What's going on? Alex asked himself. The drinks were Suzan's idea, but Rose seems to be going along with it even though she still hates me. I know that Suzan and Joe are an item, but it still doesn't feel right. He was very suspicious but felt that he couldn't refuse.
"Sure," Alex agreed.
"Great, eight o'clock tonight. Rose and I will be waiting for you. See you later." Suzan ended the call. Rose was sitting beside her, and she was pleased when she heard Alex's reply.
The other night, when they had been kidnapped by Luciel, who had pretended to be blind, they had finally been saved by a mysterious young man. They had since worked out that the young man was possibly Alex.
They were mystified by him and had agreed together that they should spy on him and find out if he was hiding his true identity. They suspected that he was really from a powerful family.
Over the next few days, they had watched him closely, but Alex's behaviour at school hadn't changed at all.
Suzan felt that if they spent more time with him, they would find out his true identity.
They were becoming increasingly intrigued by Alex and wanted to know if he was the powerful young man who had rescued them.
For that reason, they decided to invite him out for a drink so that they could observe him closely and find out who he was.
When they thought back over that day, they were seventy per cent sure that he was hiding something from them. They convinced themselves that his secret was that he was from an extremely powerful family.
"Look at you. You haven't even seen him yet, and you're grinning. What will you be like when we meet up with him?" Suzan teased Rose.
"I'm not grinning." Rose was still unwilling to admit it, but she couldn't hide the smile on her face. "Suzan, do you think that Alex really is our mysterious rescuer?"
"Thinking about it, it probably is him. How else do you explain the two bracelets?"
"Yes, you're right," Rose replied softly. "But how are we going to ask him? Should we just ask him directly?"
"Ah, Rose. You're crazy about him, aren't you?" Suzan lightly hit Rose's head, "If you ask him straight out, do you think he'll tell you the truth? We have to be clever about it and not let him see through us. That way, we can slowly uncover his true identity."
Then she leaned over to her and asked in a low voice, "Rose, tell me honestly, have you fallen for Alex?" When Rose didn't respond, Suzan rubbed her shoulder again. "Just say it. Don't worry, I have Joe. I won't steal Alex from you."
"If he really is our mysterious hero, then of course I like him. Who doesn't like a hero?" Rose replied. "But if it wasn't him, I'll still think of him as a loser and I wouldn't be interested in him."
"At least you're honest. Come on, let's go back to the dorm to get ready. We're meeting Alex at the Angel Bar in a couple of hours," Suzan said, and they headed toward the dorm.
**
At seven-thirty, Alex was walking toward the bar, when he received a call from Robert Miller of the Metro Sky Bank.
"Mr. Ambrose. Two days ago, I bought Lawrence Heights for you for one hundred and twenty-five million dollars. I've already spoken with Mr. Stokes, and we have all the documentation prepared. Where are you now? I'll bring everything to you in person." Robert was very excited, as it was the first time that he had been involved in such an expensive purchase. Additionally, Ken Stokes had promised him a ten-thousand-dollar commission.
"That's excellent news, but I don't have time right now. How about if I contact you in the next few days and arrange a time to come in to see you." Alex thought that he should learn how to deal with these matters himself rather than relying on Ken Stokes.
Robert agreed.
After ending the call, Alex went into the bar.
"Alex, we're over here." Suzan waved at him. Rose stayed seated at the table, sipping her wine. She didn't look in Alex's direction, but her grip on the wine glass tightened.
"Come and sit down. We've already ordered a cognac for you. Is that still what you drink?" Suzan was determined to treat Alex very cordially. She was sure he would turn out to be rich.
"Thank you, that's great." Alex smiled politely. He glanced at Rose and saw that she was intentionally not looking at him but continuing to quietly sip her drink. Alex sighed and thought if you didn't want to see me, why did you invite me here?
However, Alex completely misunderstood why Rose was refusing to make eye contact with him. It wasn't because she hated him like before. It was because she was nervous, and she was afraid that if she suddenly became very friendly toward him, he would be suspicious.
"Rose, Alex is here. Why don't you say hello to him?" Suzan whispered into her friend's ear in an attempt to smooth things over.
"You're here," Rose said as she lifted her head slightly and glanced at Alex. He was surprised by her friendly expression because she usually looked at him with disgust. This glance seemed awkward but tender. He was confused.
He looked at Rose again. Her makeup was exquisite, and she appeared more beautiful than he had ever seen her. She sat quietly on the seat, looking magnificent.
The girls exchanged pleasantries with him. Then, after glancing at each other, they began their plan.
"Alex, why haven't I heard you mention your family before? Tell us about them." Suzan brought up the topic naturally.
"My family is very ordinary. My parents are both farmers, and I'm the first one to go to university." This question didn't trouble him too much. During his seven years of "family training in poverty," he had learned a detailed set of explanations. Suzan asked two or three more questions, and he answered them calmly.
The girls looked at each other with puzzled expressions. Suzan signalled with her eyes, and they continued to question Alex. They were determined to find some clues to his true identity.
"I see that you haven't been at school for a long time. Where have you been?" asked Rose.
He replied, "I went out to work. I'm sure Joe told you that I work part-time to cover my living expenses."
Suzan continued to quiz him. "Alex, do you understand business? Rose and I are very interested. Tell us about it."
"You're thinking too highly of me. How would I know anything about business? As you know, my specialty is gardening, specifically planting trees—"
The girls continued to fire questions at him.
"Do you know how the super-wealthy educate their children?"
"What do you think of the current stock market?"
"Have you ever been to the Berkeley Hotel?"
"In the future, what industry do you want to get into?"
In reply to all of their questions, Alex always said that he didn't know, didn't know, didn't know, and didn't want to go there. Most of his answers were honest. The Ambrose family had many employees, so they didn't need to personally understand all the details about how their businesses were run.
His answers confused Suzan and Rose. They asked questions that they believed someone from a wealthy family would be able to answer, and they were sure that he didn't notice that they were trying to catch him out.
When he couldn't answer a single question, they started to think they had been wrong. Alex was a loser, and he wasn't from a wealthy family after all.
Rose heaved a sigh of relief.
"Alex, I remember that when we went to the night market, you were the one who took the two woven bracelets that the old lady gave you and Rose. Right?" Suzan asked.
Rose's eyes brightened a little. After the kidnapping, they had found two bracelets in the Maserati. If it turned out that Alex hadn't lost them that night, they could be sure that it wasn't him who had saved them.
"Yeah, why?" he answered. Without thinking, he took the two bracelets out of his pocket.
Seeing the bracelets, the girls were overjoyed. They felt that they would soon know Alex's identity.
"Let me take a look." Rose took one of the bracelets from his hand and looked at it. It seemed to be one of the ones from the night market.
"Can I check? Have you ever lost these, or accidentally left them somewhere?" she asked, fiddling with the bands.
If he told them that he had left them in the car, then they would know for sure that their rescuer was Alex and that he had been concealing his true self from them.
"Indeed, I have—" Alex started to reply. Then he suddenly sensed that something was wrong.
Why were Suzan and Rose asking me all those questions earlier? About economics, the Berkeley Hotel, and the education of rich children. Now I understand. They were trying to find out my true identity. When he looked at the girls' twinkling eyes, he was sure that he was right.
But why are they asking me whether I've ever lost the bracelets? Alex wondered. Then he suddenly remembered what had happened that day. He had left the bracelets in the car, and later on, his men found them for him. It was the same car that went to pick up Rose and Suzan.
Finally, he understood what the girls were up to. They were using the bracelets to unmask him. He didn't trust Rose and was determined not to reveal his identity to them.
He continued cautiously, "The last time I ate in the cafeteria, the bracelets fell out of my pocket. Fortunately, I saw them, otherwise, they would be lost—" Alex had changed his explanation at the last minute.
"The cafeteria?" They were surprised. Rose continued to pry. "Have you ever lost them anywhere else, for example—"
She wanted to ask Alex directly if he had lost the bracelets in the Maserati, but that would be too obvious. She definitely couldn't just come out with it.
"Oh, I remember." He hesitated, really wanting to think of something plausible.
"Where?" The girls looked excited.
"In the car," he said.
"What car?" Rose asked innocently.
"No, the bus. I gave my seat to an elderly lady on the bus. Seeing that lady over there just reminded me." Alex played dumb.
The girls held their heads in their hands. They were on the verge of giving up.