes, didnt you know? The entire block on Central Street belongs to Mr. Davies.

04

I gazed at Louis's figure in the distance, and deeply buried painful memories surged.

After helping Louis pay off his second debt, I went through a long period of financial hardship, unable even to afford rent.

Four or five burly men crowded the flower shop entrance, demanding payment. They smashed all the flowers in the shop,

Even stepping on my cat, letting it cry out in pain without easing their foot.

The little cat had been with me for twelve years; to me, it wasnt just a pet, but family, as important as Louis.

I pleaded, in tears, on my knees, begging them to spare it.

In the three years I'd run the shop, Id faced countless demands for rent and protection fees.

But I'd never mentioned any of it to Louis; I didn't want to burden him.

This time, however, I was truly terrified. I called him, sobbing so hard I could barely breathe.

I asked him, Louis, what do I do? Save Muffin, please save her

Louis knew how much Muffin meant to me, yet after a long silence, he still said he was sorry.

I watched, helpless, as those burly men crushed my cat to death.

I held her, feeling her grow cold and stiff in my arms.

It was the same powerlessness I felt when my mother died in my embrace.

Yet even then, I never hated Louis. I only regretted my own helplessness.

But now, the truth was laid bare before me: the landlord who demanded my rent was Louis.

The one who could have saved Muffin with a single word was also Louis.

But he didn't save her, and Muffin died.

I bit down hard on my teeth, barely suppressing a sob.

I ran out of the office building, hailed a taxi, and told the driver to take me to the airport.

In the car, my hands shaking, I called my father.

After twenty-seven years, the only person I could rely on was the father I had once disavowed.

Dad, please, come pick me up now? Please

Meanwhile, Louis Davies, Tiffany Chase, and his friends emerged from the office.

His head was bowed, his gaze fixed intently on our chat window.

Two whole days, and I hadn't sent him a single message.

He felt a surge of irritation, pulled out a cigarette to light it, then put it back, remembering I disliked the smell of smoke on him.

One of his good friends clapped him on the shoulder from behind, looking rather smugly at the dark screen.

Whats up, Louis? The little lady cant pay this time? Not playing with you anymore?

A flicker of annoyance crossed Louiss eyes as he pushed his friends arm away.

Who said that? Cathy loves me so much, shes probably off somewhere right now scraping money together for me!

Just you wait, after I give her a few days, shell cough up the money!

No sooner had the words left his mouth than the agent, who had overheard my name, came over.

Cathy Lord? Mr. Davies, you know Miss Lord? Perfect, she wants to sublease her flower shop, and I was worried you wouldn't agree!

Louis frowned. He had a vague feeling that the unease accumulating in his heart these past few days was about to find an answer today.

He tried to steady his emotions, feigning a casual tone.

The flower shop is doing so well, why would she sublease it?

The agent offered him a placating smile, completely unaware of the significance of his words.

Miss Lord said shes tired of running the flower shop. Shes going home to get married.