Suzan was embarrassed. She turned to Alex and leaned into his ear. "These are some relatives on my mother's side," she whispered to him. "They've always been like this. I'm sorry. Just ignore them."
She leaned away from him, turned to face the women, and put a smile on her face. "Guys," she said with as much cheer as she could muster. "This is my aunt, Tabitha Hadley."
Alex nodded respectfully. He wanted to avoid conflict. "Hello," he said politely.
Max almost burst out laughing. What kind of a name is Tabitha? he thought.
Tabitha noticed his snickering and sneered resentfully at them. She looked as if they were something she had scraped off her boot. Then she turned back to Suzan. "My dear, you really should throw these people out," she said coldly. "You can't allow riff-raff to be running around in your new home."
Alex looked at her scornfully, and she locked eyes with him. He had met many people who thought they were better than him, but Tabitha's eyes shone with more resentment than any he had ever encountered before.
"Wait, I remember now," one of the other women said and pointed at Alex. "I've seen this one before. He's a security guard. A low-level one. I've seen him several times around Johns Hopkins." She said it as if she was revealing a shocking secret.
"Oh, shut up," Ben blurted out. He couldn't take it anymore. "So what? You think security guards aren't worth anything, is that it? Well, at least they're out there helping people. More than I can say for you."
The woman stared at him in shock. "How dare you speak to me that way?" she cried, apparently forgetting that she had spoken first.
"Just tell me," Ben continued. "Do you think security guards are worthless or not? Answer me, you snob."
"Did you hear that?" the woman asked incredulously and looked around at her friends. "Who are these people? They should be thrown out right now. It's the only proper thing to do."
Suddenly, a man's voice sounded in the corridor. "Don't talk that way," it said. "If you disrespect others, you disrespect yourself."
It was Joe. He came walking up behind the women, shoved his way in-between them, and stood beside Suzan with a displeased look on his face. He had heard everything they had said.
"That's right," Tabitha said with a triumphant smile on her face. "Thank you, Joe. Now, please see these people out. I don't want to be in the same house as people who treat me like this. I feel dirty just talking to them."
"Sorry, Tabitha," Joe said. "But I'm talking about you. You're insulting my friends, and you don't even know them. Do you realize that you insult me when you're rude to them?"
Tabitha looked as if she was about to scream. "What are you talking about, Joe?" she shot back at him. "I'm your aunt. Without my help you couldn't have bought this place. Don't be ungrateful. I'm only looking out for you. These people are degrading your home and ruining your party."
She looked around at the walls in the hallway. "But maybe it's no use," she muttered contemptuously. "The damage has been done."
"Tabitha, please show my friend some respect," Joe said. "What's wrong with being a security guard? It's good, honest work that protects people. And it teaches self-reliance better than any inheritance ever could. Like I said, you can only respect yourself by also respecting others."
"Respect is earned," Tabitha said. She sneered at Alex. "And what has he done to earn it? I take it he's a classmate of yours from Preston. Why should I respect someone who graduates from such a place only to get a job as a grunt? He must be grossly incompetent."
Joe frowned. He couldn't help but show his displeasure. He took a step forward and started to speak, but Alex took him by the arm and stopped him. He didn't want Joe to get in trouble with his family for his sake, and he didn't need anyone else to fight his battles for him.
"Ms. Hadley, my name is Alex," he said in a conciliatory tone. "Have I given you a bad impression?"
Tabitha snorted. "Don't speak to me," she snapped back at him. "You're nothing but a loser, and you don't get to be familiar with me. Go mingle with your own kind. You've already ruined my evening, and I don't think I'll be able to eat."
Joe was embarrassed. Tabitha's behavior was unacceptable, but he was hesitant to reprimand a member of Suzan's family. On top of that, he didn't exactly know what to say. Just like Suzan, Joe had heard rumors that Alex was incredibly wealthy. But he had also seen him struggle to buy food for himself in the past. He wanted to set Tabitha straight by telling her the truth about Alex, but he realized that he didn't know the full truth himself.
But the truth of Alex's wealth didn't matter. Tabitha was disrespecting Joe's good friends, people who had been his closest friends at university. He had to defend them.
"Be quiet, Tabitha!" he shouted. "This is my house, and I decide who's invited into it. Maybe you should leave."
Suzan stepped forward and gave her aunt a pitiful look. "Yes, auntie," she said. "You've really gone too far this time."
Alex cleared his throat to get their attention. When they all looked back at him, he smiled warmly. "Listen, everyone," he said. "Don't be angry."
"How can you not be angry?" Max asked him. "She's trying to get us thrown out of our friend's party."
"There's no need to be angry," Alex responded. "They're just a bunch of unhappy people, doing what unhappy people do. Lashing out and putting others down. We should pity them."
Tabitha and her friends were in shock. "Pity us?" she cried out. "You impertinent little brat. How dare you condescend to us like this?"
Alex didn't respond, and a sudden silence descended over the hallway. Everyone looked at each other. Tabitha and her friends stood staring with indignant eyeballs locked onto Alex. They were almost hyperventilating. His words had struck a chord.