"Alex, are you okay?" Karen asked, raising her head to look at him. Alex felt a little touched. She was the one who had been hit, and yet she was asking about him.
Alison sighed deeply. "You're really going to make us angry!"
They had attracted a large crowd who were eagerly watching them and commenting on this strange family.
"This man begs for money, and he has the nerve to seduce my daughter," Alison said to the crowd. "My daughter has never argued with us before. See how she's talking to us now!"
"Such a useless boy!" someone muttered.
"You have to get rid of him," someone else said. "He's just with her for the money."
Everyone stared at Alex as Alison pointed at him.
Alex's phone rang. It was Robert Miller, the manager at Metro Sky Bank. Karen let go of him, and he answered the call.
"Hello, Mr. Miller," he said. "Is this about the compensation for the Ferrari?" He thought Robert might be calling to ask about the compensation for wrecking Brian Foster's car.
"No, I'm taking care of it. Don't worry," Robert said respectfully. "I'm calling to let you know that I've found two apartment buildings for you to look at. The location is desirable, and the properties are in good condition. I've collected all the information for you."
"Umm… apartment buildings?" Alex asked, stunned. "What do you mean? I don't understand." Why was Robert helping him find apartment buildings?
"You don't know?" Robert asked, surprised. "Let me explain. When Sam Woodsworth asked me to help you with the final payment for the Ferrari, he told me to look for apartment buildings in New York City. He said that you wanted to invest in New York real estate."
"Oh, I see." Alex understood. Sam had been helping him to manage his business, and he had suggested that Alex find some projects and learn from experience. After all, he would be taking over a large part of his family's business in the future. He glanced at Karen's family, who was glaring at him, and he knew they were listening intently.
"Okay. Well, in that case, can I trouble you to bring the documents to the restaurant at the Palace Hotel in Wanda Plaza?" Alex asked politely and then ended the call.
"That was Mr. Miller?" Karen asked, a little worried. Mr Miller thought she was sick. If he came to the hotel, he would see her there and know that she had lied.
Alex nodded.
"Then I have to go," she said. "Don't let him see me!" She prepared to leave.
"Where do you think you're going?" Alison asked, pulling her back. "I don't know what's going on here, but this matter must be resolved today."
"Mom, Mr. Miller is coming," Karen said anxiously. "You have to let me go."
"Karen, with the way you've been behaving lately, do you really think that I'll believe you?" Alison asked, looking at her. Then she glanced at Alex. "He knows your manager? Who would believe that he can afford an apartment building?"
"Maybe I'm very good at acting?" Alex suggested. This family left him speechless.
"Karen, stop causing trouble," Zara said, moving to stand in front of her. They had agreed to use Alex to provoke James, but now Karen seemed to have changed the plan. If Karen continued like this, then she would lose James for good.
"Behave yourself," Zara said. "I'm sure that if you apologize to James, then he'll forgive you." She tried her best to smooth things over.
"Don't get involved, Zara," Karen said, extremely unhappy with her cousin for constantly ruining her plans. "I love Alex. Not James."
Zara had no idea what was wrong with her cousin. It was all Alex's fault.
"Alex!" Zara said angrily, stalking over to him. "How did you do it? Have you hypnotized my cousin? Do you think you're good enough for Karen? Don't you care about her future? Promise me right now that you will end your relationship with her." She had never had a problem ordering Alex around.
Usually, Alex would let Zara win, but this time, he couldn't do it. With Karen's parents treating him so badly, he had no intention of giving in to them. More importantly, he had promised to help Karen get rid of James, and if he gave in now, all their efforts would be for nothing.
Karen didn't like James, and Alex wasn't going to abandon her to him.
He turned a deaf ear to Zara's words.
"Stupid loser, are you deaf?" Zara shouted at him. She frowned and raised her hand to slap his face. She had slapped him in the past and he hadn't fought back, but this time, Alex grabbed her hand.
"Don't even think about it," Alex said with dissatisfaction.
"Let go! You loser!" Zara hadn't expected him to grab her. She shook her hand furiously, but she couldn't dislodge him.
She was so angry that she raised her other hand to slap him, but he caught it too.
"Let go!" She yelled, both embarrassed and angry. She glared at him with a cold expression.
"I'll let you go as soon as you promise not to hit me again," he said seriously.
"Who the hell do you think you are?" Zara asked, refusing to give in.
"Help!" she screamed. "This guy is molesting me! I need—" While Alex was distracted, she bit his hand. Alex yelped and let go. A circle of teeth marks had appeared on his palm where she had bitten him, and the wound was bleeding profusely.
Zara proudly stood in front of him, looking at his hand.
"Did you enjoy my bite?" she taunted him.
"It would be better if you'd bitten him to death!" Alison said in a mocking tone.
Karen rushed to Alex's side and examined his wound with a pained expression.
"That's Mr. Miller!" Zara said, her smile fading away as she saw Robert walk into the restaurant.
"What? Where? Oh my god, it really is him!" Alison exclaimed in shock. The whole family began to panic, as they all understood how much trouble Karen would be in if she were caught lying about being sick.
"Karen, why are you just standing there?" Alison said. "Hurry up and hide! Your manager is here."
"There's no need for her to hide," Alex said lightly, but Karen wasn't listening to her mother anyway.
"No need to hide?" Alison scolded him angrily. "My daughter could lose out on her promotion. Not that you care." She scowled. "Karen, do you see what kind of person he is? Don't just stand there. Hide!"
"It's too late," Zara said, with her eyes wide. "Mr. Miller is coming this way!"
"Mr. Ambrose," Robert said as he walked over, surprised to see Karen there. "Ms. Young, didn't you call in sick this morning?"
Having been caught, Karen didn't know how to defend herself. She simply lowered her head and stood silently beside Alex.
"Mr. Miller, I'm Karen's mother," Alison said. "Karen was recovering at home until I dragged her out to do some shopping. It wasn't her idea, and she's still not well."
"Yes, Karen was really sick last night," Albert added. "She had a cold, and then she vomited, and she had a fever."
"We're actually just back from the hospital with her," Zara said.
Everyone made excuses for Karen.
"Oh," Robert said, raising an eyebrow, "What a supportive family. So, Karen is sick, and your whole family took her to the hospital, and then you all decided to go shopping. So, which hospital did you take her to?"
"Err…" They all looked at each other, not sure what to say. Then they all opened their mouths and spoke at the same time.
"New York General Hospital."
"The Western Hospital."
"The Northern Infirmary."
"East Side General."
They looked at each other in annoyance. Why couldn't they get their story straight?
"Amazing," Robert said with a mocking smile. "She just has a cold, and yet she needed to visit four separate hospitals?"
"Well, Mr. Miller, you see…" Alison said, trying to recover from their mistake.
"No need to explain. I already know what's going on here," Robert said, refusing to listen to her excuses.
Alison's heart sank, and everyone else looked worried. Karen had thrown away her chance for a promotion.
"Mr. Miller," Alex said.
"Yes?" Robert asked, his attitude immediately improving.
"I needed some company, and I asked Ms. Young to come for a stroll around the city," Alex said politely. "I apologize. I hadn't realized this would violate your rules."
"Oh?" Robert was shocked. He wasn't sure what Alex meant. Karen had been standing beside Alex the whole time and hadn't spoken up.
"Well, if that's the case, then I'm sure that this was just a misunderstanding," Robert said, smiling awkwardly. He looked over at Karen and asked, "Ms. Young, are you feeling better? I'm happy to see you taking such good care of our client. I hope you'll continue to work hard, and I'm sure you have a bright future."
Everyone gaped in shock. They didn't understand what was going on.
They were all stunned. What was this all about? Alex, that loser, had explained it all away with just a few sentences. Why was Mr. Miller being so deferential to a poor student from Preston University?
"Mr. Ambrose, please take a seat," Robert said. "I have some details on those two apartment buildings I mentioned. Why don't you take a look? According to my estimates, they should cost around $125 million."
Karen's family stared in shock. If Alex had said he wanted to buy an apartment building worth $125 million, they would have thought it was a joke, but it had been Mr. Miller who had said it. As the manager of Metro Sky Bank, Mr. Miller wasn't joking around with Alex, and that meant that they were serious about the $125 million!
Alison gasped when she thought about it. Could Alex have that much money?