Ch 61 - You're Going Down

Before anyone could react, the timer ran out.

And the winner was Cathy!

Minnie abruptly stopped singing. Her vision was blurred as she checked her progress bar. It had far surpassed Cathy's only three seconds ago, so how could her lead have disappeared so quickly?

"What's wrong? Is there a problem with the system?" She moved closer to the camera and looked at it in disbelief. My hundred thousand dollars! she thought.

She had been lying when she had said she didn't care. She checked the screen again. Right at the end, someone had given money to Cathy, causing her to win.

Just three seconds earlier, Minnie had been winning and the hundred thousand dollars would have been hers. She had asked her fans to hold back for a while so that she could win a larger amount of money right at the end. And now she had lost!

"What are you trying to do, Adam?" she asked. "You think you're amazing just because you have a few dollars? You should have stepped in earlier."

Minnie continued to scold him, but her live stream had disappeared.

Cathy still hadn't recovered from the shock when her roommates came over. She pointed at the screen and mumbled, "I… I won. The hundred thousand dollars is mine!"

When her roommates saw the screen, they realized it was true. Minnie greeted the live broadcast camera, "Hey, Adam, why didn't you come to my live broadcast room? Why did you help Cathy instead?"

Minnie was extremely jealous of Cathy, who was getting all the attention, as well as a hundred thousand dollars.

If everyone watched Cathy's live broadcast, wouldn't she get all the money?

"Cathy, hurry up and thank Adam," Minnie reminded her. "He gave you a hundred thousand dollars."

"Adam, thank you," Cathy said. "I really don't know what to say, but I'd like to meet you. You must be a wonderful person, and I'd like nothing more than to see you. I… I really want to hug you… and kiss you. Of course, I know I'm not good enough for you…"

Cathy's mind was a mess, and she was babbling.

"I want to see you too. And kiss you," Minnie said, unwilling to be outdone. Cathy was such a schemer, but Minnie wasn't about to step aside.

A message popped up on the screen announcing: [Adam has left the live broadcast room.]

Alex looked at the phone in a daze. When he had seen Cathy's pitiful look, he hadn't been able to resist helping her.

He saw the gesture as a tribute to the years they had spent together.

He was just about to power off his cell phone and go to sleep when he received a message from the live stream account. It was from Cathy.

[Adam, thank you so much. I was so worried. If not for you, I would have been humiliated. I didn't do very well in the live broadcast.]

Alex knew that Cathy was only fawning over him because he was rich, so he lost interest and simply replied with, [Hmm].

Cathy was overjoyed to see that Adam had answered her. She stole a glance at Minnie, who was still broadcasting live, afraid that she would see what Cathy was doing.

She messaged Adam back. [Oh, I wanted to tell you that my dear friend Graham Stirling invited you to a banquet at the Golden Mansion Hotel the other day, but you didn't attend.] Cathy had managed to calm down, and now that she remembered what had happened the previous day, she wanted to use this chance to meet Adam and to punish Alex.

[Yeah. Why?] came the answer.

[Well, someone attended the banquet, pretending to be you, and they took a diamond necklace worth over two hundred thousand dollars. I know who did it, and I can tell you his identity!] Cathy sent, grinning.

Alex smiled wryly.

[Forget it] he responded. [Two hundred thousand dollars is not a large amount of money for me. If he wants it that badly, then he can have it.]

Cathy still wanted to use Adam to have Alex arrested, but Adam didn't seem to care at all. She was slightly disappointed but also pleasantly surprised. If Adam didn't even care about the two hundred thousand dollars, then he must be seriously rich.

[Adam, what do you think of me?] Cathy hesitated for a long time before she decided to send the message. She was a rich girl, and she already had plenty of men wanting to be with her. But how could she give up such a good opportunity when it was right in front of her?

[You look a lot like my ex-girlfriend.] Alex sent back.

A former girlfriend! Cathy thought. That's great. Everyone still has some feelings for their ex-girlfriends, right?

[What was your ex-girlfriend like?] she asked with anticipation.

[She's very pretty.] Alex answered. [But she thinks she's poor and desperately wants to get rich. And she also had sex with other men behind my back.]

[Oh! No wonder you left her. She doesn't know how to treat a man as loyal as you. That's such a shame. But don't worry. That kind of trash never sticks around for long, and she'll end up all alone in the future. What man would want to be with someone like that?] Cathy sent the message, shaking her head in disbelief.

[Don't say any more!] came the answer.

Cathy typed quickly. [Why not? Don't tell me you're still thinking about her? She's not worth it. I might look like her, but I promise you, I'm different. I'm quiet, and I like to read books. I had a boyfriend, and we were together for more than four years before he changed his mind and decided he wanted sex. Of course, I never let him touch me, and now I'm single and waiting for the right person.]

Looking at the words on the screen, Alex's smile became more bitter as he grew angry.

[Okay, I'm tired, so I'm going to sleep.] he sent.

[Oh, of course, Adam, get some sleep. I won't disturb you any longer. Good night!] Cathy replied.

Alex threw his phone aside, curled into a ball, and closed his eyes.

**

The next day, Alex and Debbie ate breakfast in the cafeteria. When they were finished, Debbie picked up her books and went to the library to study.

Alex walked from the cafeteria to the classrooms.

"Alex!" A sharp cry sounded from the tree-lined path.

Alex looked and saw Cathy carrying a large, black plastic bag. She struggled over with the bag and stopped in front of him.

"Are you happy now?" she asked.

"Happy?" Alex shrugged in confusion.

"I invited you to the bar the other day," she said. "And you thought that I regretted leaving you, didn't you? That I asked you because I wanted you back, right?" Cathy sneered.

Alex smiled and turned to leave.

"You want to run away just because I guessed the truth?" Cathy asked, stepping in front of him. "Is that really what you thought? That I might actually take you back? Well, I was just trying to trick you into giving some money to that idiot Billy. I really thought you would fall for it. Ha ha! You never guessed, did you?"

Alex looked at her with a grin, as if he was looking at a crazy woman.

"What the hell are you laughing at?" Cathy yelled as she punched him. "You're just like Billy: a rotten dog! You're not good enough for me. I made a great decision to get rid of both of you. Besides, I'm better off alone."

Cathy's smile grew wider. "You must be wondering why I admitted that?" She shook her head and laughed. "Well, I'll tell you. I found a friend from a wealthy family, and he is much richer than Billy. Yesterday, before I'd even spoken to him, he had already given me a hundred thousand dollars!"

Alex couldn't help but laugh.

"You think I'm lying?" She scowled at him. "You don't believe me? Do you want to know who he is?"

"Who is it?" Alex asked, playing along.

Cathy smiled smugly and said, "Adam Childs."

"Ha ha! You're scared, aren't you?" she taunted him. "I know Adam Childs, the man you impersonated the other day. And I've already contacted him. Rest assured, I will definitely get him to pursue the matter of you impersonating him at Mr. Stirling's banquet and also the missing two-hundred-thousand-dollar necklace. I'll have you arrested."

Alex no longer wanted to look at Cathy's arrogant face. Feeling nauseated, he pushed her and continued toward the classrooms.

"Alex, you dog, I must tell Adam about your ugly face. You don't look very happy. You're in for it now. Just wait until I get you arrested!" Cathy pointed at Alex's back and cursed like a shrew.

Alex went into the classroom. Thankfully, Cathy didn't take this class. He was so annoyed that he didn't want to be there either. He held his head and let his thoughts run wild. Before he knew it, the class had ended.

He followed the stream of people leaving the building. His phone rang, and he saw that it was the manager of the Autumn Beauty boutique, Russell.

"Sir, can you come in?" Russell asked, anxiously. "There's a customer causing trouble and being really disruptive. Even the security guards in the mall haven't been able to do anything about it."

Alex frowned. He asked Russell to hold on a while longer, and then he rushed over.