บท 23: Ch 23 - Facing the Bullies
"What's happened?" Alex asked. A ball of anger rose in his chest.
"Nothing. You—why are you here?" Debbie answered. She'd been focused on wiping the wounds with a cotton swab and alcohol, so she hadn't noticed when Alex arrived. She lowered her head and covered her face with her hands.
"Let me see." Alex said as he sat beside her. He grabbed her hand and slowly pulled it down. Close up, the wounds on Debbie's face were even more shocking. One of the cuts was still bleeding.
"Tell me, who did this to you?" Alex's heart ached when he saw her face.
"Okay. It was Maddison Robbins and her friends. But it's okay, they just nudged me a little—" Debbie said timidly.
"The three girls who were teasing you that day in the Beautiful Cuisine, right? I'll go find them now and teach them a lesson." Alex stood up and prepared to find Maddison and the others to give them a piece of his mind.
"Don't." Debbie quickly pulled Alex back. "It's not as simple as you think. Maddison has powerful friends. If you have a go at them now, we'll be the ones to suffer in the end."
"Then we'll just let them bully you forever?" Alex frowned as he glanced at Debbie.
Debbie lowered her head slightly at Alex's words and whispered, "I'm doing this for your own good. I'll just stay away from them in the future."
"All right." Alex's heart softened. Debbie's considering my safety, even now, he thought. But why is such a kind girl being bullied?
"Come on, I'll take you to the hospital now." Alex held Debbie's hand and was about to leave.
"No need, the hospital is very expensive. I don't have that kind of money," she whispered and stayed where she was.
"You don't have to pay." Alex looked at Debbie helplessly and pulled her toward the hospital.
Debbie's injuries were quickly dealt with, and Alex paid the bill.
"Thank you, I'll pay you back." Debbie looked at Alex and felt very happy. She could feel his concern for her. She'd never had a man care about her like he did.
"We'll talk about it in the future." Alex said. He didn't care about the money. "You haven't eaten yet right? I'll take you to a nice place to eat."
"A nice place?" Debbie opened her eyes wide. She felt uncomfortable and wasn't sure she wanted to go.
She'd never even eaten a five-dollar meal in the cafeteria, much less an expensive meal in a nice restaurant.
She continued, "Let's not, it's too expensive. I think the food in the cafeteria's pretty good—"
But Alex interrupted her. He shook his head and smiled. Then he took her hand and led her away from the campus. "Just follow me. Please just eat and don't worry about anything today," he said.
Arriving at the Dahlia Restaurant, Debbie felt a little nervous because Alex looked like he didn't fit in any better than she did. Did he actually come to this restaurant? She wondered. It's not all a joke, is it?
But when she saw Alex calmly ordering the food, Debbie relaxed.
She started to think that Alex was a bit of a mystery. He seemed very worldly and experienced.
Then Alex said, "Wait for me here. I need to go to the bathroom. I'll be back soon." He walked to the restroom.
Debbie sat alone in her seat, looking around her. She'd never been to such a sophisticated restaurant before and so she was curious about everything.
Then she heard a voice from one side. "Is that Debbie?" The voice said.
Debbie's nerves tensed up and she clenched her fists tightly. She knew it was Maddison.
"Yeah, it really is her. I thought I must be mistaken." Maddison stood in front of Debbie, looking at her with a sneer.
Maddison's two friends stood next to her.
One of them shouted, "Have you gone crazy over the last few days? First, you ate at the Beautiful Cuisine and now you're being even more extravagant. To think that you would actually dare to come and eat here."
Maddison took over, "You really are shameless. Spending your scholarship this way. We only come here once a week. You're a poor loser who can't even afford to eat. What gives you the right to eat here?"
As she spoke, Maddison pulled sharply on Debbie's hair. Debbie's head was pulled back, revealing her snow-white neck.
"Please, don't hit me here," she cried. "When we get back to the campus you can do whatever you want to me." Debbie didn't want Alex to see her getting beaten up.
When they heard Debbie pleading for mercy, Maddison and the other two felt even happier. They all started laughing gleefully.
"She's trying to trick us. In the past, she's never even made a sound when we hit her, let alone begging for mercy."
Maddison sneered as she grabbed Debbie's hair and pulled her back with all her strength. Bringing her face right up to Debbie's, she said, "Since you asked me to let you go, I'm not going to. That will be proof that you're my bitch. A dog under my control."
With that, Maddison flung Debbie off and raised her arm to slap her.
The wounds on Debbie's face had just started to heal, but with one slap from Maddison a few of them split open again. It was extremely painful.
Debbie tried to get away.
"Bitch, get back here," Maddison shouted. "Stop running and maybe I won't beat you to death tonight when we get back to the dorms."
Maddison and her friends gestured angrily at Debbie.
Debbie wasn't an idiot. She knew she had to get out of there as quickly as she could.
As Debbie was trying to get away, she bumped into a sturdy body.
It's Alex, she thought and her heart slowed.
Alex had already guessed what was happening when he saw the state Debbie was in and then saw Maddison and her friends. He held Debbie and looked coldly at Maddison.
Maddison barely looked at Alex as she said, "Hey, isn't this the other pauper who was eating at Beautiful Cuisine? Did these two people stay together? Haha, it really is a good match."
One of her friends joined in, "I was wondering why she's been loitering outside for the past few days. It looks like she's been stealing men outside. You shameless little whore. Luckily you're the only one that deserves such a poor loser."
"Why did you hit her?" Alex asked calmly.
Maddison laughed and answered with disdain, "Why? Do we still need a reason to beat a pauper? Debbie is just a dog for us to have fun with in our dorm. Does a master need to have a reason to hit his dog?"
"I'm warning you, don't touch her again." Alex said with a cold stare.
"Yeah, right. You still want to stick up for this girl, right? Come on, try touching me if you have something to say. I told you, if you try anything then we'll bully her even more in the future. There's nothing you can do to stop me." Maddison said provocatively.
Alex went to slap Maddison, but Debbie pulled him back and shook her head at him.
Just then, three men walked into the restaurant and walked toward Maddison. They were all elegantly dressed and were clearly here to meet Maddison and her friends for a meal.
"Miss Robbins, what's going on? Did this fool provoke you?" A stocky man with a crew cut pointed at Alex as he spoke to Maddison.
Another man, with tattoos on his arms, addressed Alex. "Idiot, someone like you dares to try it on with Miss Robbins? Let me tell you right now, we are all from the Kappa Alpha Society. If you know what's good for you, you'll stay away from us."
The remaining man even pushed Alex away, "Get lost or I might hit you right now."
He wanted to fight with them, but Debbie held his hand and whispered in his ear, "Let's go."
Alex realized that it would be stupid to fight with them right now. He didn't care what happened to him, but he didn't want Debbie to get hurt again. Instead, he followed Debbie toward the door.
"Aren't you helping your little girlfriend out? Oh, what a shame. If I had a boyfriend like you, I'd definitely dump him." Maddison stood behind him with her arms crossed and mocked him proudly.
"What is the Kappa Alpha Society?" Alex asked Debbie as they walked out of the restaurant.
Debbie replied, "It's an organization near our school. They are very powerful. Maddison and the rest belong to the Kappa Alpha Society. That's why we can't afford to get on the wrong side of them. That's why I stopped you just now."
Alex didn't say anything. In his heart he'd secretly decided that he must find a way to let Debbie know that he, Alex, was not someone to be trifled with.
"Oh yeah, and I've decided to move out of the dorm." Debbie looked at Alex and continued, "I've checked around the school and I've found a room. There's only one bed and no internet, but I think it's pretty good. I'm going to rent it."
When Alex heard this, he agreed wholeheartedly. If Debbie lived outside, she wouldn't be bullied by Maddison.
However, the room she'd found was much too basic. Alex decided to surprise her by finding her a better room.
Alex took Debbie to the hospital to have her wound rebandaged, then they ate a meal in the cafeteria before parted ways.
**
The next day, Alex took a taxi and directly went to the Green Island Garden district an upper class residential district close to Preston University.
Alex had been thinking about it all day. I've got money now, he thought. Why shouldn't I buy a house for Debbie to live in? It will be much more comfortable for her than renting a room.
The Green Island Garden district was a small and exclusive residential area that had been developed over recent years. It was convenient for transportation, had a superior position, and had first-rate facilities. It was a super luxurious small district of New York.
Alex went straight to the sales office. The current manager, Darla, was prettier than the last. Selling a property here earned her a commission of 50 thousand dollars. Alex had heard from his classmates that Darla was therefore willing to do shameful things for her customers in order to sell houses.
Usually, when Darla and the other salespeople saw a customer enter, they would immediately greet them with a smile. However, when they saw Alex enter, no one went up to greet him.
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