[Chapter 81]
“Quinton, how did you get to know each other? Look at you. You are carrying so many things! Come and sit here.” Mila’s mother was Helen Smith, and she was the vice president of their company. Hence, she had a wide social network. Although Quinton had been involved in an ugly scandal days ago for his immoral actions, Mrs. Smith was well aware of the potential of his family. Besides, it was acceptable for a young man to misconduct sometimes in his life.
More importantly, the Ziegler family had expanded its business in Mayberry Commercial Street. They would rise to power soon. If her company could receive help from the Ziegler family this time, wouldn’t it mean that their crisis would be solved? Upon hearing Mrs. Smith’s questions, Quinton gave Gerald a dirty look and said, “Of course I know him! He is a notorious character in the university!” Thinking of how Gerald was present during his last few embarrassing moments, Quinton’s hatred toward Gerald began to grow.
After making those icy remarks, Quinton sat down on the main seat of the sofa. Victor had heard of Quinton Zeigler before and knew what kind of a character he was in society, and so, he smiled and nodded at the latter politely. Whitney also did the same, hoping that Quinton would take notice of her presence.
She did not mind his nasty past as he was undeniably the son of one of the richest in Mayberry! However, Quinton’s eyes were on Mila alone. After what had happened just recently, Quinton and Alice had broken up for good. Luckily, Quinton’s father was a businessman who had a huge network. Coincidentally, Mila’s father’s company had a business relationship with theirs.
Previously, Quinton had attempted several times to ask Mila out for dinner but was rejected. So, to Quinton, Mila Smith was a cold-hearted goddess who had never acknowledged him. However, the situation had changed. Now that Mila’s family was facing a huge crisis, Quinton could reignite his plan. He ought to act as a kind man at the very least.
“Mr. and Mrs. Smith. My father had received news about your company, so, I am here on behalf of my father to gain a better understanding of you in person. I will make a call to my father later to explain the situation to him and see if he can help out. Besides, all these friends of Mila who are here today are no commoners. We can work together to figure out a good way to help you overcome the crisis!” Quinton said with a confident smile.
“Indeed. You are absolutely right, Quinton. I truly hope those of you who have connections with influential people can help us if possible.”
Helen Smith started to take a liking toward Quinton. She had decided to turn a blind eye on his nasty past. All she could hope for now was Quinton becoming her son-in-law! Victor and the rest nodded in agreement.
“Quinton is right. Although we might not be as powerful as the Ziegler family, we can still contribute as much as we can. After all, Mila’s company is just facing some capital constraints, it still retains its potential.”
“Yeah. One of my mother’s friends holds a high position in the bank, maybe we can get a loan from her bank!” Everyone was working hard with what they had to help.
Some helped with their own money, some used their connections to get funding. Helen was very glad to see them all willing to help. She was very clear about the backgrounds of her daughter’s friends. Not one of them was from a mediocre family. However, when she looked at Gerald, she felt disgusted.
Gerald was looking at his phone, swiping his finger on the screen, as if he was looking for something. How pretentious. Since when did Mila get to know someone so low? And it was a horrible nightmare when she realized that this man had feelings for her daughter!
“Gerald, don’t you have lectures to attend? Thank you for your concern, but you should not neglect your studies. Why don’t you go back first?” Helen Smith had sensed Quinton’s hostility to Gerald, so, she acted quickly to send him away.
Her action surprised Gerald who was just about to call Zack. Somehow, he could understand why she did so. She must have thought that he was the useless one and apparently, she had chosen to side with Quinton. Gerald felt bitter. He admitted that he had done some bad things before, but that was nothing in comparison to Quinton’s deeds.
Just because he was a famous second-generation rich, his dreadful past was easily forgotten by others. As for him, being forgiven by the other people seemed impossible. To them, he was simply disgusting! Why did they receive different treatment from others? Well, Quinton was rich, and he was penniless.
“Duh, look at him! He’s acting as if he is calling someone for help. As if he could!”
[Chapter 82]
Kyle smirked. “Huh. Is he thinking of taking out all the money he won? I bet it wouldn’t be enough.”
“It’s my first time seeing this kind of person!” Listening to their mockery, Gerald had the urge to reveal his identity. However, he calmed down quickly, because once he did that, he could never live the same life again. He would never be able to finish his studies peacefully, and he would be forced to leave. This was because his father would not let him be alone in the university. If so, his life would be disrupted completely, and Gerald did not want that to happen. He just wanted to improve himself at his own pace, quietly. He was satisfied as long as he was not short of money. Gerald sighed.
Then, he said, “Right, I have a class later. I shall take my leave, then.” Gerald stood up and left.
“Gerald!” Mila caught up with him. She felt dreadful, especially when she, at one point, looked down on Gerald when he talked about his past. She truly regretted it.
‘Why didn’t I think from Gerald’s perspective? Who would be willing to do that if he was out of money? Besides, Gerald has treated me nicely all this while. Now that he heard that I am in trouble, he came to see me. He even brought me a gift.’ Mila thought that she had wronged Gerald.
“Gerald, are you angry with me for not standing up for you when they jeered at you?” Mila bit her lips.
“No, I’m not angry. I just want to know if that’s what you think of me. Do you think the same as them, that I am a man with no borderline when money is involved?” Gerald looked at Mila with a smile.
“I did a moment ago, but not anymore. Gerald, I still think we are good friends!” Mila moved closer toward Gerald.
“Alright!” Gerald did not say anything. He just nodded and left. Outside Paradise Ville. Gerald let out a long breath. He felt a bit sad when he learned that Mila would think of him the way the others did. Gerald was having mixed feelings. He could not describe them with words. Nevertheless, he took out his phone from his pocket and made a call to Zack.
“Mr. Crawford, is there anything I can do for you?”
“Brother Zack, I need a favor from you. There is a company called FuturTech Inc., and it seems to be in trouble. Can I invest in that company?”
“Invest?” Zack was taken aback for a moment, and then he was overjoyed from what he heard.
“Of course you can! Miss Crawford will be so glad that you did. No problem. There is no problem at all! I will take care of it immediately!”
“Alright. Don’t use my name. Use the company name instead, Brother Zack.” Gerald reminded him. “Yes, I will settle this matter in an hour!” Zack said happily.
Mr. Crawford had made a great improvement! After hanging up the call, Gerald was ready to head back to the university. He was currently preparing to take the next driving test, so, he planned to practice for a little bit. However, just as he arrived at the campus, he received a call from Harper.
“Hahaha! There’s good news, Gerald! Terribly good news!” Harper said between laughter.
“What is it?” Gerald was startled by the words of his dormitory head. He always tended to act impulsively.
“It’s about Xavia. She fought with Yuri. Even the police have come, saying they are here to arrest Yuri. It’s a mess now. We are all going to the girls’ dormitory to see what’s going on!” Xavia fought with Yuri? And the police had come?
Gerald was so confused. How did they get into such a big fight?! He ought to go and see! Gerald hung up the phone, still unable to comprehend the situation. Thus, he decided to go to the girls’ dormitory.
[Chapter 83]
“Gerald, here!” By the time Gerald had reached the dormitory where Xavia lived, it was already crowded with both male and female students.
The police were there. Cassandra was also there, as was the representative of Yuri’s class. It was hectic. Among the crowd, Gerald saw Harper waving at him, so he walked toward him. Then, he saw Xavia and Yuri. They must have had a fierce fight judging from the slap mark on Xavia’s cheek and her messy hair. She was shouting and crying at the same time.
As for Yuri, he was being held by the police, handcuffed. His face was so pale, he had to be very scared.
One of the police was interviewing the class representatives.
“What happened?” Gerald asked.
“What happened!? Dmn! Gerald, you are curious about how Yuri became rich since that day, aren’t you? Guess what? He’s a fearless lad, I tell you. He first borrowed a hundred thousand dollars from an online loan company for seven days. After seven days, because of the high interest rates, he had to pay back five hundred thousand dollars! There must be a black box operation behind this. And then, it seems as though Yuri had put down the shares of his father’s company on mortgage! In short, it’s a big mess right now. Also, it was his father who reported it to the police!” Harper explained, and then he continued,
“Now that Yuri was desperate, he asked Xavia to return the money he spent on her. I heard that he had spent almost a hundred thousand on Xavia. However, Xavia refused to give him the money, so he beat her up! Dmn! These loan sharks are ruthless. I read a news article about a person who needed to pay back a hundred thousand dollars for borrowing just ten thousand dollars. It was ten-fold as much, man! I thought it was fake news, but now, I believe it. It’s so scary!”
After Gerald heard the whole story, he looked at Xavia who was in tears. As Yuri was escorted to the police car, he was still yelling at Xavia.
“Let me tell you, btch! I didn’t even get to touch you after spending a hundred thousand dollars on you. Just you wait! If you don’t give me back the money, I will ask my men to kill you!”
“Get in!” Before Yuri could finish his words, the police forced him into the car.
“You jerk! Asking back money from me? Did I become your girlfriend for nothing?” Xavia stomped her feet angrily.
“Serves you right, you liar!” Although Xavia was scolding him fiercely, she was scared.
The Lowell family was powerful, more powerful than hers at the very least. Seeing Yuri leave with the police, Xavia’s heart was still beating fast. Suddenly, she saw Gerald among the crowd. Right then, she teared up. She rushed toward Gerald and gave him two loud slaps!
“You bstard! You saw me getting beaten up by someone but you just stand here watching?! You should have beat him up!” Xavia grabbed Gerald’s shirt and cried hysterically.
In her mind, Gerald would do anything for her. Before they broke up, Gerald would carry her on his back to the infirmary when she had a mild cold. If she told him she was hungry, Gerald would sneak out from the dormitory to get her some food even if it was midnight. If she wanted a mobile phone, Gerald would get some part-time jobs to earn enough money to buy it for her.
So, when she was beaten, she thought that Gerald would get all worked up about it. Instead, he had just stood there and watched! Xavia was so angry that she almost went crazy.
“Xavia, I am no longer your boyfriend!” Gerald honestly wanted to slap her back, but he could not do it when he saw her face. The earlier marks were still there. So, he just pushed her away. He had once loved her sincerely after all.
“Yeah, you are not my boyfriend anymore. Don’t you want to reconcile with me?!” Xavia shouted in her crying voice. She had regained her composure.
But now, Gerald seemed very foreign to her. Could it be that this poor hillbilly did not love her anymore?
How could it be?! ‘I am Xavia. Gerald should be the one who kneels before me.’
“I don’t want to. Not anymore!” Gerald shook his head as he turned around and left. Truthfully, his heart ached.
“You jerk! If you don’t get back with me, how will I pay him back the money?! Had it not been for Yuri wanting to compete with you by showing off his money, would I have ended up like this?” Xavia had become hysterical! Gerald no longer loved her and she now owed the Lowell family one hundred thousand dollars.
That family was not one she could mess with!
[Chapter 84]
‘What now? What should I do?!’ One hundred thousand dollars was not a small amount! She could not earn that much even if she sold her own body. Xavia knelt on the ground and broke into tears.
Meanwhile, Gerald had gone back to the dormitory in confusion. He wanted to take a nap, but he couldn’t. He felt pain when he thought of the slap mark on Xavia’s face. If Xavia had stayed with him like before, she would have been able to get anything she wanted. If she was bullied, of course he would take revenge for her. But ironically, she had betrayed him. She had lied to him. She told him that she needed some time to clear her mind, but she had started dating another man in just three days. Gerald never mentioned this, but he would never forget it. Lying on the bed, reminiscing about the good things about Xavia as well as the way she had ridiculed him, half an hour passed without him noticing. Suddenly, Gerald’s phone rang again. It was from Mila.
“Where are you, Gerald? Come to my house quickly. The food is served. We are throwing a party!” Mila sounded pretty excited.
“I’m already back in the dormitory. What is it?” Gerald could roughly guess what had happened, but he pretended not to know about it.
“Well, we have overcome the crisis! And you know what, our company has just received a one hundred million dollar funding from Mayberry International Inc! Come here quick, let’s party!” Mila sounded extremely happy.
Gerald was happy as well and also quite surprised.
Brother Zack was fast and efficient in handling this matter. Nevertheless, what Gerald did not expect was that he had actually invested one hundred million dollars in her company! That was a whole lot of money! Gee… Before the incident at the dormitory, Gerald would have been happy to go to Mila’s house to have some fun since Mila had invited him over.
But after seeing what had happened to Xavia, he was feeling downhearted.
“I’ll just pass. You all have fun. I feel a bit tired now. I want to get some sleep.”
“Hey, buddy. Why don’t you come? Are you scared that they will jeer at you again? Don’t worry, I won’t let them do so!”
“That’s not it. I’m really tired.”
“Alright. Later, when I get back to the campus, I will treat you alone. By the way, I have always wanted to treat you to a meal! Now I’ve got the chance.
“Alright!” Gerald hung up the phone. He was considering whether he should find a chance to tell Mila it was him who had actually helped her.
‘Should I reveal my identity to her?’ He just did not know how to say it.
‘Would it be too sudden?’ Argh! Gerald felt as though his head was about to explode!
In the meantime, at Mila’s house.
“Why? Is your poor friend not coming? How dare he act so arrogant!” Mrs. Smith saw the disappointment in Mila’s face when she hung up the phone. She could not understand why her daughter cared so much about that lad.
“It’s better that he doesn’t come. Mila, I think you should spend less time with him. You know that you two are people living in two different worlds. This time, the Smith family will surely rise to power after getting the funding from Mayberry International Inc. You should stop his desire for you, the earlier the better!”
“That’s right. You should not be friends with him.” The young people commented.
“By the way, was it your father who got the investment from Mayberry International Inc. for our company, Quinton? It’s the biggest company in Mayberry! Why would they fund us so suddenly?” Mrs. Smith brought up the topic of Mayberry International Inc. It was the biggest doubt she had right now. Quinton shook his head.
“It can’t be my father. Only two people can move the investment funds of that company. Not even Zack Lyle can decide on this! So, I think it must be one of the Crawfords. Since Miss Crawford is not in the country, I’m guessing the person who invested in your company must be the young Mr. Crawford!”
“The young Mr. Crawford? I have never heard of him before.”
All those present fell into silence. They knew that Zack Lyle was ridiculously rich in Mayberry. Now that they knew that he had two big bosses and one of them was the young Mr. Crawford, wouldn’t it mean that the Mayberry Commercial Street was his? If so, how rich would he be? Quinton described him respectfully.
“This young Mr. Crawford is a mysterious man, and nobody can imagine how wealthy the family is. Now that he has come to Mayberry, he will definitely want to show off his skills. Therefore, I bet your company must have gotten the chance just in time, Mrs. Smith!”
“I think we have!” Mrs. Smith nodded, feeling glad and surprised. The girls, including Whitney, could not sit still anymore.
“Quinton, please tell us more about this young Mr. Crawford. Didn’t you say that the whole Mayberry Commercial Street is his? Holy sh*t!” Quinton chuckled.
“What did you say? Mayberry Commercial Street? Let me tell you this. I heard this from my father. The Mayberry Commercial Street, which is literally a cash printing machine, is nothing in their eyes. It is just a fragment!”
“What!?”
[Chapter 85]
It was such a huge street and yet, it was nothing in the eyes of the young Mr. Crawford. How powerful was this Crawford family?! Whitney and the rest of the girls fell for Mr. Crawford immediately. How they wished to become his girlfriend.
“Still, aren’t you exaggerating this?”
“If it is such an influential family, we should have seen it on the Internet!” The girls doubted it. Quinton laughed.
“Those that you see online are not the most powerful ones. Think about it. What kind of an existence would a company be when all the big companies you know online are supported by it? Many of the large industries are supported by such a powerful company, and such companies are run by families of whom we don’t usually hear their names!”
“Hmm, it makes sense.” The girls were now convinced. Ring! The phone rang.
Mrs. Smith picked up the phone. She was shocked when she saw where the call was from.
“It’s from the Bureau of Commerce!” Helen was getting anxious. Were they going to seize their assets? It was true that their company almost went bankrupt, but Mayberry International Inc. had just announced their investment to their company. Everyone knew that the bank would not show any mercy to the companies who owed them money. Once the company could not repay the loan, the bank would inform the bureau immediately. They all knew clearly how it worked. Everyone stopped talking and waited patiently.
“Thank you, Mr. Harrison. Yes, yes, yes! Thank you for your encouragement and support! Okay, goodbye!” Everyone was confused upon seeing Helen speak in such an excited manner.
“Mr. Harrison?” Mila’s father was surprised. Their company was considered a small company. So, they were always very scared of authority. Seeing Mrs. Smith’s reaction, he knew it was not bad news.
“Yes!” And she recounted their conversation. “It must all be thanks to the young Mr. Crawford! Otherwise, it would be impossible!”
“Mr. Crawford is indeed very influential and powerful!” Everyone was very impressed by this man. The incident had sparked curiosity among many of them. Who was this mysterious Mr. Crawford? Over the following days, Gerald did not do anything that attracted attention to himself.
Besides, he spent all the money on the card his sister had sent him which was loaded with twenty million dollars. There was about one million dollars or so left on the card, so he bought himself some branded outfits as well as some accessories like watches and stuff. Xavia did call Gerald up once to borrow some money, but he refused to lend her any.
He was not being ruthless. He just wanted her to learn her lesson. Blindly pursuing money was useless. Sometimes, when you thought you were about to have it, you were actually losing it. He really hoped Xavia would not continue living like this. Otherwise, she would lose herself one day. After Gerald refused to help her, he had not heard about her for days. So, he focused on preparing for his third driving test.
“What are you doing, bro?” It was Saturday. Gerald was reading a book, laying on the bed, while Harper and the rest had gone out to have some fun.
Just as he was feeling bored, his sister, Jessica, called him.
“I’m reading a book. What is it?” Gerald felt rather helpless when dealing with his domineering sister. His head ached when he heard her voice.
He could still remember the one time he had been beaten by her just because he had wanted to buy an ice cream. They had still been poor at that time.
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⌚Every ★Saturday / Wednesday ★-------------------------------------------
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