"Yes, Doug and I were quietly trying to remind him to move, but he couldn't even hear us. For the final two minutes, he just stood there like a wooden stake." Fiona crossed her arms and looked at Alex with disdain.
Alex didn't say anything. He found a bench and sat down near Leona, thinking to himself, "I saw Leona and Colin looking at each other affectionately. Everyone was stunned. I didn't mean to disturb the program. They can say whatever they want, but I couldn't let someone else kiss Leona."
"By the way, did you notice the wonderful stage that we got set up today?" Ian said with pride, as he looked at the steel structure. He glanced at Alex's silent figure and then ignored him.
"Yes, this stage is so much better than last year's. It's like for professional singers. And the sound, lighting, and costumes were also very good. Did they cost a lot of money?" Colin asked. He and the other performers felt that the whole experience this year had been exceptional.
"Yes, how much did it cost?" someone else asked.
"Ian, you're the director, and you get all the money from the financial department. You must know, so tell us something," another performer said.
"Hehe, you were blessed. The stage I rented was the one used in the Happy Washington Carnival last year, and the music team is one of the top ten groups in the city. The makeup artist we used was a makeup artist for Hollywood stars!" Ian raised his head and said triumphantly.
"Damn it, no wonder. This will definitely have been the most impressive party held by any college in Washington" said a performer in surprise.
"Ian, how much money did you spend? We're dying of curiosity to know," a ponytailed girl asked anxiously.
"Fifty thousand dollars," Ian said with a leisurely smile. "And after the party is over, all the participants will be given one hundred dollars to go out and have dinner wherever you want."
"Oh, my God, that's so great!" said the ponytailed girl.
"Fifty thousand is so much. The record up to now was ten thousand. How come there was such a big budget this year?" asked another performer.
"Yes, I've never heard of anything like this. Do you know why it was so high?" said his friend puzzled.
The students backstage were both happy and puzzled. They were wondering who could have sponsored the party with such generosity.
"Hey, you should thank Colin. It was his father who provided the funds," Ian said.
When Ian had gone to the financial department with Colin, Colin had told him he would discuss the matter with his father. When Ian returned to the department for money the following day, they told him that well over fifty thousand dollars had been made available and that he could take any amount he needed for the party. Obviously, Colin had convinced his father to sponsor the event.
When the students heard that, they went up to Colin one by one to thank and praise him. They admired him more than ever now.
"Colin sponsored it. Colin is the most humble and brilliant rich student at Richmond University", said the girls backstage.
"Colin got it! Fifty thousand dollars is a drop in the bucket for Colin. He can probably earn much more than that in a day", said a young man.
Hearing them all praise him so effusively, Colin was pleased. He said with a faint smile, "I was also a participant in this evening's party. It was the first time for me and Leona to sing together on stage. I wanted a good stage and good equipment."
When Leona heard of Colin's involvement in the sponsorship, it made her feel warm inside.
At that moment, Ian received a phone call. When he hung up, he happily said to Colin, "Colin, the school leaders have decided that at the end of the party, the three most popular performances will be given an award. The first prize will be handed over by the party's sponsor."
"So, Colin's father is going to hand out the award?" a lively girl asked.
"I think the first prize is definitely going to be for Colin's performance. When he came on stage, the audience was enthralled. There was no other program comparable to his!" Ian said with a smile.
"This is good news," Colin admitted faintly. He looked at Leona and thought that it would be a good thing if his father handed him and Leona their award. That way he could introduce Leona to his father, and it would be easier to talk to him about her later.
"The sponsor is going to present the award?" Alex muttered to himself. It wasn't the fact that he would have to appear on stage that worried him, but that if he did go on stage to present awards, his one-and-a-half-million euro story would probably reach Ken Stokes's ears, which would get him into trouble with his family.
Alex was annoyed. He had told the budget department that they were not allowed to let other people know about his donation. "Are the heads of this school brain-dead?" he wondered.
**
Lindsey had been waiting for more than an hour, but Alex had not yet appeared.
She couldn't wait any longer. She wanted to call her sister and ask what was going on. However, Leona was likely to be in the middle of her performance, so she didn't want to disturb her. Lindsey sighed, feeling at a loss, and was ready to take a taxi to go to Richmond University. She stood by the side of the road for a long time, but no taxis drove by. She finally took out her phone to call one.
Just then, a gray SUV drove up beside her, and the back door swung open.
Lindsey was startled. Through the tinted windows, she couldn't see who was driving, so she walked slowly to the back to try to look inside.
Just as she reached the back door, a big hand shot out, grabbed her wrist, and pulled her into the car. With a "crack", the door was closed again. There was a scream from Lindsey, but it stopped suddenly, and the vehicle drove away.
**
By the time the last performance of the evening had ended, Alex was at a loss. The host on the stage said in a loud voice, "Students, tonight's party has been so wonderful. I can feel your enthusiasm. We've selected the three most popular performances of the evening by measuring the decibels of your applause and cheers. The sketch 'Our family,' the song and dance 'Uptown Funk,' and the song and dance 'Dream of a Child's Heart' have been the three most popular. Next, we will present awards to them."
There was a burst of warm applause from the audience.
Then, awards were given to the secretary of Richmond University for him to hand out to the winners of the third prize, and to the president of Richmond University for the winners of the second prize.
The audience was a little confused, they talked among themselves "President Merrit was the heavyweight in the school. He was giving away the second prize. Who was delivering the first one? Did the school invite any mysterious people?"
Alex sat backstage thinking for a while. He decided to sneak away. After all, he was just a minor dancer, so he was of no importance. It wasn't his problem if no one turned up to hand out the first prize.
Just as he was about to make a quick exit, the host began calling the members of his group.
"Alex, let's go. Where are you going?" Fiona grabbed him, and Doug pushed him onto the stage.
When the audience saw Leona and Colin stepping onto the stage, they cheered again.
"And these are the winners of the first prize! Now, let's invite a representative of the group to talk about their feelings tonight. I think we'll interview the most popular member of the group, Colin." The host gave Colin the microphone.
The girls in the audience cried out in unison, "Colin, Colin, you are the best!" It took three attempts to silence them.
"Thank you for your support. I'm very happy to get the first-place award tonight. However, there were flaws in our program. For example, we have a member who suddenly stopped dancing during the second half, which had an impact on the effect of our performance." Colin wanted to take this opportunity to belittle Alex.
A video recording of their performance was being projected onto a screen as he spoke, and one could clearly see Alex standing motionless on the stage.
The audience knew who Colin was talking about, and immediately there was a commotion.
"That kid was ruining the show. He doesn't deserve a prize!" came a voice from the crowd.
"Yeah, I saw him push Colin earlier. This person is really despicable", screamed a girl angrily.
"This kind of person intentionally harmed Colin, and he just wanted to screw up the program!" came another voice.
The angry girl waved to Alex. "Choir boy, get down from there. You don't deserve to stand next to Colin and Leona."
Gradually, the audience called out as one:
"Get off the stage! Get off the stage! Get off the stage!"
Alex couldn't help but feel angry. Admittedly, he had made a mistake during the performance. However, to have two or three thousand people point it out in public was way over the top. Even if he took the microphone to defend himself, the group would never forgive him. Alex stood where he was and just wanted for it all to be over.
"Well, don't blame him alone. As the person in charge of this performance, I also bear some responsibility for not having managed him properly," Colin said with a superficial smile, while inside, he was sneering.
Immediately, there was a round of praise.
"It had nothing to do with you, Colin", screamed the angry girl.
"Colin, you're too responsible. That person is always like that", came another voice from the crowd.
"Colin is worthy of his fortune. He's broad-minded, and he's much better than that guy who doesn't know how to behave in public", yelled another voice.
With a smile, the host addressed the audience. "Please be quiet. We will now present their award. We're all very curious. Who is going to present it? The sponsor of this New Year's party is... Mr. Alex Ambrose!"
When the host finished reading the name, he was stunned. He had read it right. It was one of the performers. He looked at Alex with a puzzled expression.
"Who..." Hearing Alex's name, Colin was astounded. Wasn't the sponsor his father? How could it be Alex?
Colin took a look at Alex and saw him calmly standing in place. He smiled to himself. So, the sponsor hadn't been his father in the end, but it could hardly be that little loser. The sponsor was someone with the same name as him. Other people were also surprised that the sponsor wasn't Colin's father. They had the same thought as him and decided that it was a coincidence that the sponsor and Alex had the same first and last names.
The host did not see Mr. Ambrose come out and said again, "Mr. Alex Ambrose, please step up onto the stage to present the awards."
But no one appeared. Standing on the stage, Alex was extremely ambivalent. He didn't know whether he should stand out or not.
"Alex, let's get your awards. Give us awards, quickly," Fiona teased him in a low voice.
At that moment, President Merrit quickly stepped onto the stage with several certificates, walked to Alex's side, and said with a smile, "Mr. Ambrose, we've been looking for you all over the place, but we couldn't find you. It turns out that you're also a performer. Your performance has won first place. Congratulations. I've prepared the certificates for you. Please give out the awards to your team."