She Outshines Them All (Athena and Matthew)

When Daniel and Josie's car was trapped on the road by an accident, Donovan's Restaurant was still open. After all, the restaurant closed at nine p.m.

However, at nine o'clock, there were still many customers who had not finished dining. Therefore, the restaurant would wait for the customers to finish while cleaning up the kitchen.

At this moment, the receptionist found Arthur. "There's a girl at the entrance who has been loitering outside for over two hours. She even told us she cto our restaurant from Vredo City to eat, but she accidentally lost her phone. "She also said she can't remember her hnumber as she usually uses the shortcut to call home. She asked if we could let her eat on credit and she would pay us back double another day.

"We didn't say yes, but we gave her water and snacks, telling her to cback another day. However, she refused to leave. She said she's starving and wants us to make an exception." Arthur looked at the surveillance camera at the door and noticed the girl was dressed quite well. She did not seem to be inexperienced. His intuition told him that she was a liar.

"Ignore her," he said, "If she doesn't have a phone anymore or money, can't she call the police? Besides, why would someone cfrom Vredo City to eat our food? Moreover, why wouldn't she leave if she couldn't eat here?" The receptionist nodded. "That's what we thought. Let's leave her be then." ***** An hour later, all the customers had left, and the restaurant was almost cleaned up. Arthur checked the door, windows, taps, switches, and other things one last time.

He was about to leave when he saw the woman in the white dress still loitering outside the entrance of the restaurant on the surveillance camera. He frowned, wondering what the woman was doing.

He thought, 'She must have been here for almost three hours, right? Is she scouting the restaurant out?' Thinking of this, he quickly walked to the door and pulled it open. He said to the girl, "Lass, our restaurant is closed. It's late. Hurry up and go back. Don't stay here." The girl turned to look at him and clutched her stomach pitifully. "But I'm starving. I can't walk anymore." Under the light at the entrance, Arthur saw the girl's oval face, large eyes, tanned skin, and striking facial features. She looked like she was blessed and was unlikely to be poor. Arthur concluded that such a woman wouldn't be so poor as to starve.

However, he did not argue with her. He suggested, "How about I buy barbecue wings from the restaurant at the intersection and coffee for you? You can go hafter eating them, okay?" "No!" The pretty girl shook her head and clutched her stomach. "I cto eat at Donovan's Restaurant. Other than the restaurant's food, I don't want to eat anything else." Arthur was speechless. He wondered if the girl was trying to get him to pity her so she could dine and dash. Just as he thought this, the girl's stomach growled. Moreover, her voice was weak. Arthur decided she was really hungry. He could not help but ask, "If you can't eat here tonight, what will you do?" The girl said pitifully, "Then I'll wait here for the night. My family would soon find out they'd lost contact withand cto findaccording to my location. Then, I'll be able to eat the food here." Arthur asked, "Is your family rushing over from Vredo City?" The girl nodded. "Yes, the watch I'm wearing has a GPS function." Arthur wanted to roll his eyes. Vredo City was very far from Kitmore City. It would take a few hours even if they took the high-speed train. Moreover, it was already so late. There wouldn't be any more trains. Just then, the girl's stomach let out a growl again.

Arthur sighed helplessly and opened the door wider. "I'm one of the bosses of Donovan's Restaurant. Other than me, everyone else has gone back. If you trust me, I can cook for you now." Although his culinary skills couldn't be compared to his mother and the chefs, they weren't bad. It was especially so for the two specialty dishes. When he served them, he would receive plenty of praise from the customers. "That's great!" The girl's eyes sparkled instantly, her face lighting up. "Boss, you're so nice. I'm starving now. Hurry up and cook for me. I'll repay you in the future." Arthur turned around. "Cin. I'll cook for you now." He hoped that after she ate, she would not cagain.

He turned on the lights and stood in the kitchen, chopping and cooking. The pretty girl sat at the dining table closest to the kitchen. She rested her chin on her hands and swallowed her saliva while looking at him with sparkling eyes.

Seeing that the girl was extremely hungry, Arthur first made a simple pumpkin soup for her. Then, he made smoked ham pasta and brought it to her.

Afterward, he took out vegetables and made ratatouille. He thought that those three dishes would be enough for her.

Unexpectedly, just as he was about to bring the ratatouille to her, he saw the girl looking at him eagerly at the entrance of the kitchen with clean plates. He thought, 'She finished the pasta so quickly?' He placed the ratatouille on the dining table. "Is this enough for you?" "Not enough!" the girl replied, already digging in. "Can you make more for me?" Arthur was speechless. Eventually, he said, "If you ate so much at night, aren't you afraid you'll have indigestion? Won't it affect your sleep?" "I'm not afraid," the pretty girl said, "I've always loved to eat since I was young. My appetite is excellent, so my stomach is used to eating a lot by now. If I don't eat well or enough, I can't sleep at night." Arthur answered, "Alright, sit down and eat. I'll make two hamburgers for you and an omelet." The girl said, "How about four hamburgers? After all, I haven't had dinner. This can be considered two meals in one." After a long pause, Arthur nodded. "Alright, I'll do as you say." As he cooked, he heard the girl muttering outside, "It's really delicious! It's not a wasted trip that I took a plane from Vredo City just to eat here." Arthur didn't know what to say. He thought, 'Did she fly here just to eat at our restaurant? She must be exaggerating.' Soon, he placed the four hamburgers and a plate of omelet in front of the girl. Then, he sat next to her curiously to see if she could eat so much.

It turned out that not only was she able to eat them all, but she also ate very happily. After eating, the girl even turned around and secretly licked the plate. Arthur blinked in shock. He couldn't help but ask, "Are they that delicious?" The girl nodded vigorously, her face glowing. "They're very delicious. This is the best home-cooked food I've ever eaten. There's no other like them." Arthur suddenly felt very happy and satisfied. He casually said, "Alright, if you chere next time, I'll cook for you when I'm free." After saying that, he regretted it. He thought, 'If she comes to eat again, she probably will pay, right?'

"I'll definitely cand eat often in the future," the girl said solemnly I'll member how you cook fortoday when I'm starving. I'll repay you next time, no, tomorrow." "No need." Arthur waved his hand. "It's almost eleven o'clock. We should leave. Where are you staying tonight? Shall I send you back?" "Where am I staying?" The girl

tugged at her hair in distress. "After I got off the plane, I cstraight to Donovan's Restaurant because I was too excited. I left my phone and bag in the taxi and didn't book a hotel. I don't have a place to stay tonight." She looked at Arthur and asked, "Can you lendsmoney so I can stay at Travelodge for the night?" Arthur was speechless. Eventually, he sighed, "I'll send you to a nearby hotel. I'll use my identity card to book a room for you. You can stay there for the night."

The girl interlocked her fingers and her eyes sparkled. "Boss, you're really a good person. you're handsome, kind, and can cook well. I must repay you double for your help tonight." "No need." Arthur was afraid she would say something like "marry him", so he quickly said, "Let's go. I'll send you to the hotel." However, he did not expect the girl to have a chance to repay his kindness so quickly. When they arrived at the parking lot, they were surrounded by a group of masked thugs. Dozens of people cout of different cars and surrounded them.

Arthur even suspected that other than his car, the other cars in the parking lot belonged to those thugs.

He quietly retreated to the side of his car and grabbed the door handle with one hand. "Who are you? What do you want?" One of the masked thugs said, "Nothing. We just want to disfigure you."