Alex called Debbie and asked her where she was. He quickly rushed over.
He found her in an alley near the university. She was holding a small notebook and recording something.
"What are you writing?" Alex walked over and took the book from Debbie's hands. With a glance, he saw that there were more than ten lines about rent written on it.
"One room in Jones Street… five hundred dollars per month… water and electricity bills not included."
"It's the same at number fourteen with the courtyard in the alleyway… five hundred dollars per month," he read aloud.
"If I use an agency, it will cost me an extra month's rent. I don't have that much money, so I'm doing my search since I haven't got anything else to do today. The apartments near the school are too expensive for me. I haven't found anything suitable yet, but I'm going to continue looking," Debbie said.
Seeing her serious expression, Alex was tempted by her once again.
"Keep in mind that you can't trust the information in these small ads. Maybe you should find an agent anyway," Alex said as he covered Debbie's notebook with his hand.
"I don't know what to do." Debbie was momentarily at a loss. In Alex's eyes, that silly expression of hers was really cute, and he couldn't help but pinch her face gently. She lowered her head and blushed slightly.
"Relax. I already found a room for you yesterday. The price is pretty cheap. It's near the Green Island Garden. Let's take a taxi over there," he said.
"Really?" Debbie's heart was filled with sweetness. She was surprised that it would be near the Green Island Garden, which was New York's most high-end residential area. How could the houses nearby be cheap?
"It's not far—let's go," he said, but Debbie stopped him when she saw that he was about to wave for a taxi.
She knew that Alex wasn't rich and didn't want to let him spend the money.
"All right, let's walk over," Alex said, as he still didn't want Debbie to know he was rich.
"Ouch!" she cried out as soon as they had taken a few steps.
"Maybe I walked too much today. It doesn't matter—just give me five minutes to rest." Debbie had left school at six o'clock that morning so she could find a room. She had been walking for almost four hours, so naturally, her legs hurt.
Alex pursed his lips, feeling a special pain in his heart. This silly girl—how much suffering can she endure? he thought.
"I'll carry you," he said. He squatted down in front of her and patted his shoulder for her to hop on, so he could carry her on his back.
Leaning on Alex's sturdy back, she felt very at ease.
Alex's hands wrapped around Debbie's thighs. At first, he didn't feel anything, but, later, he focused his attention on that soft touch.
Her body is so light. Maybe less than a hundred pounds? My hand is now touching her leg. It's so soft. Oh Alex, why are you thinking about this? If Debbie knew, what would she think of you? he thought.
He chased the complicated thoughts out of his mind and quickly walked on with Debbie on his back.
When they arrived at the Green Island Garden District, Debbie had fallen asleep on Alex's back because she was so tired.
He gently carried her into a bedroom in the million-dollar villa, where he put her on the soft bed. She looked so serene and beautiful in her sleep. Her white face, pink cherry lips, and slim figure were so attractive. He sat beside her and silently watched her with great enjoyment.
An hour later, Debbie woke up. She saw Alex smiling at her and her heart jumped. Then, she noticed the room she was in.
The spaciousness, the brown wooden door, the gilded chandelier, the huge French windows… Debbie had never seen such a luxurious room.
"Where are we?" she asked as she sat up with her heart pounding.
"Don't be afraid—this is the room I told you about. You don't have to worry about the rent. This is my friend's house. He's not at home these days, so you can stay here," Alex quickly explained to her.
"Is that a good idea?" Debbie whispered, but, in her heart, she liked it there.
"What's wrong with it?" Alex smiled brightly. He didn't give her a chance to refuse and began to show her around the house.
"Do you like it here?" he asked.
"Yes," Debbie replied, nodding with embarrassment.
"It's good that you like it," Alex said and patted Debbie's head. "I'll bring you to another place now."
"Where to?" she asked.
"Come with me and I'll show you," Alex said as he pulled her out of the villa. They grabbed a taxi and headed straight for Ledi, the fashion shopping mall.
"Let's go somewhere else," Debbie said as she thought Alex was going to buy something for her. She knew that this was the most expensive shopping mall in New York. It wasn't something he could afford.
"Just follow me," he said as he smiled and pulled her into the mall.
As a billionaire, what was there to be afraid of? Plus, Lucy Smith had recently given him a women's clothing store.
Don't even mention Autumn Beauty Boutique, thought Debbie. She would usually buy clothes second hand, but she was feeling especially nervous as she pulled on Alex's arm and carefully walked towards the boutique.
The boutique's manager, Russell, saw a young man and woman enter through the door and frowned slightly. The couple was dressed very poorly, and it was obvious that they did not qualify as customers.
Russell walked up to the young man and woman, preparing to tactfully tell them that this was not the right place for them and hint that they should hurry up and leave.
"Hello, we have clothes that range in price from one hundred dollars to over fifteen hundred dollars. Perhaps this store isn't in your budget." Russell politely stated the price of his boutique's clothing, hoping they would back off.
However, the more he looked at the young man, the more familiar he seemed to be. Finally, he remembered.
"It's you—" Russell recognized Alex, the man that Lucy had brought with her a few days ago. Lucy had told him that the owner of this boutique would be Alex from now on.
Russell was stopped from saying more by Alex's gaze.
Hearing the manager's words, Debbie was truly frightened. She tried to pull Alex away and leave that expensive boutique, but he didn't move. He only looked at her calmly, "It's fine—I have money." Then he whispered into her ear, "It would be embarrassing to walk out now, so don't be afraid. Let's buy the cheapest thing and then we can go."
To support Alex, Debbie listened to him. However, she still felt very uneasy in her heart.
Alex put her hand on his arm and started strolling around the boutique. The Autumn Beauty Boutique consisted of high-end, fashionable ladies' clothing. Debbie's eyes were blurry, just like Cinderella's when she saw her crystal shoes. She especially liked the clothes there.
"Help her try on this piece," Alex said to Russell, who had been following them, as he saw the look of desire in Debbie's eyes when she spotted a pink dress.
"No need to take it—it's not good!" Debbie quickly said. It was not that she didn't like it, but it was because the price was too expensive. It was over three hundred dollars, which was something she couldn't even imagine.
"Let's try this. A light orange dress that looks like something an ancient Athenian goddess would wear. It will look really good on you," Alex said, but she rejected it with embarrassment. "I'd rather not wear it. I don't like that style," she whispered.
Alex consecutively selected a few sets of clothes for Debbie. She had already used all sorts of reasons to reject them, so how could he not understand her intentions? He could only sigh, thinking that this girl was too simple.
Russell, who stood to the side, felt it was strange. He had thought that Alex was a pretty boy that Lucy Smith kept. Now, it seemed that this wasn't the case, which improved his impression of Alex a little. However, the new boss's girlfriend was too incomprehensible. It was expensive, and this was still Alex's store. But she didn't even want to buy a single piece of clothing. If this girl wasn't faking it, then she was a rare good one.
"This one should be fine. It's not expensive, so just try it," Alex said and pointed at a pure white dress.
"Okay, I'll try it," she said nervously, having her thoughts exposed by Alex. This dress was already the cheapest in the store at one hundred and fifty dollars, so she decided to try it on.
Alex was especially happy to hear her finally agree. He held the clothes and walked toward the fitting room. Then the fitting room door in front of Debbie opened.
"Alex—why are you here?" exclaimed the pretty girl who was Alex's ex-girlfriend, Cathy Fairweather. She looked at Alex in confusion and then noticed Debbie. Her eyes instantly became sharp. "Who is she? Did you buy her those clothes?"
No matter what, Cathy would never have thought that she would meet Alex here. When she was with him in the past, he would at most take her to an expensive card shop. Autumn Beauty Boutique was the most expensive boutique brand.
"She's my friend. I brought her here to buy clothes," Alex muttered as he was also very shocked to see Cathy, but he quickly calmed down.
"Friend? Hmph—I think you're treating her like she was your girlfriend, right?" Cathy snorted coldly and said in a shocked manner, "You scum—when did you bring me to such a high-end place? You never wanted to spend money on me. How many days did she follow you around for this? Are you going to go bankrupt to buy things for this little vixen?"
Cathy had gotten used to Alex being nice to her alone. Even though they had broken up almost a month ago, he still hadn't said a single harsh word to her when she saw him, especially when they had met at the library. She had easily tricked Alex and dumped him, but she still felt that she could hold an important position in his heart.
She simply couldn't accept Alex being so good to another girl!
However, her words made Debbie think.
So, he already had a girlfriend, Debbie thought as a wave of disappointment ran through her body and bitterness shook her heart.