1 Ch 1 - Good and Bad Surprises

"Hello. Heavenly Lion Convenience," Alex Ambrose answered the store phone.

"I need a box of condoms and two packs of tissues delivered to room 1302 of the Sheraton South River Hotel. Hurry!" The caller hung up.

Alex shook his head. People never seemed to be prepared.

He packed the required items, put on a raincoat, and rode his electric bike toward the Sheraton Hotel on the southern side of the river.

It was nine o'clock in the evening and raining heavily, and his pants and shoes were soon wet and filthy. Luckily, the merchandise was still dry, but he didn't dare delay any longer, so he hurried toward the hotel.

When he arrived at room 1302, he knocked on the door, and it was opened quickly.

"Hello, here's your—" Alex was stunned into silence.

The woman in front of him was none other than his girlfriend, Cathy!

She was dressed in a white robe, with her long, dark, wet hair draped over her shoulders. The scents of shower gel and shampoo assaulted his nose.

"Cathy? What are you doing here?" He stared at her in disbelief, still feeling dazed.

"What are you doing here?" Cathy asked. Her heart skipped a beat, and she took a small step back into the room. Her mind went blank and then started to spin.

"What's wrong?" Another guy walked up to the door, wearing a robe and slippers, and Alex immediately recognized him.

"You! You dare to touch my girl?" Alex couldn't suppress the anger welling up inside him, and he started moving toward Billy, determined to teach him a lesson.

"Stop!" Cathy stepped in front of Alex. After a brief burst of panic, she had managed to get back a bit of control. Since her boyfriend had already discovered her betrayal, there was no point in trying to hide it now.

She looked directly at him. "Alex, we need to break up."

"Break up?" Alex was stunned. He stared at Cathy with wide eyes. "Cathy, we've been together for more than a year. Are you going to break up with me now?"

"Yes. We need to go our separate ways." She kept steady eye contact with him and spoke with a strong sense of resentment. "Are you surprised? You have no money, Alex. You can only barely afford the cheapest essentials. We never have anything nice. As long as I'm with you, people will always be laughing at me, and that just isn't the life I want. I'm too good to be living in poverty like this. I was too naive when I was in my freshman year, and I let myself get tricked into being with a loser like you!"

She hugged Billy's arm and said to Alex, "Billy is my boyfriend now. From now on, I want nothing to do with you. Don't bother me again!"

"Well, seems like you're just her good-for-nothing ex now!" Billy looked at Alex with a provocative smirk.

Alex, standing there in a raincoat and with mud stains on his pants and shoes, felt like Cathy was right. He was a complete loser. Billy took the plastic bag from his hand and took out the box of condoms. He waved it at Alex and laughed as he said, "I'm staying in a nice hotel, having my girlfriend's ex bring me condoms. And you're single. Sure was good of you to help me out."

"Why are you still here?" Cathy scolded Alex.

"Nah, it's good that he didn't piss off. Maybe you want to see me beat him down, huh, Cathy? Gotta give a lady what she wants," Billy sneered.

Alex felt utterly defeated. He slowly turned around and walked out of the room.

"Bro, you're not even taking the money? Heh, nice. I get a girlfriend and a gift." Billy felt great watching Alex's slumped, dejected posture as he closed the door behind him.

When Alex left the hotel, it was raining even harder than before. He took off his raincoat, allowing the cold rain to drench his entire body and help clear his head.

Cathy had discarded him because she believed he had no money. Losing such a materialistic woman should be something to rejoice over, so why should he be sad?

[Buzz buzz!]

His phone vibrated in his pocket. Alex took it out and glanced at it, but when he saw the number, he stopped walking. His entire body was shaking as he read the text.

[After a review, the Ambrose family has decided that their son, Alexander, has met the conditions required for entitlement to his inheritance. From today onward, control of his property will be returned to him.]

The bean-sized raindrops plopped onto the screen, causing the text message to gradually become blurry.

Alex's mind began to spin. If not for this message, Alex would have almost forgotten his identity as a super-rich kid. Over the last seven years, his family had been assessing him, withholding his fortune until they were satisfied he met their draconian conditions. And now, finally, it was over.

Everything that rightfully belonged to him was finally his to claim.

*

Alex woke up early the next morning and drove to the city. In a great mood, he got out of his car and went straight to Metro Sky Bank, right in the heart of the wealthiest part of the central business district of New York.

Various luxury cars were parked around the bank. The people walking in and out of the surrounding plaza were all rich; it was obvious from their clothing and demeanour.

Alex strode to the door of the bank and pushed it open.

"Ouch!"

The main door could be opened both inward and outward, and Alex had been a bit careless when he pushed it open from outside. As a result, the door had bumped into a long-haired young woman who had been heading out of the building.

He quickly apologized, "Sorry. I didn't see you."

"What do you mean, you didn't see me? What am I, invisible?" She held a hand to her forehead and glared at him.

The bank's assistant manager, Karen Young, had noticed the incident and hurried over. She checked on the woman first, and then looked at Alex in disapproval. When her gaze swept over him, a trace of suspicion appeared on her face.

Metro Sky Bank was different from most banks, as the clientele were almost exclusively high-end businesspeople. Karen knew the young woman was there with her father, but she didn't know why Alex was there. Judging from his appearance and age, he wasn't their usual type of customer.

"Sir, can I be of assistance?" she asked with a polite but forced smile.

Alex simply said, "I'm here to withdraw money."

"Withdraw money?" the sullen woman asked, sneering at him.

"Do you have a card?" Karen asked, continuing to smile politely. 

Getting a Metro Sky Bankcard was not easy. A million dollars of savings was the minimum requirement to qualify. Karen felt certain that the man in front of her couldn't have much experience with the bank and wouldn't know their rules. Perhaps he had thought that other banks' cards could also be used here.

"No," Alex replied, shaking his head.

The woman he had accidentally hit with the door couldn't help but giggle when she heard his honest reply. He wasn't worth any more of her attention.

"Let's go." Her father had walked up, still arranging the documents he was carrying.

"My dad and I are leaving." The woman shook Karen's hand, and then looked over at Alex. "Ms Young, having someone like this around could damage your bank's image and upset your customers. I hope this will not happen again."

With that, she took her father's arm and opened the door.

"Take care, Mr Scott." Karen followed them out a few steps, watching as they got into a car and left. Turning around, she headed back inside, having made up her mind to encourage Alex to leave as soon as possible.

There was no one standing where Alex had been. Oh! Where's he gone? she wondered.

Was it possible that the kid had been embarrassed and had quietly slipped away?

She felt relieved at the thought. Then, just as she was about to go back to work, she caught a glimpse of someone out of the corner of her eye.

There's the brat! No wonder I didn't see him at first, she thought. He had already reached the entrance to the VIP lounge, and a pillar had blocked her view of him.

The VIP room was only for high-status customers who were worth at least thirty million dollars, and this young man had admitted that he didn't even have a card. If she let him get through, she would be in trouble with her boss.

"Stop! Don't move!" Karen yelled, feeling desperate. The other customers all looked around at her, obviously annoyed by her shouting. She could only smile apologetically as she walked quickly toward Alex.

But he had already walked through the lounge, opened the door to the VIP room, and stepped inside.

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