Debbie cried for three whole hours that day. When she finally calmed down, Alex asked Sam to take care of Carla.
Sam arranged for Carla's body to be cremated and her ashes placed in a grave in New York. Alex accompanied Debbie to the graveyard for the funeral, and when she saw Carla's grave, she cried for a long time.
In the five days since Carla had passed away, Debbie had been really depressed. She didn't attend any classes at school, nor did she go to practice with the Dream Chasers.
Alex was worried about her. If she didn't pull herself together soon, she would make herself ill.
That morning, he got up early, went out to buy some bread and milk, and then returned to the villa. A few days ago, Debbie had been refusing to eat at all. Then she began to eat a small amount at night. But now, to Alex's surprise, she ate a whole bowl of cereal and two slices of toast.
"Can you take me to band practice?" she asked Alex after getting dressed properly for the first time in days.
In the last few days, Debbie had been thinking a lot.
She wondered what Carla would say if she could see her right now. She would feel hurt and blame herself for the state Debbie was in. She wouldn't want to see her like this.
Debbie's heart felt heavy, but she told herself that she needed to snap out of it as soon as possible. Carla needed to know that Debbie would have a good life. Only then would she be able to rest in peace.
"Okay," Alex agreed in surprise. If Debbie was able to accept the fact that Carla was gone, then she would begin to recover.
They got a taxi to the door of the music company.
The car park was filled with luxury cars, including a BMW and a Mercedes-Benz. Each car was worth at least six hundred thousand dollars.
As Alex and Debbie arrived, a man and a woman got out of a Porsche. The man wore earrings and a thick chain around his neck. He seemed to be a hip-hop singer. The woman was Debbie's teammate, Melissa. Katie and Olivia had also arrived and walked over to Melissa.
"Is that Debbie's boyfriend?" Olivia asked. "What is he wearing? No wonder he's with Debbie. They have the same sense of style."
"Did they come by taxi?" Katie asked. "I'm not seeing things, am I? He's at least twenty, so he must have a car, right?"
"Didn't Debbie say that she came from a little town in the northeast?" Melissa asked. "Some little place in the middle of nowhere? No doubt, her tuition fees took all her mom's money. She can't possibly buy a car. I'm surprised she can afford the taxi."
Melissa smiled proudly as she spoke with her friends. They looked at Debbie, who stood still, watching them with a cold expression.
Alex wanted to go over there and beat them up, but he could guess what Debbie wanted. After all, they were in the same band, and she didn't want to make things worse. Besides, now that she had calmed down, he didn't want to upset her again.
In any case, there would be plenty of opportunities in the future, so there was no need to do anything rash.
Melissa and the others arrogantly walked through the main entrance.
A Mercedes-Benz stopped at the side of the road and a short-haired girl got out of the car. It was Rita, the girl he had previously met in the practice room.
Rita saw Debbie and Alex, and she walked over to meet them.
"You came," Rita said, looking at Debbie with a hint of concern. "Let's go in together."
Debbie said goodbye to Alex and walked toward the door with her.
Alex stood and watched. He had seen a trace of contempt in Rita's gaze when she had looked at him. Combined with the way she looked at Debbie, it seemed that she didn't think him worthy of her.
She looked down on him because she didn't think he could protect Debbie. He couldn't help but feel bitter.
He took a taxi back to school.
On the way, he thought about making some changes to help Debbie. At the very least, he should scare Melissa and the other girls a little and let them know that he wasn't the loser they thought he was. He was much richer than their boyfriends.
Although Alex was not the type of person who liked to brag, he would be willing to do so if it would protect Debbie.
Didn't they just laugh at me for not having a car and ridicule Debbie for taking a taxi? He thought. Well, I'll make sure they see Debbie riding in a luxury car. But what kind of car?
A month ago, Alex had ordered an extremely expensive Ferrari from the New York Auto Exhibition Center.
He didn't know why the Ferrari he had ordered hadn't arrived yet. He should call and ask.
**
Two beautiful young women were wandering around the campus of Preston University.
One of them was Kelly Phillips, the girl who had been blocking Alex's way when he drove to the hospital to see Debbie's mother.
That night, Kelly had been cornered by Henry, who had wanted her to agree to a date. No matter what Kelly had said, Henry hadn't let her leave. She had been so angry, but she hadn't been able to do anything about it, and then an Audi had driven up.
A young man had stepped out of the car and had hit the man who had rushed at him. Then, completely unafraid, he had faced down more than ten people, jumped into the car and sped toward them.
Kelly had thought that he would stop the car before he reached them, but he hadn't. He had increased his speed, knocked over the group of men, and continued on toward Henry.
She had been scared when she had seen the car speeding toward her. She had covered her ears, closed her eyes, and screamed out loud.
The car had knocked over Henry while she was standing right next to him, and she had been terrified.
But then her nervousness and fear had been replaced by excitement. She had felt like a princess, and the man who had been driving the car had been her prince coming to her rescue. As she recalled his face, she felt extremely happy.
From that day onward, she had begun searching for traces of the man within New York City. Eventually, she had discovered that he was probably a student at Preston University, so she had come here to search for him, but she still hadn't found him.
"Kelly, are you sure he's a student?" asked her friend, Sharon Williams. "How could one simple student have defeated so many people? It would take some nerve to drive into people like that." She was exhausted from Kelly dragging her around the city to look for this man.
"I had someone check it out for me, and I honestly think he might be a student at Preston University," Kelly said. "But I don't know any more than that. Please, Sharon, come with me to find out more." She wasn't sure how to find her prince, but she was looking forward to meeting him.
"No. We've been walking for ages, and I'm tired," Sharon said. She spotted a supermarket. "Look, let's go in there and buy some drinks, and then we can rest for a little while."
"Okay," Kelly agreed and went into the supermarket with Sharon to buy two bottles of water. Then they walked to a nearby sports field as they sipped their drinks. They sat under the shade of a tree, having a rest.
"Hey, why haven't I heard anything about the Ferrari I ordered a month ago?" came a voice from nearby. "Is there a problem?"
When Kelly heard the voice, her eyes lit up. A short distance away, her prince was talking on the phone with his face angled slightly away from her.
"What's taking so long?" he demanded. "I'll give you an extra one hundred thousand dollars if you can deliver the car within ten days. Can you do that?" He paused for a moment. "Okay. I'll transfer the money now, and I expect the car to be delivered as soon as possible."
Kelly and Sharon slowly walked over to Alex. When Kelly saw his face, she was sure that he was the man who had been driving the car that night, and she was elated.
But now that Alex was on the phone, she didn't dare to disturb him. He seemed to be very masculine and impulsive, so she was afraid of offending him.
She watched as he made another call.
"Mr. Miller, please transfer one hundred thousand dollars to the New York Auto Exhibition Center," he said into the phone.
"Kelly, is that really the man who saved you that night?" Sharon whispered. "I think maybe there's something wrong with him." She looked him over. He was a university student who was dressed in ordinary clothes and didn't look at all rich. And yet he had just been casually discussing something about one hundred thousand dollars and a Ferrari. What was wrong with him?
"I'll help you meet him," Sharon said, rolling her eyes and walking toward Alex.
Alex ended the call. According to the car dealership, his custom-made Ferrari was being manufactured in Italy, and it would take at least four months for all the security tests to be carried out. He was giving them extra money to speed up the production, and he wanted the car delivered to him within ten days.
They had reluctantly agreed, and he'd had the bank transfer the one hundred thousand dollars to them. Alex didn't care about the money at all, as long as he could get his Ferrari as quickly as possible.
As he was about to leave, he noticed various students all sneering at him. Some of them even shook their heads and glanced at him with a smile when they passed by. They had heard what he had said on the phone and thought he was crazy.
Alex shook his head and smiled lightly. They could think about what they liked.
"Hello, Rolls-Royce? My custom-made Rolls-Royce, which cost three million dollars, has not been delivered yet," a girl said, speaking into her phone "What? Four months? No. Bring the car to me within ten days. I'll add one hundred thousand dollars. I must have that car."
Alex looked at her speechlessly. The girl was mocking him.
He went to walk around her, but she was still blocking his path. When he moved to the left, she moved with him. When he moved to the right, she followed him again.
Alex was very angry. He didn't even know this girl, so why was she teasing him?
"Please step aside," Alex said, suppressing his anger.
"Can't you see I'm on the phone?" The girl glared at Alex. He tried to walk around her again, but she continued to block his way and wouldn't let him pass.
"Mr. Miller, transfer one hundred thousand dollars to the Rolls-Royce Company," Sharon said, continuing to mock him. She had only been teasing Alex, to begin with, but then he had dared to glare at her. Now, she didn't like him at all.
Alex wasn't as amazing as Kelly had said he was. On the contrary, he was truly a loser.
"Sharon, stop joking around," Kelly said, walking over with an embarrassed expression. After Alex's actions that night, Sharon was playing with fire. Of course, Kelly also didn't want her friend to tease the prince who had saved her.