"Stop!" Robert dashed between Alex and Karen.
Before Alex could speak, Karen waved the Supreme Card in the air. Her eyes flashed with triumph as she said to Robert, "Mr Miller, look! He stole a card from the VIP room!" She smiled at him, her expression a little smug.
Surely, Mr Miller would be happy with her for preventing theft. He had a lot of authority in the eastern district of Metro Sky Bank, and when he had arrived at headquarters, he had seemed impressed with her, so she was hoping for a promotion. Her imagination began to run away with her as she dreamed about her possible future.
Mr Miller's face had always been a little glum, but as she watched, his expression grew darker and darker. Before she could figure out why, she was startled by his explosive roar, leaving her entire body trembling.
"Let go of Mr Ambrose!" As he yelled, Mr Miller knocked the Supreme Card out of her hand, and she was so scared that she let go of Alex. Mr Miller pushed her aside and bent down to pick up the card. "Mr Ambrose, your card. I'm very sorry. I haven't trained Ms Young properly. I do apologize."
Mr Miller's expression showed a mixture of respect, embarrassment, and unease, as the bank's customers looked on in amazement. Karen was stunned.
Could the Supreme Card be his? she wondered.
Her eyes widened. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't make sense of it.
If this man had a Supreme Card, then he had at least three million dollars, yet he appeared to only be around twenty years old. A poor, lower-class loser with that much money? No, it was just too unlikely.
"It's not your fault, Mr Miller," Alex assured him, slipping the card back into his pocket.
"Thank you, Mr Ambrose." Robert dipped his head and paused briefly before straightening up and shouting at Karen, "Why are you just standing there? Apologize to Mr Ambrose immediately!"
How could Karen still not understand? Robert thought. The young man standing in front of them was seriously rich and needed to be treated with respect.
Karen immediately bowed her head at Alex. "Mr Ambrose, I'm very sorry for my rude behaviour. I made a mistake, created a fuss over nothing, and put my hands on you. It was my fault, and I will reflect on my behaviour—"
Alex ignored her and walked away.
"Mr Ambrose," Robert called after him. "If you ever need anything, just give me a call, and I'll do my best to help."
Robert was excited by this opportunity. It was rare to meet someone as important as Alex, so he shamelessly tried to charm him.
"Okay, Robert." Alex smiled faintly. Robert had come to his defence, after all.
The use of his first name made Robert feel quite emotional. The wealthiest customers called him by his first name, and now so did this poorly dressed young man, who displayed not even a hint of arrogance.
Alex strode out of the bank and hailed a taxi to take him back to Preston University.
**
As Alex entered the university building, he accidentally stepped into a puddle, splashing a lot of mud on his legs.
He checked his watch then rushed toward the classroom, where Mr Morgan was already standing at the podium, lecturing. He spotted Alex out of the corner of his eye and a hint of disappointment flashed across his face.
Feeling guilty, Alex lowered his head.
Of all his teachers, Mr Morgan was his favourite. The other teachers tended to ignore Alex because he had no money, and some even openly mocked him. Only Mr Morgan treated him like any other student.
Alex slipped quietly into the classroom, aware that all the students were staring at him, and he could hear them whispering.
"He isn't usually late. Hell must have frozen over."
"Look at his pants! They're filthy. Doesn't he have any clean clothes?"
"Are you joking? It's not like he'd have the money for new ones. It looks like he's just thrown on whatever he could find."
Some of the boys continued to talk, and the girls in the front row covered their mouths with their hands as they joined in. Their eyes flashed with contempt when they looked at Alex.
"Stop talking!" Mr Morgan said loudly. "And pay attention."
Throughout the lecture, Alex noticed that Mr Morgan kept glancing at him, his eyes full of disapproval, as if Alex had failed to live up to his expectations.
Eventually, the lecture was over.
"Class dismissed."
Mr Morgan packed up his textbooks and left.
"Cathy." The voice came from the doorway.
Everyone turned in the direction of the voice and saw Billy walking through the door and going straight to Cathy, who was sitting by the window. She stood and hugged him, pulling him in close to her body. Billy lowered his head and the two of them began to kiss.
Many of the students turned to stare at Alex. Everyone thought that he was Cathy's boyfriend, and they weren't aware that she had broken up with him.
Alex watched in disgust. He'd heard that Billy had taken at least five different girls to stay at that hotel. Cathy was just the latest in a long line, and Alex had no intention of fighting for her.
Billy strutted past Alex with his arm around Cathy's waist.
"Darling, wait a minute," Cathy said to Billy as she stopped in front of Alex and held out her phone. "Since we've broken up, I don't want to owe you anything. Here's the phone you bought for me a few weeks ago. You can have it back."
Alex glanced at the Samsung Galaxy phone and then took it.
"Hah, you would have to work part-time for six months to afford one of these!" Cathy took a brand-new phone out of her pocket and showed it to Alex. "This is the latest iPhone, and it's much better than your phone."
"Of course, it's far too expensive for a loser like him." Billy raised his chin and looked at Alex. "Cathy told me that she kept asking for that phone for six months before you finally bought it for her. Do you think you can pick up a girl so far out of your league? You're just embarrassing yourself, so give up. And I'm warning you now: don't even think about her. If I find out you've gone anywhere near her, you'll regret it!"
"Don't waste your breath talking to a loser like him. Can we go to De Luca's for lunch?" Cathy had already dismissed Alex.
"Call me baby," Billy said, smiling at her.
"Baby, let's go." She flirted with him right in front of Alex.
"Cathy!" A petite girl stood up, glaring at her. "You're taking it all too far. I never thought you'd break up with Alex, and I'm ashamed of you."
"Emma, why do you care?" She scowled. When things had been going well with Alex, she'd been on good terms with Emma, who was a decent person. Sometimes, when Cathy had been fighting with Alex, she had asked Emma's opinion about who was in the right.
"You gave up Alex for someone like Billy?" Emma asked. "How could you treat Alex like this? When you were sick and couldn't even get out of bed, Alex sent you lunch and dinner every day for a month. And when you were walking in the mountains and twisted your ankle, he carried you on his back for miles down the mountain. Don't you remember that? You know he doesn't make much money from his part-time jobs, but when you wanted a phone, he worked hard for months to save enough money to buy it for you. And this is how you repay him? By breaking up with him and ridiculing him?"
Cathy scowled. "I never forced him to do anything. If he was stupid enough to go along with it, that's his problem! And so what if he bought me a cell phone? It was only a Samsung. And why would I want a Samsung when I can have an iPhone?"
Emma shook her head. "Cathy, I don't understand you. Do you only care about money? Will money get you everything you want?"
"Yes!" Cathy barked out a laugh. She stared at Emma and said, "I admit that I like money. Is that so wrong?" She took Billy's arm and said, "Come on, baby, let's go. These two poor people disgust me."
She glared at Alex and Emma and then swept out of the classroom with her head held high