The next afternoon, there were no classes, so Alex went to the library to read instead.
As he walked up the stairs to the library, he heard someone calling his name.
"Alex."
He knew that voice well. When he turned around, he saw Cathy standing at the foot of the stairs. She was wearing the plain white dress that he'd bought for her last year.
On seeing his expression, Cathy felt triumphant. This was going exactly as she'd expected.
She strolled over to him and gave him a sweet smile. "Do I look good in this outfit?"
He was dazed for a moment, and then he answered, "What do you want?"
She pouted, not liking his tone. "What?" she asked. "We were good together, weren't we? So why are you being so cold now?"
She looked into his eyes, making herself look sad, as she reached out to tug at his jacket. This had always worked on him in the past. Whenever she'd looked at him like this, he'd given her whatever she wanted.
But on this occasion, he merely shrugged her off, looking at her with indifference. "If there's nothing else, I'll be going."
With that, he continued to climb the stairs.
Cathy stood frozen on the spot. He had always treated her like something precious, and now he didn't seem to care at all. The difference in him was shocking.
Anger flooded her. Damn you, Alex, she thought. I don't believe for a second that you've fallen out of love with me that quickly!
"Hey!" she shouted sharply, drawing the attention of everyone around her. "Alex, where is your gratitude? Last year, I had so many rich and powerful men chasing me, and I gave up all of them to be with you. Even though it meant only eating in the cafeteria and at roadside stands! I gave you everything and you repay me by abandoning me so heartlessly? Are you ashamed of me?"
She stood at the bottom of the stairs, shouting at the top of her voice. When she was finished, she adopted a pitiful expression, as if she had been cast aside by the love of her life.
The students in front of the library were all fascinated by her speech, and they turned to stare at Alex.
"Scum!" one muttered.
"She treated you so well, and you just abandoned her," someone else yelled. "Shame on you!"
A few of the male students moved to her side to comfort her.
"Hey, gorgeous. Why are you wasting your time on a man like that?" one asked. "Just toss him aside."
"You're far too good for the likes of him," another man agreed. "He's not worth getting upset over."
Alex couldn't understand what Cathy was up to.
Her claims simply weren't true. Before they'd dated, there hadn't been such powerful people chasing after her. And, yes, he was poor, but he'd still treated her well. He'd always been respectful and had never pressured her for anything.
Several girls surrounded Alex.
"You were lucky to have such a good girlfriend," one girl said.
"You'll regret letting her go," said another. "Take her back, or you'll find yourself the hottest topic online."
Cathy marched over to Alex and grabbed his arm with some force as if she was afraid that he would run away.
"Thank you, but we're fine," she said to the other students, who quickly dispersed.
"What are you up to?" Alex demanded as they walked through the school. He couldn't seem to shake her off, no matter how hard he tried.
"You won 150,000 dollars?" She glanced slyly at him.
"Yeah, I did, but that has nothing to do with you," he calmly pointed out.
So that's why she came looking for me, he thought. He smiled wryly. He should have known.
Cathy was stunned. Alex seemed to have gone back to being cold.
"Don't say that. After all, we made so many beautiful memories together." Her smile felt a little awkward.
"When we were together, I would have given you every last cent of my money, and I wouldn't have cared, but now I'm much wiser than before," he said. "So, thank you for helping me to understand that no matter how much I gave you, it would never have been enough."
When he saw her shocked expression, his heart felt a little lighter. He opened his mouth but didn't know what else to say, so he simply freed himself from her grip and walked away.
Cathy's heart sank with disappointment. This was all too much. If only she'd broken up with Alex a few days later. Then the 150,000 dollars would have been all hers.
As she watched him leave, she became anxious. If she missed this opportunity, she might not get another, and then his money would be completely out of her reach.
"Alex!" she shouted. No matter what, she would fight for that money.
He stopped, and she quickly caught up, hugging him from behind, and pressing her face against his back.
"Alex, you've changed. You were never so cold to me before," she said quietly. "I didn't want to tell you this, but now I must confess. Alex, I broke up with you for your good."
"For my good?" He gaped at her, stunned speechless and fighting hard not to laugh. God damn it, she says it's for my good, he thought.
"Of course, I did it for your sake." She stepped in front of him, her expression determined. "When we were together, you were so tired from doing all kinds of part-time jobs to buy me gifts and nice meals. I felt so sorry for you. And that's why I decided to break up with you."
"Really?" he asked. That is quite a good reason to break up, he thought. Could it be true?
"Don't you believe me?" She kept her expression serious. Alex remained silent, and she felt she was getting somewhere. "But it's different now," she continued. "Now that you have money, we can have everything we want without you having to work so hard. Everything will be better." She blinked up at him. "You do understand that I was just trying to do what was best, right? You can't just give up on me now that you have money."
"Do you want me back simply because of my money?" he asked, staring into her eyes. "Be honest."
"I don't care about the money. You're the only man I care about." She didn't look away. "Leaving you broke my heart! From now on, even if you end up penniless, I will stand by you. I swear. Please, Alex. Let me be with you." She dived into his arms.
For a moment, Alex was at a loss. It felt just like the old days. He slowly put his arm around her.
When she felt him hold her, Cathy hid a smile.
"I honestly thought you didn't want me anymore!" She stepped out of his embrace and gave him a light thump on the chest.
Looking at her pretty face, Alex wanted to be with her forever. If she was being sincere about wanting to be with him, then he would treat her as well as before.
"Cathy, would you like me to transfer some money to you?" Alex took out his cellphone as if he would pass her the money the moment she said yes.
"No." She smiled. "I already told you that I'm not doing this for the money. Keep it. If I need anything, I'll tell you."
Since Alex seemed to trust her completely, there was no need to ask for money right now. There would be plenty of opportunities in the future.
She held his arm as they strolled around the campus. They walked to the small square in front of the canteen, where some kind of event was being held in a red tent.
A girl with a ponytail walked over to Alex. "Hi. We're from a local charity," she said. "And for the last two days, we've been running a fundraiser for poor children from the nearby village. Their lives are so difficult. Would you be willing to help them?"
"All right, I'll donate. Can I pay through my phone?" Alex asked.
"Sure, just use this code." The girl handed him the information. "Thank you so much. This money will be used to help the poorest children in the region."
He arranged the payment on his phone. Cathy leaned in closer, trying to see how much he had donated, but he was already finished.
From the red tent, a female voice exclaimed, "Wow! We just got 130,000 dollars!"
Hearing this number, the crowd were stunned into silence.
The donation was enormous. Other students had donated twenty, fifty, or a hundred dollars each. The other donations combined didn't come to 130,000 dollars!
Everyone was eager to know who had given so much. That kind of money could pay for the tuition of quite a few students.
"Oh, it was you!" said the girl with the ponytail, realizing the truth as she looked at Alex. "You donated 130,000 dollars."
"Yeah. I just want to help the local kids," Alex said, shrugging.
Everyone gathered around, staring at him as if he was some kind of celebrity.
"What's your name?" the girl asked. "I'll make sure you get a proper acknowledgement for your kind donation." She pulled out a pen and paper, ready to note down his details.
"Forget it," he said. "It's no big deal." When he finished speaking, the surrounding students sighed.
This man was so incredibly generous.
Was he secretly rich? It wasn't a huge sum of money for some people, but usually, when someone donated that much money, they wanted everyone to know about it.
"Cathy, let's go." Alex looked over at her.
"You donated all of your money?" An ugly expression crossed her face.
Her heart had sunk when she'd heard the voice announcing the donation, and she'd frozen with shock.
"Yes." He moved closer and took her hand, smiling. "Didn't you just say that you would be with me whether I have money or not? Well, I wanted to use that money to do something worthwhile. I'm sure you're happy with that. Don't worry. I still have more than 160 dollars, so we can go to the cafeteria and get some buns."
"Get lost!" she snarled, shaking off his hand.
"Cathy? What's wrong?" He looked over at her.
"Alex, you're a stupid loser who deserves to be poor for the rest of your life!" She glared fiercely at him, retreating one step at a time. Then, she whirled around and flounced off.
Alex shook his head. He'd hoped that she'd changed, but as expected, she'd let him down.
Oh, Cathy, he thought. You have no idea that I still have a lot more than 130,000 dollars.