Chapter 7: Buddy’s Revenge

My mood snapped back. I looked at Natalie, a little surprised.

“Miss Brooks, you still want to continue?”

Natalie’s red lips curled, her manner completely natural.

“Why wouldn’t I?”

“First, I have judgment—I can see what’s going on. I don’t think Mr. Walker did anything wrong.”

“Second, I have normal values. I don’t care if a man’s had women before.”

“Lastly, besides the blind date, there’s something else. Mr. Walker, you need to take responsibility.”

For a moment, I didn’t process it. “Take… take responsibility?”

A rich young lady wants me to take responsibility? For what?

God as my witness—I don’t even know her.

Natalie pursed her lips, then suddenly said, “I’ve got a golden retriever with a brisket addiction. You kind of owe him an apology.”

My brain nearly short-circuited.

“What?”

Natalie took out her phone and set it in front of me.

Puzzled, I looked down. One glance, and I was dumbfounded.

It was security footage, shot from a street lamp. The date—exactly the night I broke up with Lillian.

The six-million-dollar check lay on the ground. I was holding a bottle of whiskey, sitting on the curb outside my barbecue joint, bawling like a fool.

Next to me squatted a real dog, stealing the barbecue skewers I’d packed from the restaurant.

“Little dog, you’ve got a tag—why are you a stray? You got abandoned too, huh? Damn, me too… These skewers are cold, don’t eat them. See that restaurant? I own it. Come here same time tomorrow, we’ll be brothers in misfortune, I’ll treat you to a feast every day.”

In the video, my drunken self was tugging the dog’s ear, babbling nonsense. God, I looked like every sad country song rolled into one. No wonder the dog lost faith in humanity.

Outside the video, I wanted to dig a hole and bury myself.

“The camera caught it all. Our Buddy really did show up the next night. Waited at your place all night. But Mr. Walker, you never showed.”

Hearing Natalie’s words, my expression froze.

Because the next day, I got the call—my grandfather was critically ill. I rushed home.

Natalie locked her phone, looked at me with a sigh, and after a pause, added:

“After that night, Buddy truly understood the evil of mankind. He’s been depressed at home ever since.”