"Minnie, what did Lee say to you?" Hannah asked as soon as Minnie and Alex sat down.
"That was crazy," Alex said casually, remembering that he had nothing to do with Minnie. Lee had called them over to ridicule them.
"You still helped me, so you do want to help me!" Minnie said to him.
He closed his mouth and didn't look at her.
"What's the matter? Why do you look so unhappy?" Hannah looked a little sad herself as she took Minnie's hand and questioned her softly. It didn't look as though it was a good thing that Lee had called them over.
"I don't know what Lee wants. He asked me if this lousy loser was my boyfriend." She sat on the chair and looked at Hannah.
"Oh, so you explained to Lee that he's just helping you with your stream and that he's not your boyfriend," Hannah replied.
"I wanted to explain, but the organizer kept winking at me and told me to say he was. So, in the end, I told them that this lousy loser was my boyfriend." She punched Alex in the shoulder.
"Hannah, do you think that I would date such a useless person? I really can't understand what Lee was thinking. I thought he might like me, but who would've thought that he's connected me with this guy. It really pissed me off." Minnie was deeply hurt.
"Well, I've helped you. Can you give me Cathy's letter now?" asked Alex as he looked at her.
"What's the hurry? Are you afraid that I won't give it to you?" Minnie stared at him and took a sip of her drink.
Alex heaved a heavy sigh. He wanted the party to end, so he could get off the cruise ship. Minnie should have no reason not to give him the letter.
The two-hour party soon ended.
Some of the guests began to leave the ship, but more people chose to stay on board for the reception. Alex had to stay and wait for the letter.
There were more than a thousand people who stayed on the ship, including the top Internet celebrities. It was a good opportunity for them to enjoy the occasion and rub elbows with the rich, so they were unwilling to leave.
Some people stayed on deck, holding goblets, talking, and laughing with each other. Some beautiful women changed into swimsuits and swam in the swimming pool.
Naturally, Lee was the focus of attention as he was surrounded by more than ten Internet celebrities who wanted to meet him.
He walked onto the stage and grabbed the microphone. "Are you all having a good time?"
"yes!" answered the crowd
Alex sat in a quiet chair far away from the stage. He looked at his phone and casually checked the weather. It said that day there would be a tropical storm passing through Miami. Alex looked up at the night sky. It was dark and black as if it would rain heavily soon.
"Today, I'm happy to take you out to sea!" yelled Lee. It had been his happiest night since Angelina had left him.
"Good!"
"Go out to sea and play!"
"Take us out to sea!"
The group of celebrities and many young people agreed to Lee's proposal.
Alex frowned, stood up, and walked up to the stage. A group of people was still following Lee.
"Well, go and get me the captain!" Lee asked a man.
"We can't go out to sea tonight," a man's voice said as the group was caught up in the excitement. The crowd followed the sound to see that it had been Alex who had spoken up.
"What did you say?" Lee noticed that the man who spoke was Alex, who he had seen earlier.
"Who are you? Lee's already said that he'll take us out to sea."
"Who is this guy?"
"Isn't this the poor man from that livestream?"
When Alex saw that people didn't understand him, he nodded to Lee in apology. "Lee, I didn't mean to go against you, but the weather forecast said that there's a tropical storm coming in. It's very dangerous to go out to sea."
"So, when a tropical storm is coming, you feel that you need to tell me. Do you know that I just bought this cruise ship? Do you think a small tropical storm is going to hurt me?" Lee said, gazing at Alex.
"I don't mean that, it's just—" Alex still wanted to explain, but Lee didn't want to listen to him anymore.
"Okay, stop with this nonsense," Lee said.
"Lee is right. This is nonsense."
"It's such a big ship. It's not so fragile."
"Is he a man or a mouse? I'm not afraid."
Alex was speechless. He began to look for Minnie in the crowd, so they could get off the ship.
The captain arrived to talk with Lee.
"Let's set sail now," ordered Lee.
"Lee, today's weather report indicates that the conditions are not very suitable. The weather bureau issued a warning message—" The captain was a middle-aged man in his forties with a lot of experience at sea.
"You talk too much. Don't you trust the quality of this cruise ship? Can't it withstand a small tropical storm? You don't have to sail for our family anymore. I want a real captain," he said irritably. "Let me ask you a question… can you sail it?"
"Well, yes, I can sail." The captain thought some more about the level of the storm mentioned by the weather station and that it wasn't high. The ship should be able to withstand it, and the probability of encountering a tropical storm was very small.
"Okay, go back and get ready to sail." Lee waved and the captain left.
After hearing the captain, he hesitated. Some people were flustered. They were whispering whether they wanted to leave now.
"Scared? Go now, as I won't wait for you," Lee said over the microphone.
"I must leave. My family has something else they need to do."
"Oh, my father-in-law is in the hospital. I have to go back to see him now."
Some of them left quietly.
"Fine, go!" Lee said with scorn.
Alex found Minnie and wanted to leave. Hannah was quite reasonable, but Minnie was angry.
"Don't blame me." Alex had no other option but to pick up Minnie and carry her on his shoulder as they left the ship.
"Let go of me, you bastard! What are you doing?" She beat him on the back with her hands. He ignored her as he carried her to the landing.
"Hey, you on the stairs. Stop!" Lee shouted at Alex with the microphone. Alex looked at Lee, but he didn't pay attention to him.
"If you go, I'll block that small streamer!" Lee yelled. Alex stopped.
"Let me go, you loser! Do you want to get me blocked? You can leave on your own. Why are you carrying me?" She thumped him even harder on his back.
"Well, if you say so. But don't blame me if you get into danger." He put her down on the ground.
She glared at him and said, "Just leave me here right now. Go away!"
Minnie pushed Alex, hoping that he would fall down the stairs.
"Give me the letter, and I'll leave right away." Alex was disappointed in her. Since she hated him so much, it would be better if he left.
"Letter? You still want the letter?" she snorted. She patted her bag. "The letter is in my bag. I wanted to give it to you but look at what you've done to me. I should tear it up. I won't give it to you. You're a rotten loser!"
"You bitch!" Alex grabbed her collar, and his eyes went cold.
"What are you doing? Let go!" She pushed him aside, grabbed Hannah's hand, and ran to the deck.
Alex knew that he wouldn't be able to get the letter from her now, so he got ready to leave the ship. As he was about to leave, the whistle blew, and the ship started to move. He was trapped on board.
He slowly walked back to the deck. He wasn't really worried. He sat alone at the stern with the blowing sea breeze as he watched the waves.
This cruise ship was the only one at sea.
Lee called Minnie to come over to him. She was very nervous.
"What's the matter?" He pulled her closer, and she leaned on his shoulder and felt surprised. She was a mere Internet celebrity. How could she be around such wealthy people?
"You're a good girl." Lee pinched her chin and said, "Do you want to date me?"
Lee's abrupt question made her heart jump. He was quite frank.
Does he really like me? she thought.
"Well—" She nodded shyly.
"Good, I'm glad." He put his arm around her waist. "It's very easy to get rid of your boyfriend."
"Lee, is what you're saying true? I'll tell him now." She was overjoyed. She would get rid of Alex if she could be Lee's girlfriend. How could she not be excited?
Watching her reaction, Lee's eyes looked distant as he saw traces of Angelina in Minnie.
Since Angelina had cheated on him, Lee's heart had become hardened. Hadn't Angelina looked for another man behind his back? Lee also wanted to take away other people's girlfriends and wives as revenge. He felt happy to see other men cry when they found out they were cheated on.
"On condition that you'll punish that guy. If I have a good time, you can be my girlfriend. Okay, baby?" Lee gently pinched her chin.