To help Kelly feel better, Sharon pointed at Alex and said harshly, "Are you blind? Kelly asked you out, and you actually turned her down? I guess you must realize that you're not good enough for her."
Alex didn't know what to say. Sharon was wrong in her assumption, but he couldn't agree to go out with Kelly.
"Give me a reason," Kelly said with a smile as she tried to suppress her disappointment.
"I already have a girlfriend," he said with a shrug. Regardless of whether Kelly was sincere about her feelings or not, he would not mess her around.
Hearing this explanation, Kelly felt a little better. It wasn't that he didn't like her. It also proved that he was a good man. That he was a man that she could admire.
"So what if you have a girlfriend? I bet I'm as good as her. Maybe if you go out with me for a while, you'll find that you prefer me to your girlfriend?" Kelly's eyes lit up again.
"No need. I love my girlfriend. I said that I will protect her forever." Debbie's face appeared in Alex's mind and he smiled.
Kelly was shocked when she saw his smile. It seemed genuine.
"I want to meet your girlfriend and see how beautiful she is. And I want to see for myself how much you love her," Kelly said with a small smile. In her heart, however, she knew that she was jealous.
"She's at work now, not at school."
At that moment, Alex's cell phone rang. It was Debbie.
"Debbie, is something wrong? Oh, good. Of course, you can call me whenever you like. That's great. If you listen to your teacher, you'll definitely improve. All right, I'll pick you up this afternoon. Bye." Alex hung up the phone.
Seeing the blissful look on his face while he was speaking to his girlfriend, Kelly was envious of her.
"It sounds like you guys really love each other," she said and she smiled, but there was envy in her heart. "But don't think that I'm going to give up that easily. In my opinion, you're only with her because you met her first."
"I've made it very clear that I will take care of her for the rest of her life. Please stay away from me," Alex said rudely.
"You're having a go at me now. It doesn't matter though. You'll make it up to me in the future." Kelly remained calm and she smiled confidently, but inside she was seething.
"You—" Alex had never met a woman like Kelly before. She didn't even react when he was rude to her. She was so determined to win him over. He wondered how he could ever get rid of her.
"Please just forget it and let me go," he said as he stared at her in desperation.
"Are you begging me?" Kelly asked proudly. Looking at Alex's angry face, she rolled her eyes and revealed a sly smile. "You want me to let you go? Sure, but you have to promise me one thing."
"What?" Alex would do anything to get rid of her.
"Accompany me to a party and tell everyone that you're my boyfriend." She stared into his eyes and continued, "Don't worry, it's just an act, but you have to pretend to everyone at the party that we're together."
"Okay, I'll do it." He nodded.
"Aren't you going to tell me your name?" Kelly asked.
"Alex."
She asked him for his phone number.
"Then I'll see you tomorrow. Just wait for me at the entrance of your school." Kelly stood up and waved at him with a smile. Alex said goodbye, turned around and left.
Watching him leave, Kelly lowered her head slightly with a smile. He had agreed to go to the party with her, and she felt very pleased with herself.
Sharon had heaved a sigh of relief when she heard Kelly say that she only wanted Alex to pretend to be her boyfriend. She said, "Kelly, I'm relieved. For a while there, I thought you really liked that loser. Luckily, you figured it out in the end."
"I do really like him," Kelly replied as she recalled Alex's handsome face.
"What? Didn't you promise to let him go? You just asked him to pretend to be your boyfriend at the party." Sharon looked surprised.
Kelly revealed a sly smile as she muttered, "I don't think so. Once he spends some time with me at the party, he'll soon realize that I'm the one he wants to be with."
"I give up. You really don't know what's good for you," Sharon said helplessly. "Let's go."
As they were leaving, Kelly felt a twinge of pain in her ankle. This brought back the memory of Alex squatting on the ground and rubbing her feet, and a smug smile appeared on her face.
**
For the past three days, in addition to her usual lessons, Debbie had also been training at the Sunshine Music Company. She was no longer being bullied, and she had gradually started to relax. Alex was relieved to see her confidence growing.
On the day of the party, Alex had dropped Debbie off at Sunshine Music and had just gotten back to the university campus, when he received a call from Kelly, telling him to go to the school gate.
After ending the call, he went quickly to their meeting place, where he saw Kelly driving up in a BMW and waving at him.
Sharon, who was sitting in the passenger seat, looked at him in disgust. She said, "Don't you have any decent clothes you could've worn? You do know who's going to be there today, don't you? They won't be able to stop laughing when they see you."
"How about I don't go?" Alex replied. He didn't take Sharon's words seriously. He also didn't care at all about this party or what the people there thought of him.
"It's all right," Kelly said with a smile. "He still looks handsome. Get in the car."
Alex climbed into the back seat and Kelly started the car. When she pulled up at Green Island Garden district, Alex was puzzled. He asked, "Why have you stopped here?"
"The party's in this district," she replied sweetly. "You guys go ahead, and I'll go park the car."
Alex and Sharon got out of the car. He looked around him and thought, lucky that Debbie went to music practice today. It would be a disaster if she saw me here with Kelly.
Sharon snorted when she saw Alex looking around him. She laughed and said, "Ha, look at you staring at the posh houses. You've never even been to such a good neighborhood as this before, have you?"
Alex glanced at her but didn't say anything.
Sharon was dressed beautifully today. She looked even more sophisticated than the last time Alex had seen her.
A few minutes later, Kelly had parked her car and walked over to them. Alex noticed that she was also wearing particularly elegant clothes.
Her hair was adorned with a dark purple bow, and she was wearing a long, light green dress. She wore high-heeled sandals on her feet, making her look elegant and beautiful. She looked like a Hollywood movie star, and Alex couldn't help but admire her for a moment.
"Let's go," Kelly said with a smile when she saw Alex's stunned expression.
The three of them walked to the entrance of the residential complex.
The gate to the district was closed and only residents with key cards could enter. They waited for a long time but no one came out. The girls started to worry.
Alex thought, well, it seems that I'm the only one who can get us in. Since we're here now, I might as well do it. He pulled out his card, put it on the sensor, and the door opened with a beep.
Kelly opened her eyes wide as she looked at Alex. She asked, "How did you get a security card for this place?" She thought, is Alex a resident of Green Island Garden? But this is one of the top residential areas in New York City.
"Umm—" Alex hadn't expected such a strong reaction from Kelly. He regretted that he had revealed that he had a key card, but there was nothing he could do now. He could only nod and own up. He replied, "Actually, I live here."
"Bullshit," Sharon blurted out. "Alex, Alex, you really expect us to believe that you have a house here? Do you take us for idiots? Even the cheapest house in the Green Island Garden costs more than four million. How could you ever afford that?"
Alex frowned as he looked at her.
She continued, "You probably don't know that after you left the other day, Kelly and I went to your class and asked your classmates about you." Sharon smiled at Alex as if she saw straight through him. "Your tuition fees are paid by the state and by the school's poverty fund, and you cover your living expenses with part-time jobs. Your clothes are old and cheap, and your cellphone is second-hand."
Sharon and Kelly had indeed asked around about Alex. They had learned quite a lot about him, but it wasn't the whole truth.
"You expect us to believe that you live in Green Island Garden? Ha, do you think that we're that easy to deceive, or are you simply brainless?" Sharon asked bluntly.
Alex swallowed. What she said was true, but he wasn't lying either. He did indeed have a villa at Green Island Garden, and it was the most expensive villa on the complex.
"Sharon—" Kelly stopped her from continuing. Her words were too mean. "Perhaps what he said is true?" she suggested.
Kelly still had a glimmer of hope in her heart. She wanted to believe that Alex wasn't lying to her.
"Really? Kelly, don't be ridiculous. I'm guessing that he must work part-time in this district, which is why he has the key card." Sharon laughed and pointed to the office at the door. She looked at Alex and said, "How about we go and ask at the office? If you are a resident, they're sure to recognize you."
Alex didn't say anything. He didn't care what Sharon or Kelly thought of him, so why make things any more complicated?
He still didn't want them to know how rich he was. He frowned to himself, looked at the sky, and didn't say anything.
"See, he's a liar." Sharon felt certain that she had seen through Alex's lies. She smiled proudly at Kelly, who sighed loudly. She was disappointed but tried to console herself that Alex didn't lie often. It wasn't a big problem for her.
Sharon continued to lecture Alex. "Don't think that I don't know what you're planning. I know you want to be with Kelly so you can live off her money, right?" She glared at him and continued. "Well don't even try it with me around."
"Sharon, stop it—" Kelly felt that her friend's words were unnecessarily mean. She just couldn't believe that Alex was that kind of person.
Embarrassed, she said to Alex, "Don't listen to her. Sharon is just looking out for me. Let's go to the party. Everyone is probably already there."
The three of them walked into the district.