"I don't know much about this sort of thing," Alex said, as he carefully flipped through a few pages of the information Mr. Miller had provided. He couldn't understand many of the words on the pages, so he stopped trying. "Since these two apartment buildings are in New York, then why don't we go and take a look?"
"Absolutely. That's a good idea," Robert said, gesturing toward the door.
Alex stood up and glanced at Karen. "I have some things to attend to right now," he said. "So I'll have to leave you here. I'll talk to you later."
He still wanted to help Karen get rid of James. And now that her family knew that he was rich, he believed that James wouldn't dare to harass her again.
"Okay," Karen said, smiling. She had almost forgotten that Alex was supposed to be helping her to get rid of James.
"Let's go," Alex said, and then he walked out of the restaurant with Robert.
"Karen, why didn't you tell us that he was so rich?" Alison asked, stunned.
Zara quietly followed Alex and Robert outside. No one was more shocked than she was. How could Alex, the loser she had picked on, suddenly have so much money? It couldn't be real. Alex was now irresistible to her.
Seeing Zara leave, Albert and James followed.
Alex left the shopping mall, chatting with Robert.
When they reached his car, they found it surrounded.
Some people were taking pictures with their phones, while others were video chatting. A few were doing live broadcasts.
"Mom, look, it's a Ferrari," someone said. "And it's the top model."
"There's a Ferrari parked in Wanda Square," someone else said. "I don't know much about cars, but I know this Ferrari is awesome. I can't wait to see the owner of the car. He must be so cool. I don't think I'll be able to stop myself from kissing him!"
Alex frowned as he walked toward the crowd. Everyone wanted to look at the Ferrari, and nobody was willing to let Alex pass. He had to fight to get to his car.
"Please move aside," he said loudly. "I'm leaving."
"Then go! Who's stopping you?" a woman said, annoyed at him. "Why are you yelling? Don't you have any manners?"
"If you don't move away, how can I drive the car out of here?" Alex asked, causing everyone to burst out laughing.
"What? You're trying to say that this Ferrari is yours?" the woman looked at him mockingly. Then she turned her phone toward Alex. "Baby, look, this guy actually said that the Ferrari is his! Isn't that funny? If he drives this Ferrari, then I fly a spaceship! The guy is insane!"
"How could this car possibly belong to him?" someone called.
"Look at what he's wearing," another man said. "He'd be lucky to have a bicycle, and he's claiming to have a Ferrari. It's hilarious!"
"He's crazy!"
Everyone was pointing at Alex and sneering at him.
He shook his head helplessly. These people were like insects to him. How dare they speak to him like that?
"Whirlwind! Activate!" Alex shouted at the Ferrari. The day before, he had named the car Whirlwind and set up voice commands.
"Yeah, he's definitely crazy," someone yelled.
"What are you shouting?" a woman asked. "What are you trying to achieve?"
While everyone was talking, the Ferrari slowly backed away. A girl had been leaning against the car as she did a live broadcast, and now she found herself falling backwards.
"Rotate on the spot!" Alex shouted. This time, the Ferrari's engine started to roar as it began to spin rapidly. Everyone was scared, afraid that the car would hit them, so they ran away. Alex was left standing there, knowing that he had full control. If the Ferrari didn't respond as it should, then the company would be in a lot of trouble.
"Stop!" he said, and the car stopped. He pressed the control, and the door opened. To everyone's amazement, Alex got into the driver's seat, waited for Robert to get in, and then drove off.
Zara stared at Alex, recalling every detail of her interactions with him. She closed her eyes, and tears of regret slipped down her cheeks. How had she not realized that he was so rich?
James stood there with his mouth hanging open as he watched the Ferrari disappearing into the distance.
Alison and Albert held hands, so excited that their bodies were trembling.
Speeding through the streets, Alex and Robert soon arrived at the apartment building called Lawrence Heights.
Many people rented apartments there, and it was a good source of income for someone who wanted to invest in property.
While they were looking around, Robert explained the situation. "This is a great location, and it's only a short distance from shopping malls, banks, and subway stations."
"That's true," Alex agreed. He had noticed that the area was busy. If he bought apartments in such a good neighbourhood in New York, then he was certain to make a lot of money. "If this place is so good, then why does the original owner want to sell?"
"It appears that the owner made some bad investments and lost a lot of money," Robert explained. "So now he urgently needs money and decided to sell these two apartments. Of course, the news is quite recent, and as far as I know, no one has made him an offer yet. So if you decide to buy this place, I'm confident that I can get him to lower the price a little."
Alex looked around. He was quite satisfied with the two apartments. He looked at Robert and casually said, "I'd like to buy them."
"You've already decided?" Robert asked in shock. Alex had only glanced at the property before making his decision. They were talking about a huge amount of money. Seasoned businessmen would have spent time weighing up the pros and cons. But Alex, who was only twenty years old, had agreed just like that? Robert had never known anyone so decisive.
"Is there a problem?" Alex asked in confusion. Money wasn't an issue for him.
"No, not at all," Robert said with excitement. "Mr. Ambrose, I'll arrange to buy these two apartment buildings for you as soon as possible. I'll handle everything for you."
"Okay," Alex said. "If you need anything, contact me or Mr. Woodsworth." He walked around the building a couple of times before they got back in the car and drove away.
After dropping off Robert at the Metro Sky Bank, Alex went to the Azalea Guest House and asked Sam about the search for Debbie. Like every other time he asked, there was no new information about the couple that had taken Debbie away.
Alex was depressed, but there was nothing he could do. Imagining Debbie's current situation filled him with worry and pain.
His cell phone rang. It was Cathy. Alex sighed. He no longer cared about her. She sometimes called to berate him or to say how happy she was after leaving him, but it didn't matter which. It had nothing to do with him.
Cathy called another five times, but he just let his phone ring out and refused to answer. Finally, he got annoyed and blocked her number. She wouldn't be calling him again.
When he looked up, he thought he saw Debbie appear in front of him. But when he mumbled her name and reached out his hand to touch her, she disappeared again, leaving him at a loss.
He curled into a little ball, hugging himself tightly. Despite the warm weather, he felt chilled, and he was shivering like a stray dog out in the rain.
Finally, he fell asleep.
A few hours later, he was woken by his phone ringing.
Seeing it was Joe, he answered. Joe had promised to take Suzan to the night market, but he had to do some work for his course, so he wanted Alex to take her instead.
"Suzan's planning to go with Rose," Joe said. "So, it's fine if I don't go, but you know how dangerous it is for two girls to go out alone at night. I'm a bit worried about them. Do you have time to take them? If not, I'll find someone else."
"I have the time," Alex said, wanting to help. "But you know Rose doesn't like me." He felt a little awkward about spending time with her.
"Hey, what are you so worried about?" Joe asked. "You'd just be going shopping with them to keep them safe. I'm sure Rose won't say anything. So, it's decided, then."
After chatting with Joe for a while, Alex ended the call. He realized that all he had to do was walk beside the two girls and be polite. If he didn't provoke Rose, then she wouldn't have a problem with him.
He left the guest house, took a taxi, and went straight to the night market.
Suzan and Rose were also on their way to the market.
"Joe said that Alex will meet us there," Suzan said. "He wants to come with us."
"Him? Why did you let him come?" Rose asked, unhappy at hearing Alex would be joining them. "We can look after ourselves."
Alex had helped her when she had broken an expensive statue at the Berkeley Hotel. He had intervened with Sam Woodsworth on her behalf, and Rose and Suzan had suspected that Alex might be rich. They had investigated him for a few days, but they hadn't been able to find a connection between him and Sam. Alex had still seemed to be a loser, so they had abandoned their suspicions.
Rose hated him and didn't want him following them around.