With those few words, the man sitting in the corner reclaimed control of the conversation.

Yvonne turned toward him. Well, this didn't bother her since she could still afford to pay for a bottle of brandy. "Will you apologize to Rachel if I pay you back?"

The man answered straightforwardly, "Sure. But you'll have to bring me 250 thousand dollars first."

"250 thousand?" Yvonne stared at the pieces of the bottle incredulously and thought, "Is this the elixir of God or what?"

"Don't you dare blackmail us!" Rachel shouted. "Or we'll call the police!"

"Go ahead! Let's ask the police whether this premium Cognac is worth this price!"

"You were so fearless when you smashed the bottle, yet you're shying away from paying the price?"

"Just admit you're broke. Why bother pretending?"

The constant stream of verbal jabs sent Yvonne's head spinning. She quickly realized that the man in the corner was the one with the most power in the room.

Indeed, she was the one who smashed the bottle, so it was o