Alex said with a slight sneer, "Jason, you haven't answered my question. What will you give me if I start this Ferrari?"
Jason snorted and said in a loud voice, "If you really can start it, I will walk out of here on my hands and knees and leave Miss Marvel to you. If you can't start it, then I want you to squat in the middle of the square, sing the national anthem with your head between your knees, shout out to everyone, "I'm a big fool", and stay far away from Miss Marvel. Okay?"
Alex nodded and said, "Okay."
Everyone laughed. They thought Alex would definitely lose the bet. How could a loser like him start this luxury Ferrari?
"He's so stupid," said one guy.
"Yes, I'm sure he can start it. Absolutely, ha, ha," said another with heavy sarcasm.
"Alex, we all saw that the owner of the car is a pretty girl. If you want to start it, you have to speak in a high voice and pretend to be a girl," joked another.
Lindsey worried about Alex. She gently stroked his arm and whispered, "There's no need to bet with him. Let's just go."
"No, just watch. It will be fine," Alex said with a smile. He went to the front of the Ferrari and touched the hood gently. He looked back at Jason and said with a smile, "Jason, remember our bet?"
Then, he looked back at the car and said in a loud voice, "Whirlwind, start."
The Ferrari's lights flashed. Everyone froze and stared at it suspiciously. "Was it really going to start?" everyone thought to themselves.
Just as they had decided it wouldn't, the engine roared into life. The people closest to the car fell in shock.
The engine continued to roar and the headlights flashed. Everyone looked at Alex with admiration.
"The Ferrari's started," someone said.
"God, this man really started it," said someone else.
Alex looked at Jason and the others and saw that their faces were full of surprise and disbelief. Jason stepped back as Alex said with a smile, "Jason, I've started the car. Now, are you going to fulfill your promise?"
"What?" Jason was flustered for a moment but quickly regained his composure. He said with a sneer, "You stupid loser. There must be something wrong with the car that made it so you could start it. How can you expect me to keep my promise? Do you really think you deserve that?"
Lindsey walked up to Alex, pointed at Jason, and said, "Jason, you are shameless. You're not even a man." Lindsey took Alex's hand and said, "Let's go. Ignore this sore loser."
Alex didn't move. Instead, he said, "We're not going anywhere until Jason's done as he promised." He looked looking at Jason's stony face and said with a smile, "Jason. Are you about to go back on your word?"
Jason laughed and said, "Hey, I'm not doing anything for you. You're nothing compared to me. How dare you challenge me?"
"Okay, then don't blame me," Alex said. He turned to the Ferrari again and said, "Open the doors."
With a mechanical whirring sound, the doors on both sides of the car slowly lifted. The onlookers were surprised again. They looked at Alex with even more admiration. He had clearly not started the Ferrari by luck. Could he really be the owner of the car?
Alex took Lindsey's hand and walked over to the car. They stepped inside. He held the steering wheel and slowly drove it toward Jason.
Jason saw that Alex was driving the car toward him and cried, "Wait a minute. What's he doing?" He was terrified that the car would hit him. Jane and the others were also scared and they started to move away. They were all afraid of being run over.
Jason saw that the car was about to hit him and he closed his eyes. His body was stiff and his legs felt weak. He waited for it to hit him at any moment. The onlookers around him cried out and covered their eyes.
A few moments later, he was still waiting. He had felt nothing. He opened his eyes and saw that the rear of the Ferrari was only a foot away from his body. Alex had deliberately swerved to avoid him. Jason had not heard the car swerve away because he had been so tense.
He saw Alex sitting in the sports car sneering at him. Suddenly he noticed a weight on his feet. When he looked down, he saw that two silver ropes attached his ankles to the bottom of the car.
The onlookers were amazed.
One said, "Damn it, this Ferrari is so powerful, its technology is incredible."
Another agreed, "It's so cool. If I had enough money, I would spend it all on this car."
When Alex drove the Ferrari forward, Jason was pulled by the rope and quickly lost his balance. He fell to the ground with a thud. Alex drove twice round the square dragging Jason behind him. Jason was rolling on the ground and scraping his back against the gravel. He was screaming in pain. When Alex stopped the car, his pain was temporarily relieved, but his clothes were ragged.
No one could bear to see Jason looking so miserable. Jane and the others were terrified that Alex would do the same to them.
Jason crawled up unsteadily from the ground. His shirt was shredded, exposing his back, which was scratched and bloody.
In his rear-view mirror, Alex watched Jason staggering to his feet. He pressed his hand on the car's flame spraying button and four flames burst out of the car's exhaust pipes toward him. The flames roiled dramatically, flickering out at him without quite touching him. The heat made his hair curl. When he flinched, he aggravated the scrapes on his back, making him yell out.
But the flame was only fleeting and did no lasting damage.
Seeing that he had thoroughly beaten Jason, Alex smiled. He opened the car doors, and he and Lindsey climbed out.
By that point, everyone felt a new fear and respect toward Alex. They spoke to each other in whispers.
"So, he is the owner of Ferrari," said one guy.
"I'm shocked. He looked like nothing special," said another.
"That guy who got burned was so arrogant, but he looks like the real loser now. I'd rather be the loser with the Ferrari than that guy."
When Jane and the others saw Alex get out of the car, they didn't dare to run away. Jane was thinking, "If Alex can afford to drive such a car, he must be very powerful. He'll be able to find us wherever we go."
Several of them approached Alex with trembling legs. Now that they had seen what he was willing to do to a guy from an important family, they were scared about what he would do to them.
Jane kneeled in front of him and pleaded, "Alex, I'm so sorry, I was wrong. Please don't hurt me."
Jane's friends also kneeled in front of him and begged him not to hurt them.
"Alex, we were wrong," one said.
"I'll never treat anyone like that again," said another.
"I'm a terrible human being. Please let us go," someone else pleaded.
Alex looked at Jane and thought about what she had said and done earlier. He wanted to do the same to her that he had done to Jason.
But Lindsey gently took his arm and said softly, "Alex, let her go. After all, she is my friend."
Alex sighed and nodded. Jane and others were ecstatic and thanked them both profusely.
"Thank you," said Jane.
Lindsey said solemnly. "Jane, I know you like money, but please try to be a nicer person. Otherwise, I don't want you as my friend."
"Yes, I know, Lindsey. Thank you for saving us," Jane said quickly. Behind her, the others were muttering their thanks to Lindsey in low voices.
"Thank you," said one, and, "Thank you for speaking up for us", said another.
"All right, you can get out of here," Alex told them coldly.
Jane and her friends got up from the ground, nodded to him, and ran away.
Lindsey looked at him, smiled, and asked, "Why do you pretend to be poor when you're so rich?"
This reminded him that Kelly had driven here in the Ferrari. He thought, "She must have heard the engine roaring. It's too late to get away now. But I really don't want to see her."
"Well, the truth is that the owner of this car and I are just good friends. Let's go now." He was trying to pull Lindsey away, when he heard a gentle voice behind him calling, "Alex."
He recognized Kelly's voice and froze. For some reason, his disordered and complicated heart suddenly became peaceful when he heard her voice.
He slowly turned around and saw Kelly standing five yards away, with Sharon hovering behind her. Her eyes were fixed on him, and her expression was excited, timid, and joyful all at once. Although it wasn't obvious to anyone else, Alex could clearly see the tenderness and love in her eyes.
She composed herself and walked over to him. Quietly, she asked, "How are you?"
"I'm fine. How about you?" Alex also sorted out his emotions and smiled at her.
"I'm good as well. I came to D.C. to see the games, but I didn't expect to run into you," she replied, blushing. "What's happening with you? Why did the car manager of the Sky Metro Bank give me your Ferrari?"
"I had a small problem, but it will be resolved soon." He didn't want Kelly to worry about him. If she knew that he had become a loser on the street again, she might decide to stay and try to help him.
He thought, "Before I left, I recorded Kelly's voice on the Ferrari computer and changed the owner's name to hers. The car is in her name, so Robert must have given it to her."
"Have you found Debbie?" Kelly asked.
He replied, "Well, she has been found, but now there's a misunderstanding between us that I'm trying to resolve. But I believe that it will be sorted out soon."
Kelly then gave Alex a quick hug, nodded to Lindsey, and climbed back into the Ferrari. Sharon waved at Alex and Lindsey before climbing into the passenger seat.
As they drove away, Sharon asked, "Kelly, were you really looking for Alex when you came to D.C.? Why don't you at least stay and have dinner with him now that you're here?"
Kelly said with a smile, "I'm satisfied just to have seen him. He and Debbie are the best match for each other, and I'm happy for them."