Midnight Bride The CEO’s Temptation

Gigi put her black credit card into the machine, typed the password, and stepped aside so that everyone could see the balance: $23, 759, 114.64.

The entire store went quiet. Gigi almost had as much as all of the other women combined, and there was no doubt in anyone's mind who would be winning a free bag. And most of them were also certain about who would be paying for it: Crystal.

Kendyll looked at Crystal with a shark-like Cheshire grin on her bitchy face. "You're up," she said. "Good luck beating that. Lol. If I were you, I'd run away. As ugly as you are, it's not like you have much to lose anyway." Crystal wanted to scratch out Kendyll's eyes and force her to eat them.

"Maybe you should run," Serenity muttered. "The purse costs two million dollars! You would be out of your mind to carry on with this charade."

"Shut up!" Crystal hissed. "I know what I'm doing. She looked at Kendyll and said, "It is never good to count your chickens before they're hatched."

"Fine," Kendyll laughed. "Hurry up and crack a few eggs. We're all anxious to see how many chickens you've got. I doubt you've got more than a couple thousand."

Crystal slowly opened her bag and took out her wallet. There were several cards there, and she flipped through them until she came to the last one. Combined, all of the other ones wouldn't amount to jack-shit, but the last one, the black card that Nathan had given her, was an entirely different card. Crystal smiled as she drew it, adding a bit of flourish for dramatic effect.

The other woman gasped when they saw the black card - even the store clerk was surprised. None of them had expected her to have a black card.

Crystal put the card into the machine and typed in the password. Nathan had said it was his birthday, and Tiffany had told her when his birthday was. After she entered the password, she pressed the green OKAY button, and a long list of numbers popped up.

Oh! My! God! - Crystal could not believe what she was seeing. She stepped aside so that everyone could see the number: $362,452,886.93. For a long moment, nobody said a word. Nobody could believe what they were seeing, but Serenity was the first to vocalize her disbelief. She said, "This can't be right. Can it? Do you really have an available balance of over three hundred and sixty dollars?"

Serenity counted the digits thrice more and came up with the same conclusion every time. Cecelia's face had turned white. She said, "It's impossible!" She had just realized that she had the least amount of credit available, and thus, she was the loser. It wasn't the losing that hurt, so much as it was losing to Crystal. It seemed inconceivable.

How did Crystal attain such good credit - Cecelia wondered - It's not scientific! She shook her head in disbelief and pointed a trembling finger at Crystal. "It must be a trick. Crystal, you are tricking us."

"That's not possible," Crystal said as she took the card out of the machine, wiped it, and put it back into her wallet. "Come on. Are you kidding me? Can a bank card be faked? Can the balance on an ATM be faked? If you think it can be, tell me how! Everyone tried it just now, using the same machine, so don't be dumb. You're embarrassing yourself."

Cecelia: "Even if the card is yours, and the ATM shows the balance is correct, where did the money come from? Do you have a sugar daddy?"

Kendyll: "Probably. She must be somebody's mistress. I bet she's real proud of herself. What would her mother think?"

Crystal ignored their cruel words and sarcasm. She said, "What does it matter to you how I got my money? It doesn't matter. The game is over, and I won, fair and square." She turned to Cecelia.

"If you are that reluctant to give up two million dollars, we can discuss it. After all, I can afford to buy my own purses with three hundred and sixty million dollars. All I want from you is for you to allow me to slap you across the face. Twice."

"Fuck that!" Cecelia snarled. She took out her credit card, handed it to the clerk, and said, "Swipe it."

Crystal glared at Cecelia. She had hoped to be able to slap her, and Cecelia glared right back at her.

Seconds later, the clerk returned the card to Cecilia and packed up the limited-edition bag to give to Crystal; as Cecelia put her card away, she said, "Crystal, you just wait and see. I will make you sorry for what you've done today."

"You have no right to take revenge." Crystal hissed. "This was your game, so have the decency to lose gracefully."

Cecelia smirked, and Crystal slapped her. across the face. "You needed that," she said. "Somebody needed to knock you off that pedestal you've put yourself on, so why not me? Remember this: Money isn't everything. First, you have some money, but that doesn't mean you can abandon your morals; second, this store is a public place. It's not just for people like you. And lastly - no matter how much money you have, there will always be people with more!"

Cecilia was exasperated. She tried to slap Crystal back, but Crystal stepped aside, and she was made to look even more pathetic.. "Come on," Kendyll urged. "Let's get out of here."

Crystal watched the women walk away. Once they were gone, she looked at the bag, smiled, and handed it to Serenity.

"Here you are," she said.

Serenity waved her hand and said, "I can't accept such a gift. It's too expensive. Even if I take it, people will take one look at me, and they would assume that it's fake."

Crystal realized that Serenity had a point. She thought about it for a moment, and then she led her friend back into the shop.