"Kelly, your boyfriend looks so rough that he scared my girlfriend away," said Simon, smiling proudly.
Kelly glared at him coldly and didn't respond. She turned to Alex and suggested softly, "Let's move over there. Are you thirsty? I'll get you a drink."
Kelly pulled Alex to a long table with fruits and drinks, but his attention was on Simon. He was thinking of everything that he had heard about Cathy since he last saw her.
The last time he saw Cathy was in the Autumn Beauty boutique, and he had not seen her since. He was worried that she was not able to raise the three hundred and fifty thousand that Billy wanted, and that Billy really would get one of his friends to do something terrible to her. He had asked his classmates about Cathy's situation, but they could only tell him that she had taken a long leave of absence and had only returned to the dormitory occasionally, spending most of her time outside the campus.
As he hadn't seen her for a while, and then he had been distracted by the visit from Debbie's mother, Carla, he hadn't been thinking much about Cathy's situation recently. When he suddenly saw her today, everything came flooding back, and he wanted to know what was happening.
One of Simon's rich friends was asking him about Cathy. "Simon, where did you find her? You look great together."
Simon replied, "Her name is Cathy, and she goes to Preston University. The other day I was a bit bored and I heard that there was a student holding a photographic exhibition at the university, so I decided to sneak onto the campus and take a look. I was walking across the square to the library when this gorgeous creature walked right into me."
The others burst into laughter. They were all very similar to Simon, so they didn't find him selfish or superficial at all.
"Of course," Simon continued proudly, "Cathy was crying at the time. The fact was she owed some lowlife three hundred and fifty thousand dollars. She could probably tell straight away that I was rich, so she held my hand and said that as long as I helped her pay off her debt, she would be willing to be my girlfriend. And she said that I could do whatever I wanted to her. As you all know, I don't have any trouble pulling women, but something about her really caught my eye, so I was happy to give her the money. And now she's mine."
His friends looked at him admiringly. One said, "That's still pretty generous, Simon. To give her three hundred and fifty thousand just like that."
Another agreed, "Simon, since you really like this woman, are you going to keep her for a while this time? You got bored of your last few girlfriends in less than a month."
Simon came from a rich family, but he was also very shrewd with his money. "I haven't nearly finished with her yet. There's still quite a few things I want to try in the bedroom."
Alex heard what Simon said and frowned.
He turned to Kelly and said, "I need to go to the bathroom," then walked into the villa.
Sharon looked at Kelly with concern and said, "Kelly, I can't stop thinking there's something weird going on between Alex and that girl, Cathy."
Kelly didn't reply. She was quietly watching Alex walking away.
In the bathroom, Cathy was leaning against the wall, wondering to herself, how did Alex end up here with Simon's cousin? What's he doing with her? Is it something to do with this girl, Kelly, that Alex suddenly became rich?
In the mirror, she noticed the reflection of someone walking into the bathroom. She quickly adjusted her hair and makeup and made herself smile.
When she saw that it was Alex, her smile turned cold in an instant. She crossed her arms and leaned against the wall, scowling at him with disdain. She muttered, "It's only you, you scumbag."
Alex sighed. She hadn't changed at all. He walked up to her anyway.
"Get lost. Don't you know that you stink?" Cathy said in disgust. Being rude to Alex had cheered her up a bit.
"I've got one thing to say, and then I'll leave," he replied, although he knew that she didn't even want to look at him now. "Simon's a really horrible person. You should leave him as soon as you can. You'll be worse off than when you were with Billy."
"Are you serious?" she turned around and looked at him angrily. "You've got the nerve to say that to me? You're still hanging out with Simon's cousin. If Simon's not a good person, then his cousin isn't either."
"You've misunderstood me. I'm just trying to look out for you. And I'm not Kelly's boyfriend," he replied calmly.
"Why are you still arguing with me?" Cathy didn't believe him at all. "Just now in the garden, why didn't you deny being Kelly's boyfriend? Don't think that you can deceive me. I know what's going on. That one hundred thousand dollar donation you made to the village, then buying designer clothes in the Autumn Beauty boutique, it's all because of Kelly, isn't it? You're with her for her money, aren't you? She's supporting you."
"What—" Alex was stunned as he listened to her accusations.
"What's wrong?" Cathy sneered. "Alex, it won't matter if I tell everyone. You don't seem to have any problems picking up girls. First, you went off with that country peasant, then you met Kelly, and decided to use her to provide money for you and your peasant girlfriend. That sounds like a great plan. You disgust me."
Alex looked at her incredulously and replied, "I just wanted to tell you that Simon is only with you for one thing. He was telling all his friends while you were in the restroom. He just wants to sleep with you then, when he gets bored, he'll throw you out. And before you came, with my own eyes, I saw him hugging and kissing another woman."
"So what?" Alex found Cathy's carefree response bewildering. She said, "From when we first met, I knew Simon only wanted one thing, but he did help me pay off Billy, and he even bought me some pretty clothes and cosmetics. That's good enough for me."
She continued, "Of course, he's playing with me, and I'm also using him. It doesn't bother me that he doesn't want to marry me. He brings me to parties like this where I meet so many wealthy young men, I'm sure I'll end up with one of them, and then I'll be much richer than you'll ever be, pretty boy."
Alex felt stupid for trying to help Cathy when he realized that she had already thought it all through and was well aware of the situation. He pitied her that she could have so little self-respect as to let herself be used by such a lowlife as Simon in this way.
He turned around to leave, but Cathy pulled him back violently. He looked at her warily.
She said, "So, you came here to help me, did you? Is that because you're still in love with me?" She looked at him with contempt. "You're so sad. I've dumped you so many times already, but you can't stay away from me. You still want me to change my mind and come back to you, right? Don't be such an idiot. Even if I were with a dog now, I wouldn't come back to you."
Alex was regretting his decision to try to help Cathy. She was totally unreasonable. Now, he just wanted to get back outside to get some fresh air. He muttered, "Think what you like, I'm going."
But Cathy grabbed his arm tightly and said, "You scumbag. You want to leave just like that?"
"Let go of me." Alex swung his arm forcefully, but her fingers were like pincers, holding onto him tightly. He asked, "What are you trying to do?"
"What do you mean?" Cathy glared at him. She clenched her teeth as she blamed him for all her recent humiliations.
"Ah, what are you doing?" Alex asked again.
In response, Cathy suddenly shouted out, loudly, "Let go, you pervert!" Then she screamed, "Someone come quickly!"
Alex heard footsteps and understood what she was doing. He tried to speak, "You—" Cathy sneered at Alex, let go of his arm, and rushed out of the bathroom, bumping into Simon who had rushed over when he heard the commotion.
Simon put his arms around Cathy and anxiously asked, "What's wrong, baby?" The rest of the guests also gathered around her. Alex had no choice but to slowly walk out of the bathroom.
"It was him." Cathy pointed at Alex and said, "He was trying to molest me in the bathroom."
"What?" Simon looked at Alex furiously.
"Hell, this sucker doesn't want to live anymore, how dare he touch Simon's woman," said one of the guests when they heard what was happening.
Another agreed. "He looks like a total lowlife. What a nerve, and right in Simon's house."
"Beat him up," shouted another.
Simon was fuming. He let go of Cathy and walked slowly toward Alex, growling. "Stupid scumbag, I can't believe I let you stay at the party. I should have kicked you out when I first set eyes on you. How dare you try it on with my woman in my own home? Well, you're not getting away with it."
The other guests crossed their arms and watched the two men squaring up to each other. They were enjoying the show and were really looking forward to watching Simon beat up Alex.
Simon's fists were clenched, and he was getting ready to hit Alex in the face, when they all heard a shout from behind them, "Don't touch him!"
Simon turned around and saw that the others had moved to one side to allow Kelly through. She walked over with a serious expression.
Kelly slowly walked between the two men and stood in front of Alex, still glowering at Simon.
"What are you doing?" Simon asked, glaring back at her.
"He's mine, don't you dare touch him," she replied passionately.
"He touched my girlfriend. How can I not touch him?" Simon asked angrily.
"Alex, did you touch her?" Kelly asked Alex without looking at him. She was still glaring at Simon.
Alex looked at Cathy and replied, "No, I didn't do anything. She was lying. I know this woman and she's really malicious. She'll say anything to hurt me."
"My boyfriend said he didn't do it," Kelly said coldly.
"Did you not damn well hear what my girlfriend said? He tried to touch her. Why would she make it up? You're accusing my girlfriend of lying, right?" Simon said emphatically, so much so that he was almost spitting saliva.
"Even if she's telling the truth, I'm not letting you hurt Alex." Kelly was adamant. She wouldn't change her mind.
Simon was so angry that his face turned bright red. He shouted, "Kelly!" However, he knew that Kelly's family outranked his own, so he was powerless to do anything. He had to admit that he was beaten.
Simon's anger deflated like a gas tank releasing pressure.
Cathy couldn't believe it. She sneered at Kelly and said, "Kelly, why are you protecting him? Are you just going to believe him when he says that he didn't touch me? You've only been dating him for a few days, so you don't know what he's like. I was with him for an entire year."
Cathy saw Kelly still protecting Alex and was furious. She didn't want him to be happy with her, and she was determined to destroy their relationship. Then she and Kelly could get their revenge on Alex together.