Flora looked at Alex and spoke kindly, but her eyes were firm. Then she was quiet.
She was well acquainted with Ken and knew that there was no way that he would violate
the family's orders and secretly help her son. She had already asked him several times, but she knew that she was putting him in a difficult position. She didn't want to risk
aggravating him or turning him against Alex so that if ever he was really in trouble, he
would think twice about helping him.
"Mr. Stokes, I would like to have a private word with my son," she told him.
"Of course," Ken replied as he stood up and walked to the door.
Then he turned around again and said respectfully, "Mrs. Ambrose, the family has said that you mustn't help Alex. He has done very well so far. I advise that you don't ruin it now."
Ken had worked for the Ambrose family for thirty years. He knew that the head of the
family was very firm in his instructions, but also that Flora was desperate to help her son.
He was worried that after he left, she would be tempted to give him a bank card or a valuable item that he could sell. This would cause a lot of problems for her and Alex if the
rest of the family found out.
"Mr. Stokes, don't worry, I understand," she replied with a smile.
As soon as Ken left, Flora's expression became serious. She flipped open her cell phone case and looked at the ten-million-dollar bank card that she kept in there. But she didn't take it out.
During their dinner, she and Alex chatted about their lives and enjoyed each other's
company. They both cherished their time together, and although they were talking about
trivial matters, it felt very special to them.
He told her that he was planning to stay in Washington, D.C. for a period of time and that he was in no rush to get back to New York. Flora was afraid that this would interrupt his
studies, so she said that she would arrange for him to switch to Richmond University. If
anyone asked, she would remind them that the family had always had a tradition of putting
education first. They could have no argument with that.
Alex agreed that he should switch to Richmond University, and Flora knew that he was only doing this so that he could stay in Washington, D.C. and pursue Debbie.
Good moments always pass quickly, and soon the meal was over, and it was time for Flora
to leave. As the head of business in Southern Europe, she was always very busy.
Ken followed Alex and Flora out of the hotel. Before leaving, Flora took Alex to see some
people she had noticed living in a squat nearby. There, they found a group sitting on the floor lifelessly. Some stood holding bowls of soup. Some ate with their hands, and some poured soup straight from the dishes into their mouths.
Their chins were covered with vegetable dregs. Their clothes, especially their t-shirts, were
greasy.
Flora and Alex glanced at them then walked away. They didn't want to see anymore. Flora felt that she had made her point about the importance of Alex's education.
When they came to a two hundred-thousand-dollar Porsche, Alex couldn't help laughing.
He asked, "Mom, why are you driving a Porsche?"
"One of my new business clients in Europe is Porsche. Of course, I have to be familiar with
their cars," she replied with a smile. She looked at Ken and said, "Mr. Stokes, my eyesight isn't very good. Would you be happy to drive me?"
Alex was surprised. He thought, I know that Mom's eyesight is excellent. Why is she lying to Ken? Is she just too lazy to drive?
"Okay," Ken answered and walked around to the driver's door.
"Wait a minute," Flora said as she suddenly grabbed him. With a bashful smile, she continued, "It's a real mess inside as I hardly ever clean it. I need to tidy up a bit, so you
won't think less of me."
She smiled at Ken and climbed into the car.
Although Flora was over forty years old, she had been exceptionally beautiful when she
was younger, and she was still very charming and attractive. Her smile made Ken go weak at the knees as he gazed at her in admiration.
When he noticed Alex watching him, he coughed and blushed.
After several minutes, Flora climbed out of the Porsche. To the surprise of both the men,
she pulled out five bulging black garbage bags.
They were astonished. They would never have imagined that someone could clear out so much garbage from such a small car.
She handed the bags to Alex and said, "I'm in a hurry to leave. Please, can you help me by
getting rid of these bags of trash? But before you throw them away, make sure you sort
through them carefully. I heard that the council is very strict on recycling, and you will be fined if you put the wrong items into the garbage."
Then she turned to Ken and said, "Mr. Stokes, shall we go?" She waved goodbye to Alex and they drove away.
It was not until they had left that Alex started to think.
He took the bags of trash to the recycling site. There was no one around, so he was tempted to throw them all into the general garbage container, but he remembered that his mother had been very specific about him sorting through them. He opened the bags.
Four of them contained the usual domestic garbage, but the last one was heavy. He untied it and removed some newspapers from the top. Underneath, he found piles of banknotes.
They weren't dollar bills, but euros. He guessed that the bag contained hundreds of
thousands of euros, which would be even more in dollars. He was stunned and moved by
his mother's kindness. She had gone to so much trouble to help him.
At that moment, he received a text message from his mother. It said: [Have you dealt with the garbage? If you have dealt with it, now you should go home and relax.]
He knew that she was wary of the family checking her messages, so he worded his response
carefully. He replied: [It's hard to classify the garbage. Fortunately, I've done it carefully.
I'm going home now.]
Seeing his text, Flora smiled and relaxed.
Alex returned to his rental house with the garbage bag of euros. He couldn't take the money to the bank because his family would find out. He decided to temporarily store it under the bed.
Three days later, he received a text message from his mother, saying that she had enrolled
him at Richmond University, and he could start there at the beginning of the new term. She sent him all the details of his new department, tutor, and dormitory number.
Although the family agreed to let Alex switch to Richmond University to continue his
education, his official identity was still as a poor pancake seller. They refused to lift the ban
on him until he gave up his search for Debbie.
He spent the next few days preparing to start his new university course. He knew that he
had to tell Nelly that he could no longer work in the food truck. She had looked so tired
recently that he could hardly bear to tell her.
That particular day, they had kept the truck in a city park for the whole day and had been
very busy. In the evening, Alex sat in his room for a long time before he plucked up the determination to go and knock on Nelly's door.
She was happy to see him, and she said, "You're here. Give me a shoulder rub. I'm so tired. I must have made at least two hundred pancakes today." She often asked him to rub her
shoulders after the day's work, so he was not surprised.
He asked her to sit down. While rubbing her shoulders, he finally said, "I can only work for you for three more days, then I'll be leaving."
He felt her body tremble slightly.
"Are you going back to New York?" she asked without looking at him.
He replied, "No, I'm transferring to Richmond University."
"Fine. Off you go. There's no need to discuss it with me," she said. She turned her head and
looked at him with a small smile. "Oh, I see. You're just here to ask me for your pay before you go. Well, you've missed so many hours recently, I'm not going to give you anything."
Alex had expected her to feel a little sad that he was leaving and was disappointed by her
reaction. He joked, "Come on Nelly, I worked hard for two months, and you didn't give me a dime. Aren't you afraid that I'll complain and get the police to arrest you?"
Nelly looked at his smiling face and lowered her head. Alex didn't understand why she didn't care that he was leaving. He had just made a little joke to try to cheer her up, but she didn't react at all.
Then he noticed that her shoulders were trembling and, as he looked at her, two big tears
fell onto her lap.
He was surprised and started to ask, "Why are you—"
"Get out of here," Nelly shouted suddenly. She raised her head and Alex saw that her eyes were hazy with tears. She glared at him angrily.
He said, "Is it that what I said that upset you? I'm so sorry, Nelly. I know my joke went too
far. I never meant to hurt you. I know you've been hurt in the past. Can you tell me about it?"
She bit her lip and looked at him with hatred. Finally, she sighed softly and said, "I was thinking about someone I knew when I was a child. One day, I picked up one of his toys to
look at. When he saw me with it, he shouted at me. I was so upset that I cried and hit him.
He pressed me to the ground, kicked me, screamed at me, and threw me out of his house.
He told me that he was going to get the police to arrest me, just like you did just now."
Alex was angry and distressed. He hugged her and said in a soft voice, "I was just joking
with you. What he did to you was cruel, and I want to help you get your revenge. I'll help you find him, and then I'll beat him for you—"
Nelly interrupted him in a loud voice, "If you hit him, I'll hit you even harder."
Alex was stunned and asked, "But you told me that he beat you, scolded you, and threw you out of his house. Why would you protect him?"
She blushed, but she still looked at him stubbornly and said, "I just like him. What's the
matter? You think I'm cheap, don't you."
He replied softly, "No. The love between men and women often can't be explained." She
looked surprised that he understood.
"If you like him so much, why don't you go to him?" he asked.
She looked flustered. She lowered her head and said, "He's handsome, and he comes from a wealthy family. Not only am I ugly, but I'm just a pancake seller. I'm not good enough for him."
Alex shook his head and said, "So what? Why shouldn't you find him and see what he thinks? Who says that you're not good enough for him? Who says that rich and poor people can't be together? You know that I like Miss Marvel. I'm convinced that if I'm persistent, I'll succeed with her in the end. Why don't you believe in yourself?"
She replied, "You're wrong. He'll never want to be with me."
"Nelly, you're so stubborn. You should open your mind a little bit."
Nelly was really upset by that point. She had already thought everything through. She had spent her whole life thinking about that man, and she had accepted that she would never be with him. Now, Alex was trying to put other thoughts into her head. She covered her ears and screamed at him, "Get out loser. I hate you. Get out." She pushed him out of the door.