Inside the Autumn Beauty boutique, a young woman was arguing intensely with Russell and several other staff members. A group of customers and the mall's security guards had gathered around to watch.
"I bought these clothes here, so why won't you take them back?" the woman asked aggressively as she held up the clothes.
"Miss, you bought those clothes over a month ago. How can we take them back now?" Russell didn't know how many times he had repeated this, but she refused to back down.
"I only wore some of these clothes once or twice," she said sharply, "and some of the others I never wore at all! So, why can't you just give me a refund instead of trying to bully me?"
"I'm sorry," Russell said. "But if we took them back, we wouldn't be able to sell them in our stores. We can't give you a refund. There's no way we can do it." He just wanted to solve this problem as quickly as possible.
"What kind of attitude is that?" she demanded. "If there's a problem, then you need to fix it. You can't just avoid it and refuse to take responsibility. I'm not going to just go away quietly."
Russell hadn't given her a refund, and she was really unhappy. "If you don't refund the money right now, then I'm not leaving," she announced. "A boutique like Autumn Beauty can't simply ignore the rights of their customers. My time isn't worth much, but if you have to close for a day, you'll lose tens of thousands of dollars, won't you?"
The woman's behaviour was beginning to annoy the crowd, and they started accusing her of being rude and unreasonable.
"You're accusing me of fraud? If you say that again, I'll sue you for slander!" The woman crossed her arms over her chest. She had gone there to cause trouble, and she didn't care about being polite.
"Absolutely no manners," one bystander said.
"Why do some people behave like that?" another asked.
"Call the police," someone suggested. "Why bother arguing with someone like that?"
"Miss, please leave now or I'll call the police." Russell took out his phone and gave the young woman a serious look.
"You are absolutely shameless," the woman said, getting even angrier when Russell threatened to call the police. She pulled a piece of clothing out of the bag, took out a lighter, and set fire to the clothes, tossing them out of the door.
When everyone saw this, they rushed to stamp on the clothes to put out the flames.
"What is wrong with you?" Russell demanded angrily. The store was full of clothes. Was she going to burn all of them? "There are a lot of people here," he said, "and someone could have been hurt." Having had enough, he called 911.
The young woman didn't seem to be at all concerned.
The police station was nearby, so an officer arrived quickly and started to question the woman about burning the clothes.
"I bought these clothes, so they belong to me. And I'm burning them a yard away from their door," the woman said confidently. "Is there a problem? Can I not burn my own clothes?"
The other customers were angry and began to tell the police officer how outrageous the woman's behaviour was. But he told them that it wasn't against the law for someone to burn their clothes, so he couldn't arrest her.
"I think it might be better if you just gave her the refund," the police officer advised in a low voice. "She's probably crazy, so just spend the money and buy yourself some peace."
Russell was annoyed at the officer's lack of help. "She wants all the money we have here," he said. "She has already worn the clothes for a month and the tags have been removed. How can we possibly give her a refund? Besides, this isn't my shop. I'm just a manager, and I don't have the authority to make that decision."
The policeman and Russell looked at the young woman with concern.
The woman, on the other hand, was determined not to give up. She looked at Russell's worried expression and knew she was going to win this argument.
"Excuse me, let me through." Alex walked through the crowd.
The young woman glanced at Alex and her heart skipped a beat. She quickly turned around and covered her face with her hands, afraid that Alex would recognize her.
"Sir, you're finally here. This is the customer who is causing trouble," Russell said, rushing over to Alex.
Alex frowned and looked at the woman. His eyebrows shot up in surprise and he exclaimed, "Cathy!"
The unreasonable customer was none other than his ex-girlfriend, Cathy.
Cathy slowly turned around. She looked at Alex in surprise, and then looked at Russell and stuttered, "He's your boss?"
"Yes, he's our boss," Russell confirmed.
She stared at Alex in disbelief. Her mind was spinning, and she couldn't understand what was going on.
"You're the boss here?" she muttered, completely stunned.
Alex nodded, and she felt that her world had been flipped upside down.
"Hello," the police officer said, coming forward. "I think you should simply give her some money. Just for the sake of getting some peace and quiet."
The onlookers were against that idea. Giving money to someone like Cathy would only make her even more arrogant, and then she would try this again.
They didn't believe that Alex would return the money. Businessmen were far too astute to refund clothes that had already been worn for a month.
Alex glanced at Cathy, who stood there, watching him. He then looked at Russell and said, "Check how much these clothes cost, and refund her the full amount."
Russell was stunned, as was the crowd. But Alex was the boss, so he had to do what he was told. "Okay. I'll do it now."
He picked up Cathy's plastic bag, walked to the counter, and started checking prices.
When he had finished, he walked over to Alex with a stack of money in his hand. "It came to twenty thousand dollars. Sir, are you sure you want to refund that much?"
Alex didn't answer. He merely took the money from Russell, walked over to Cathy, and handed it to her.
She looked at the money and then at Alex.
Anger welled up inside her. She knew Alex didn't genuinely want to refund the money. No, he was clear this was just to insult her and trample on her self-esteem.
She grabbed the money and threw it at Alex's face. "You loser! You're just trying to humiliate me, aren't you? Well, I'm not going to let you. So what if you have money? In my eyes, you are still a pile of dog shit, and I don't need your pity."
Cathy seemed to have gone mad. As she berated Alex, saliva sprayed from her mouth, and her face was turning red. The money lay scattered all over the floor.
Russell wanted to argue, but Alex held up a hand and stopped him. The crowd couldn't bear to watch any longer, and they started to curse loudly at Cathy.
She stared at Alex with pure hatred, wishing she could tear him into pieces. Instead, she clenched her teeth, swung her fist, and punched him in the head.
"She hit him!" someone exclaimed.
"This is getting out of hand," someone else added.
"Sir, you can have her arrested for assault," said the police officer. "I can take her to the station right now."
"No. Just let it go." Alex rubbed at his temples. He refused to change his mind, no matter how much the police officer or customers tried to persuade him.
"Stop pretending to be a good person," Cathy said. "You aren't! I don't need someone like you to pity me, and I don't want your stinking money. Alex, just you wait. I will make you pay for humiliating me!"
With that, she pushed her way through the crowd and ran off.
The police officer left, and the onlookers gradually dispersed.
"Sir, you're too generous. You shouldn't be so forgiving toward someone like that," Russell said.
"She's my ex-girlfriend," Alex said lightly.
"Oh!" Russell was stunned, now understanding what Alex was trying to do. "I'm sorry, Boss, I overstepped."
"That's okay. I have nothing to do with her now," Alex said, smiling. "And I have a new girlfriend, the one I brought last time I came in. Well, I'm going back to school now, so just call me if you need anything."
Alex walked out of the Autumn Beauty boutique and returned to the university to meet Debbie for lunch.
Meanwhile, Cathy returned to school in a taxi.
When she thought of those twenty thousand dollars, she began to regret her actions and wished she had taken them. Butthemhe knew that, even if she was given a chance to do it all again, she would still throw the money in Alex's face. She could swallow her pride for money, but not in front of him. She wouldn't let him win.
She walked silently along the tree-lined road. Her mind was filled with questions about Alex.
She hadn't expected him to be the boss of the Autumn Beauty boutique. Why didn't I know that before? she wondered. Where did this shop come from? Out of thin air?
There were too many questions and not enough answers, but one thing was undeniable: Alex was now a rich man!
Cathy was extremely upset. If she had known he was rich, then obviously she wouldn't have been stupid enough to break up with him.
If they had not broken up, then Cathy would also be the boss of the Autumn Beauty boutique!
When she thought about the missed opportunity, she felt sick to her stomach.
Looking around, she realized that she had reached the small square in front of the library.
"Hey, look at this," a girl said. "One of the seniors is having a photographic exhibition. He took photos of various touching moments he saw on campus during his four years of study." She pulled Cathy over to the wall of photos.
Cathy walked forward, and then ground to a halt with her eyes fixed on one of the photos, her lips trembling slightly.
In the photo, a boy and a girl were walking side by side. The boy's clothes were old, and there was even a hole in one knee of his pants. Although the girl's clothes weren't very expensive, they were in much better condition than the boys.
The photo was of Cathy and Alex.
She lowered her head and closed her eyes. The scene in the photo vividly replayed in her mind.
"Alex, if you became really rich one day, would you leave me?" she had asked.
"Definitely not," he had answered. "I would give you all my bank cards, and you could help me manage my money."
Cathy had smiled at him. "Really? You mean that?"
His expression had turned serious. "Of course. You're the most important person in my life, and I'd do anything to make you happy."
Cathy had been so proud. "You're so sweet, but if you want to become rich in this lifetime, you'll have to hurry up. Come on, let's go get pancakes."
She still vividly remembered what Alex had said back then. Who would have thought that when Alex became rich, they would no longer be together?
She burst into tears.
Looking at the picture, she pulled it down and tore it to pieces. Then she threw the pieces on the ground and ran away.