The Waitress With a PhD Who Silenced a Arrogant And Rude Billionaire
Chapter 24
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"No, it's mine." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a business card. "But I'd like to help you if you'll let me. This is my personal number. If you need anything, anything at all: a job reference, help with bills, connections in the academic world... whatever you need."Camille looked at the card, but didn't take it. "I don't need charity.""It's not charity. It's restitution. I hurt you. I want to make it right.""You can't.""I know, but I'd like to try." He set the card on the table between them. "Your mother needs expensive medication. You need to finish your degree. I can help with both. Not as a handout, but as the bare minimum of what I owe you."Camille stared at the card. Pride screamed at her to refuse, to walk away with her dignity intact. But then she thought of her mother, of the medication bottles, of the unfinished dissertation on her laptop."Why would you do that?" she asked."Because maybe if I help you, I can become someone I don't hate. Maybe if I do something good, it'll balance out some of the bad." He smiled sadly. "Selfish reasons, really, but the end result is the same: you get help; your mother gets her medication; you get to go back to your studies.""I can't go back to Paris. My mother needs me here.""The Sorbonne has distance learning programs. You could finish your dissertation remotely, defend via video conference. I have connections there. I could make some calls."Camille's heart raced. Was this real? Could she actually finish her degree? Could her mother get the care she needed?"I don't trust you," she said bluntly."Good. You shouldn't. But trust can be built. Let me prove myself. Let me show you that I'm capable of being better than I was." He pushed the card closer to her. "Please, let me try to make this right."Camille looked at the card, then at Theodore, then out the window at the bright morning sun. Her mother's voice echoed in her mind:Kindness, hope, and love should always lead. Was this kindness? Could someone like Theodore Lancaster be capable of genuine change? Or was this just another game, another way to exert power over her?But looking at his face, at the genuine remorse and desperate hope in his eyes, Camille thought maybe, just maybe, he was sincere.She picked up the card. "Okay," she said. "But I have conditions.""Anything.""First, you help my mother: full medical care, whatever she needs. But through a foundation or anonymous donation, not directly from you. I don't want her to know you're involved.""Done.""Second, you help me get back into the Sorbonne program and pay for it. But again, as a scholarship or grant, not as a personal gift. I need to earn this, not just be handed it.""I understand. Consider it done."