Chapter 33.

"You must be kidding, right, Dad? This can't be aged

wine!" James' eyes were wide as dinner plates. "Look at how yellowish it

looks, though. It must be fake!" Florence accused. "You guys must not

have seen brews like this before. Aged craft brews get this color, and it

only darkens the longer it's been aging. Every wine connoisseur knows

this." The looks on everyone's faces quickly changed. Their accusations

had just been dampened significantly, not by just anyone but by John

Nicholson himself, a well- known wine enthusiast. His judgment couldn't

be wrong. "I was blessed to be able to try such a fine wine years ago

with a government official, but this brew right here must be finer than

the one I had that body and finish tell me it must've been aged for at

least 50 years!" John smacked his lips, still enjoying the brew's

aftertaste. ? "How much would it cost on the market?" James asked

curiously. "It's priceless. You couldn't find a willing seller even if

you offered a city's worth. But if we judge based on recent wine auction

values, it should cost at least two million dollars," "Two million?!"

Everyone gasped. They've never even heard of wine that costs this much!

Chris' Grand Cru was nothing compared to that! "N–no way!" Florence

refused to believe it. "Are you sure about this, John? How could Dustin

be able to afford this?" "Yeah! He can't even afford a nice pair of

pants, not to mention something this expensive!" James cried. His

argument brought forth the table's resounding agreement. "He has a point.

How could that vagrant have that much money?" "Hmm… where did you get

this brew, Dustin?" John asked gently. "A friend gave it to me," he

answered truthfully. "Gave it to you?" Florence scowled. "How could

someone like you have friends rich enough to buy a drink like that? Even

if they did, why would they give it to you in the first place? I bet you

stole it from them!' "Yeah, he must've stolen it!" James nodded

vigorously, finding a new accusation to slap Dustin with. He refused to

believe Dustin could afford this sort of quality wine, whether or not it

was given to him by a friend. "Why did you have to steal this of all

things, Dustin? Do you know how many years you'll have to spend in prison

for theft?" Chris huffed, appearing to be considerate. How could that

pauper have gotten a hold of something not even he could. "Whether you

believe me or not doesn't matter to me. I didn't steal it, and that's

enough for me," Dustin droned. First, they called his wine cheap. Then,

after revealing it wasn't, they find another accusation of him having

stolen it. Next, they would just say he blackmailed Natasha into giving

it to him. That's why there was no use explaining to them further. "Hah,

see? Where's your excuse now? I knew you stole this!" Florence screeched.

"You thief! I can't believe you stole this just to look good in front of

us!" James gasped, playing along. "Whatever. I got this wine for Granddad

and Granddad only, so you guys don't have to drink any if you don't want

to!" Dustin rolled his eyes. He had had enough of this crap. "Enough, all

of you! I trust Dustin with my whole heart, and I know he didn't steal

this wine, so stop it!" Henry finally ground out. "But Granddad… "Be

quiet! Eat your food!" the old man ordered once again. Only then did

everyone shut up. Even Florence and James, who still didn't believe he

could have lawfully gotten his hands on the craft brew. Dinner finally

began. Even though everyone had their turn at smearing Dustin's name,

they still gladly took their share of the craft brew. Even those who

didn't drink alcohol tried a few sips. After all, this brew cost over two

million dollars on the market, a precious delicacy they had never had the

luck to try before. Why pass on the opportunity? Dustin could only snort

at how stubborn this family of people was. Dinner soon came to an end.