Zara had no idea that Alex was rich, so Karen stopped paying attention to her and started to fix her makeup.
"Karen, this is your big chance to get James to admit his feelings. Hurry up and finish making yourself look pretty. If you get any prettier, I'll be jealous!" Zara teased.
"I know I need to make the most of this opportunity," Karen said, applying mascara to her eyelashes. Does she think I'd go to this much trouble for James? she thought. No, I'm trying to attract Alex, not James.
Zara had no idea what Karen was thinking.
"It's still early, so let's take a stroll in the mall." Zara took Karen's arm and went to pull her into the shopping mall.
"No, Alex will be here soon. It would be rude to not be here when he arrives." Karen refused to move. Meeting up with Alex was the most important thing she had to do. Nothing else mattered.
"Why do you care so much about a loser like him?" Zara pouted.
Twenty minutes later, Alex stepped out of the taxi, and his eyes lit up when he saw two beautiful women walking toward him.
Karen was very pretty. She was tall and curvy, with long wavy hair. Her makeup highlighted her beautiful face, and the split in her long skirt provided flashes of her legs as she walked. She was every man's fantasy.
"You're late." Zara slapped Alex's shoulder. "And you made us wait for you. Who do you think you are?"
"Zara, stop it!" Karen stuck up for him. "The university isn't that close, and twenty minutes isn't long at all." She turned to Alex. "Sorry, you know how impatient my cousin can be."
Zara felt uncomfortable. Why is my cousin saying that about me? she thought. He's just a loser. Why is she taking his side? But then she remembered that her cousin was tricking Alex into liking her, and Zara's resentment faded as she understood.
"Alex, what happened to the Mercedes? Why did you come in a taxi?" Zara crossed her arms as she smirked at Alex.
After what had happened the previous day, Alex didn't want to hide his identity anymore.
Karen started to panic. Would Alex admit who he was? It's over, she thought. Zara is going to find out.
"Did you send the Mercedes to the garage for repairs?" Zara sneered. It was hard to tell when this loser was lying. He was just too good at it. "Stop pretending. Rachael already told me the car isn't yours. You were just trying to play the big man that day."
"Oh?" Alex said, annoyed at Zara's attitude. "Then tell me, if that wasn't my car, then why didn't I make Howard pay for the damage? I'm just a poor loser, remember? I can't afford that much money."
Zara didn't have an answer for that. She blushed as she tried to think of an explanation.
"You just wanted to act tough in front of us," Zara said in exasperation. "Besides, you're so poor that it doesn't make a difference how much it costs. Even if it was only a hundred dollars, you still couldn't pay it back!"
Tired of arguing, she didn't even give him a chance to respond. She pushed him and kicked him a few times. "Don't you dare talk back to me."
Zara's kicks didn't hurt, so Alex couldn't be bothered to fight with her.
"Karen, be careful," Zara said. "This loser looks honest, but he's a schemer."
"It's fine. Don't worry about us," Karen said. "Zara, don't you have an appointment to get to?" She winked.
They had agreed that after Alex arrived, Zara would leave and call James, asking him to come. When he saw Alex, he would be overcome with jealousy.
Karen had been forced to go along with the plan to prevent Zara from asking questions. Simply dating Alex without agreeing to have James appear would have been too suspicious.
Of course, she couldn't let James sabotage her date with Alex, so she needed to find a secluded place where James wouldn't find her, and then she would think of a way to explain it to Zara later.
Karen had her plan, and she would be careful not to make any mistakes.
"Oh, that's right. I promised my best friend I'd go to the gym with her." Zara rolled her eyes and looked at Alex slyly. "Alex, stay here and keep my cousin company."
Zara smirked. When she brought James to the restaurant, Alex would be embarrassed, and James might even hit him. She enjoyed tormenting Alex. Alex, you loser, she thought. You're so annoying. Well, just wait and see what happens. Do you think my cousin cares about you?
She smiled when she thought about how Alex had no idea what was going on and didn't know he might get beaten up later.
Leaving them to it, Zara walked away. After a few minutes, she turned around and saw Karen holding Alex's arm as they walked toward a nearby restaurant.
Karen, what the heck? Zara mumbled to herself. It's just an act. You don't need to touch him. Is he taking advantage of you?
She took out her cell phone and dialled. "James, are you busy? No? Then can you come to the central plaza? I really need a ride. Okay, I'll be waiting here. Hurry!"
When she ended the call, she was quite pleased with herself for being so smart. If she had simply said that Karen was dating a loser, James would probably have seen straight through it. But if she could arrange for James to bump into Karen on a date with a loser, he would get jealous.
Half an hour later, an Audi A5 pulled into the central plaza. A man with a neat buzz cut and a pair of dark glasses stepped out of the car.
"James, you came." Zara walked over, smiling at him. She had met him a few times through Karen, so she knew him reasonably well. He didn't seem very intelligent, which is why Zara thought their trick might work.
"Yeah, I've been busy with work for the past few days, and I haven't had time to visit your cousin. How is she?" he asked with a faint smile.
"Every time we meet, you always ask about my cousin. It's enough to make a girl jealous," she teased him. "Karen has been quite busy recently, but I don't know exactly what she's been up to."
Zara was intentionally vague. The less she explained, the more curious he would become, and then he would become anxious. That way, when he discovered Karen on a date with Alex, he would get worked up.
"Oh?" Sure enough, he was already suspicious.
When he had first seen Karen during a blind date, he had been deeply attracted to her.
He had believed that whoever admitted to being in love first would be in a weaker position within the relationship, so he had been waiting for Karen to say she loved him. But he hadn't expected her to behave in the same way. And now she seemed to have lost interest.
"Where do you want me to take you?" he asked Zara.
"Well, it's already noon, and I haven't eaten yet. So, how about I treat you to lunch in exchange for you giving me a ride?" Zara asked, her tone a little weird. James' expression suggested that there was something on his mind.
James didn't object, seeing it as an opportunity to get more information about Karen.
Laughing and talking with James, Zara walked toward the restaurant where Karen and Alex were having lunch.
But when they went in, she couldn't see her cousin anywhere.
"Let's go somewhere else," she said. "The service here is terrible." She pulled James back outside as she wondered what had gone wrong. Karen was supposed to be in this restaurant, so where was she now? Had she changed her mind?
She couldn't call Karen, so she texted her instead, but still received no reply.
So, she had no choice but to lead James around the mall, searching each restaurant for her cousin.
"Zara, where do you want to eat?" James asked with resentment. He was getting annoyed at being dragged around.
"Um…" Zara was still trying to work out what to do when she spotted Alex and Karen through a window of a restaurant.
"This place looks pretty good. Shall we eat here?" Zara smiled. She needed to get him inside the restaurant to see her cousin and Alex. It would be much more exciting for him to come face to face with them, rather than just seeing them through a window.
"Oh wow, my stomach hurts, and I have to go to the toilet," Zara said, clutching at her stomach as if she was in pain. "James, you go on ahead and order for us."
James didn't say anything, but simply walked toward the restaurant.
Zara watched him enter. Hiding in an inconspicuous place, she settled in to watch what happened. She was looking forward to seeing James get angry and confront Alex.
"Oh, Karen, you changed locations at the last minute," Zara muttered to herself. "I don't know why you didn't tell me, but I still managed to find you. So, when you work things out with James, don't forget your little cousin. When you get your hands on his money, I'll be due a nice reward."