Chương 37: Ch 37 - Who's Telling the Truth?
Donna thought that Debbie was too pretty as she watched lots of boys staring at her longingly from the audience. They were all talking about her beauty and her modesty.
"Everyone, smile at the camera," said the photographer. Donna was not even in his viewfinder.
After the photos had been taken, the hostess asked everyone to leave but stopped Alex and Debbie.
"Alex, please wait a moment. As the highest contributor, everyone is curious about your situation. Have you got a moment to talk?"
"Alex, please accept this interview," shouted one admirer.
"I want to know more about you, handsome," another girl said.
The audience began to cheer for him.
"Um, all right." Alex had no choice but to agree. He held Debbie's hand and stood in the middle of the stage.
"Alex, can I ask— is this girl your girlfriend?" The hostess asked a gossipy question at the beginning. Everyone was waiting for Alex's answer.
"That's right, she's my girlfriend," Alex replied and held Debbie's hand more tightly. He was feeling a bit nervous, afraid that Debbie might publicly reject him. However, when he saw Debbie smile shyly and lower her head, the fear in his heart was lifted.
In the audience, the girls were sighing heavily.
"Alex, can I ask why you didn't leave your name after the donation?"
"It's very simple. The purpose of my donation is to help the kids in the village, not to help my reputation. Also, one hundred thirty thousand isn't a lot of money to me, so, leaving my name wasn't important to me."
After he said this, the girls in the audience burst into cheers of praise. One by one, they shouted Alex's name loudly. Each time he looked at them, they felt elated.
"That's great. Please forgive me for being so bold. But, you're so rich, why don't you wear nicer clothes? And your girlfriend does dress well," the hostess said.
Alex was embarrassed and he replied, "I'm from a rich family, but I don't think I have to wear designer labels just because I'm rich. On the contrary, I feel more comfortable in basic clothes. As for my girlfriend, I love her and enjoy buying her nice clothes."
"You're too charming; I can't help but fall in love with you myself. Last question: you are so understated. In your life, has anyone ever misunderstood you?"
Alex's gaze fell on Donna and Darren, who was sitting in the audience. His lips curled up into a smile. "There is someone," he replied.
Alex was not a vengeful person. He preferred to sit and discuss things, but Donna and her boyfriend had gone too far just now. Not only had they insulted him, but they had also maliciously slandered Debbie, and this made him extremely angry.
"There was one guy who told me in front of everyone that I'm a loser and said that I can't even afford to eat in the cafeteria. His girlfriend said that my girlfriend isn't fit to wear clothes from the Autumn Beauty boutique and that the two of us are conceited."
When Alex finished speaking, the audience indignantly turned to look for the couple that Alex had talked about.
"We want to know who they are. They sound like they deserve each other. The speaks stupidity and the woman's mouth is cheap," one student said.
Someone else called out, "Alex has donated one hundred thirty thousand dollars. He's awesome. If you have the guts, stand up now and tell us how much money you donated."
"You better not tell me who these losers are; I won't be able to control my fists," another shouted.
At that moment, Donna and Darren were so angry that their faces turned bright red. They wanted to stand up and shout at Alex, but when they saw the excited crowd around them, they became nervous.
The hostess spoke to the crowd. "This kind of person is the trash of Preston University. Please don't take what he said to heart. Most of us know how well Alex treats people. Thank you for chatting with me. Come on everyone, give a big cheer for Alex and Debbie."
There was thunderous applause from the audience. The students genuinely admired Alex and envied Debbie for being with him. What a great catch.
Just as Alex and Debbie were about to walk off the stage, a girl came up to them from the entrance of the hall. She sneered as her sharp eyes locked onto Alex's face and she said, "Alex, you've got a nerve."
Alex was slightly surprised to see her. He smiled wryly in his heart. Why is Cathy Fairweather haunting me like a ghost? he wondered.
The others in the hall were outraged by Cathy.
At that moment, everyone heard a loud voice shouting at her from across the hall. "Alex is such a cultivated and noble person, yet you have the guts to come here and criticize him. You're shameless."
Cathy pretended to ignore the voice as she continued to walk toward the stage with a cold smile.
Now she understood everything. She was furious with Alex.
She knew about his generous donation and told herself, he donated one hundred thirty thousand just to show off in front of me. This money was in his attempt to win me back.
Seeing Alex and Debbie standing in the middle of the stage and accepting the crowd's cheers and admiration like celebrities, Cathy was heartbroken. Alex had been her boyfriend. She had rejected him, and Debbie was just a peasant who had stolen him. Cathy simply couldn't accept that they were better than she was.
She gave a cold snort toward Alex and Debbie, then she snatched the microphone from the hostess and said loudly to the audience, "Fellow students, you were all tricked by Alex. He's not from a good family at all, he is scum."
The audience, of course, did not believe her. They all told Cathy to stop talking nonsense, but she was not flustered at all.
"On the day of Alex's donation, I was by his side. The fact is, he pretended to donate one hundred thirty thousand dollars to show that he was generous in front of me and wanted to win me back. If he did donate one hundred thirty thousand, it wasn't his family's money, but the money he won from the lottery. If you don't believe me, you can ask this girl if what I said is true." Cathy looked at Laura.
"It seems—it could be true. That day, this girl was by Alex's side," Laura whispered.
That convinced everyone.
"So, what this scum said just now was a lie. He's not from a top family at all. I think he's just a poor scum loser," one of the students said.
"So that's why he donated money—to impress beautiful women. What he said just now sounded so genuine. I can't believe we've seen through his lies so quickly," another shouted.
Another called out, "So, he won the lottery. Look at his clothes, he looks like a beggar. If he had some money, he could buy himself some decent clothes. He must be stupid, right?"
Hearing everyone scolding Alex and Debbie, Cathy, Donna, and Darren felt very smug.
"Can I just say something?" Alex calmly said to the audience.
Someone from the audience replied, "We don't appreciate your tricks, so what else do you have to say? You're just a liar and a loser."
Cathy butted in, "Everyone listens to what this loser is going to say in case he claims we're bullying him." She knew that no matter what Alex said, it wouldn't change the situation. She crossed her arms over her chest and raised her eyebrows at him.
Alex cleared his throat and said, "I've decided on the spur of the moment to donate another one hundred thirty thousand to the poor villages."
No one could believe it. A total of two hundred sixty thousand. How could Alex, a sophomore, have so much money?
Everyone's first thought was that Alex was desperate and saying the first thing that came into his head.
"Forget about one hundred thirty thousand. I'd be surprised if you could take out even five hundred dollars today," one guy shouted.
Cathy didn't make Alex's words seriously. She had already worked out that Alex couldn't have a cent left out of the one hundred fifty thousand he had won.
The others agreed with Cathy.
Alex ignored everyone and asked Laura for the account number for donations. He called the customer manager of Metro Sky Bank, Robert Miller, and asked him to transfer one hundred thirty thousand to that account.
At that moment, a staff member rushed onto the stage and whispered a few words into the hostess's ear. The hostess's expression changed dramatically as he looked at Alex in surprise.
"He did donate. Just now, he transferred one hundred thirty thousand to the school account. The donor is indeed Alex," the hostess said excitedly to the audience, her hand shaking as she held the microphone.
The audience looked at Alex like they were looking at a god. Although they were in the same hall as him, they felt that Alex was a person who was way out of their reach.
"Alex, do you have any thoughts for us to share?" The hostess was holding the microphone attentively. Looking at Alex's handsome face, she couldn't help but want to kiss him.
"Actually, to me, the amount of money I donated doesn't seem that much. I just hope that it can be used to help the kids in the village."
Alex glanced at the stunned Cathy and continued, "Of course, I don't like it when people maliciously fabricate rumours about me and insult me."
The audience burst into applause.
One girl shouted, "This is the magnanimity of a super-rich gentleman. You can't tell me that Alex is a loser—I'll never believe you."
"Alex is so handsome, and he's rich. He's so perfect." another cried out.
"Just now, that horrible woman criticized Alex. That was terrible. She even said that he was chasing after her. Ha, are you still pretending that's true?" another said to Cathy.
Now, Cathy had become the target of public criticism. A large number of girls rushed over, pulling at her hair and her clothes, leaving her in a miserable state as she was pushed out of the hall.
Alex and Debbie had become celebrities and were surrounded by the crowd. But when everyone was distracted by the girls chasing after Cathy, Alex took advantage of the moment and he and Debbie quietly left the hall. The girls chasing Cathy soon gave up and stopped running.
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