The Lovers Dream Hotel was famous throughout the city; at the entrance, rich couples that came from prominent backgrounds could be seen going back and forth.
Suddenly, a yellow-colored taxi stopped at the entrance. A young man with disheveled hair got out of the vehicle; it was Alex. He was mumbling incoherently while biting the tips of his fingers in nervousness.
"No, I refuse to believe it!" Alex mumbled stubbornly. He wanted to cling to the fact that Sarah wouldn't betray him.
Alex didn't notice the sneer that those rich couples were giving him or their remarks about how shabby he looked. He was too busy scanning the people who were eating at their leisure at the table.
Just then, Alex's eyes stopped at the two figures.
Shenna was far away at the door of the dining room. She held a glass of champagne and cheered with Bruce. They looked very intimate.
The moment Alex saw those two clasping hands together, he was furious; he wanted to immediately rush into the restaurant to interrupt them. He could barely hold himself back.
Just then, something unexpected happened.
The burly-looking guards in front of the restaurant stopped him with their thick arms, blocking his way.
"Oi, beggar, what's a fool like you doing here?" The grizzly-looking guard scoffed as he scrutinized Alex from head to toe, making him crack up in laughter. Why are idiots increasing lately? People like this think like their big shots and enter the hotel just so they can sightsee!
"Someone with shabby clothes isn't allowed here; now get out before I pummel you to the ground!"
Listening to the scary-looking guard's foul mouth, Alex subconsciously glanced down at what he wore. It was a plain-looking T-shirt, worn-out shorts, and sneakers.
Although his clothes are clean, if one was attentive enough, one would notice the rough edges of the clothes. As though it had been washed numerous times, making it look like a rag, it was way too old.
Alex clenched his jaw as he uttered the word.
"I beg you let me enter, even if it's less than a minute; please, I just want to look for someone inside; I'll immediately leave..."The guard didn't let Alex finish his words as he cut him off.
"Oh, c'mon, do you think we're doing charity work here?" The guard waved his hands as though he were swatting a fly. "Piss off!"
"How much is it?"
"Excuse me? What did you say?" The security guard had a doubtful expression; had he heard him right? This fool was talking about money?
"How much is the cost per serving?" Alex said that at the same time, he hurriedly took out a couple of coins from his pocket, and because he was in haste, they spilled out.
The clanging sounds were a bit jarring, and they caught the attention of the other diners and also the coming customers. There were judgmental eyes that were like needles piercing the surface of his skin.
On one of the dining tables at the front, a couple that was wearing expensive garments could be seen; the first to comment was the woman in her mid-twenties.
"Hubby, do you think he'll pick those coins?" The elegant lady spoke with a bit of amusement.
"Of course, he won't. That would be too humiliating."
Although Alex could hear that clearly, he could only swallow his pride, and with a flushed face, he hurriedly picked up the coins one by one.
"Is this enough?" Alex said while his eyes kept scanning the dinners, he was still trying to locate Shenna even in this dire situation.
Seeing what this beggar was doing and the crumbled $1 bill and some cents, made the security personnel's facial muscles twitch in irritation.
"Enough? Are you f*cking kidding me?"
The security guards were speechless, and most of all, they were pissed off, and Alex's action clearly bothered the crowd of diners. What this rat was doing was damaging their hotel's reputation!
Alex hastily took out his pocket and took out his credit card; making the security guard significantly calm down; needless to say, their expressions were still cold.
"Give me that!" The grizzly bodyguard snorted and asked someone to bring him a Swift machine. He was planning to charge this fool for creating a commotion.
However, to his dismay, all he could see was a bunch of zeros, literally zeroes, on the credit cards. They were fr**cking empty!
"It's a bunch of zero bosses...." The grizzly guard's facial expression darkened; this was the straw that broke the camel's back; he was about to grab Alex by the neck.
But Alex couldn't care less as he struggled; he was that determined as he tried to break free from these grizzly bear security guards.
"Let me pass, d*mn it!" Alex cursed out loud; he needs to break free.
At a distance, Bruce and Shenna were having a great conversation. They appeared to be an inseparable couple that had great chemistry with each other.
The two of them seemed to hear the argument at the hotel restaurant entrance that was getting louder, catching their full attention as they looked back. In a strange coincidence, it was then that Shenna locked gazes with Alex.
This time, Alex was making a bitter smile while seeing a trace of regret and panic appear on Shenna's face, but it quickly disappeared.
Alex was practically shouting in his heart. 'You know, Shenna, I would do anything for you, and I did! Why did you do this to me?'
Alex gritted his teeth; the anger in his heart wouldn't dissipate, and he pushed away the security guard, ready to rush in.
"Stop!"
"Halt, you aren't allowed to go in!"
Unexpectedly, more security guards came and pinned Alex on the cold tiles of the hotel; the impact broke the tip of his lips. Alex couldn’t move a finger now; he was completely immobilized.
"Release him." A powerful voice shouted, pulling the diners' attention to the scene.
Alex stood up while patting any dust off his pants, but the man in front of him who asked the guard to "release him" was, surprisingly, Bruce, the son of the CEO. Bruce was standing in front of Alex, with a hand on Shenna's waist affectionately, while his other hand held his latest model phone, filming Alex close for the live broadcast he started on DukDuk. Alex had a broken expression that was mixed with bitterness and hate, as he glanced at his lover, Shenna, in another man's arm. She was wearing a very expensive dress—wasn't that the dress that he had bought for her?He had to break his back and work overtime, spending two months of his salary to barely pay for it, only because she said she wanted it. What kind of man would he be if he couldn't even provide a girl with a dress that she liked? Yet...'How ironic...' Alex mumbled to himself.It turned out that her lover, Shenna, simply wanted this dress to date Bruce, the son of the CEO.Alex could only smile bitterly as he watche
After Bruce got the wind knocked out of him.The expensive phone that had been aimed at Alex the whole time falls on the ground while the live feed is still turned on to record what Alex did.Alex didn’t know there were several comments on the live video, and they were anything but good, for example, using words like..."This guy is too violent!" "That's horrible! Why would he do such a thing to the son of the CEO!""How can we have such a disgusting person in our company?"Things like that went on; they were clearly adding insult to injury by questioning Alex's character and his morals and smearing dirt on his reputation.At this time, the restaurant manager came with a bunch of staff. He scowled at Alex, who was sprawled on the ground as security kept pinning him down. Not wasting his time with Alex, who was an eyesore to him, he hastily bowed toward Bruce. "S-Sir, Bruce I apologize for this rude thing, which is misconduct!" The manager profusely apologized."Hmmph, you should
Chapter 5Alex became undeterred as he gritted his teeth and called for the second time.Fortunately, his colleague answered his phone call. Alex's eyes lit up as he hurriedly explained that he would need 15,000 dollars to bail out.".... Brother Louise, please help me; I swear I'll return the money as soon as possible!" Alex desperately said through the phone; he nearly yelled at the end of his sentence."...."There was a long silence as though Brother Louise was contemplating whether to help him or not. After all, 15 grand wasn't a small amount of money that one could easily fork out. Alex felt like he was stopping on needles as he waited for Brother Louise's response. Soon, Alex heard Brother Louise's voice through his somewhat old phone."Don't call me again, and if you still dare call me again, I swear... damn it, this will get me fired!" Brother Louise's tone of voice sounded nervous as he spoke through the phone.Alex becomes devastated and desperate. He didn’t know what he c
The man who got out of the car was none other than Bruce, and as though it wasn't enough, this b*stard even brought his lackeys with him! Alex clenched his jaws; it seems that Brother Louise, his colleague, had already betrayed him...'Look at this pretentious clown acting like a hero.' Alex's brows twitched; he was incensed at this fellow's shamelessly calling Shenna his "woman".Alex shook his head as he adjusted his wild emotions—why was he even getting angry thinking of Shenna?He hated himself for still having some lingering feelings left for her!On the other hand, after receiving that punch from Alex, he had been harboring thoughts about how he was going to teach this mere "nobody" a lesson."I never thought you could get out of jail," Bruce said chillingly while narrowing his gaze. Knowing full well that Alex, who was a beggar in his eyes, didn’t have the capacity and the connection to bail out.That was the reason he let the police department issue a high fee.Yet this son o
"Young master Crown, I finally found you!" The mysterious middle-aged man was a bit agitated as he said those words.What the... Alex was caught by surprise."Um, sir, I think you've mistaken me for someone else. Obviously, I'm not this "Crown" person that you're looking for." Alex forced out a smile as he replied skeptically.'Why would a wealthy middle-aged man with a bunch of veteran bodyguards call me young master?' Alex shook his head in dismissal. Really, he couldn't wrap his head around it.However, to Alex's dismay, the middle-aged man kept insisting that he was the young master Crown. Throughout his life, he had never heard of the Crown family or whatnot.On the side, Bruce, who was observing the interaction between Alex and the middle-aged man, was left baffled.'Alex is a young master? They must have gone nuts!' Bruce scoffed in his mind.At that moment, a sudden thought came inside Bruce's head. Then he let out a wild laugh while slapping his thigh. This was hilarious; he
Inside the Mercedes-Maybach car, passing through the high, raised buildings of the city center. Alex took a peek at the mysterious man, Alfred Wadsworth, who was explaining to him that, besides being a head butler, he was also a housekeeper for the Crown family. He further explained that the Wadsworth family had been serving their family for the last century. For now, Alex had nowhere to go, and he wanted to find out if this mysterious man, Alfred, was lying to him or not. This was one of the reasons he willingly entered the car. "Young master Alex, we had been looking for you for a long time! If it weren't for that accident..." Alfred Wadsworth clenched his fist tightly. The atmosphere becomes tense. Alex shrugged his shoulders; he had been an orphan for as long as he could remember. Apart from living in the orphanage, he also ends up in a military camp. His childhood memory of the military training camp was extremely unpleasant. Until this day, it still haunts him like a ghost t
The resounding words coming out of his father's mouth made Alex blink his eyes in doubt, then he spoke. "Inherit the family business? What do you mean, father?" It had never crossed Alex's mind that he would be the owner of a company, and that opportunity was being offered right now by his father for him to manage a company! He wondered if it was a small company—not that he would mind."My son, you can choose any of these companies to manage." Charles Crown spoke with a hint of excitement in his voice. He finally has someone to pass on his inheritance rather than have it deteriorate in someone else's hands.Immediately, Butler Alfred passed the tablet toward Alex, who looked somewhat confused. He neither nodded nor accepted the tablet, but started browsing through it.At that moment..."Huh?" Alex paused as he saw the first company on the list.He couldn't help but tremble as he saw the documents. Celestial Trading Commerce, has a daily revenue of 1 to 100 million US dollars? Alex wa
Around 6:00 am, the morning sunlight shone right through the window inside the master bedroom. Alex could be seen sleeping soundly while the relaxing breeze caressed his face.Moments after Alex woke up, he didn't immediately sit up, as he was looking blankly at the ceiling. "I'm the Crown family heir...." Alex mumbled gibberish. He scanned his eyes around this mesmerizing room with plenty of space.Yesterday he was too tired to examine the room, but now he could see that he was sleeping in a king-sized bed; the interior and its decor were superb, and it gave off a cozy atmosphere that would make one involuntarily fall asleep! It was welcoming and comforting to sleep, and there wasn't even a speck of dust. The curtains were laced with golden threads. Alex had a complicated expression. Usually, he would sleep in a bed that was as hard as tree bark or concrete; it was just sad.... Presently, he was feeling indignant, at how the rich people would sleep in a place like this every day!I
The guests in the Golden Paradise were stunned, and then they started to hang their heads down, terrified at this group of mafia-like men. They didn't want to get into trouble themselves, so they walked a bit further from the entrance.On the other hand, the employees were intimidated, not to mention that they had just seen the guards of the Golden Paradise outside groaning in pain. Clearly, they were beaten up.The senior manager gathered his courage. "Sir, please leave you're scaring the guests; if you don't, I'm afraid I would have to call the polic-"Before the senior manager could finish speaking, Alex cut him off. "It's alright, manager Kevin; from here, I'll handle this." Listening attentively to Alex's words, senior manager Kevin immediately bowed in Alex's direction and spoke politely. "Yes sir. Please excuse my rudeness." Alex turned his attention to this fellow, who was a member of the Crown family and must likely be his cousin...Alex never imagined meeting his cousin a
Teacher Vivian recovered from her shock and glared at her husband. "What are you waiting for? Shouldn't you carry your own luggage?""Um..." Richard's face was turning a shade of red as he hurriedly grabbed the bags Alex was carrying."Y-You must be tired, junior brother?" Richard wanted to keep his dignity, so he was making excuses not to be obvious. Furthermore, he had no idea about Alex's identity; he was horrified inside thinking about offending someone he shouldn't have. However, would Alex not notice what Richard was thinking? So he feigned ignorance and stated it in a calm voice. "Tired? Not at all. I can carry it for you all the way."Richard was stunned then, his back broke a cold sweat as he felt like crying with no tears. Not to mention, his wife was glaring at him."I-I'll carry it from here, please." Richard uttered, and at the end of his sentence, his voice was the sound of a mosquito; it was barely audible. On the other hand, Teacher Vivian came forward and faced Alex
"What do you mean my credit card didn't go through?" Richard was frowning heavily. How come his credit card wasn't accepted? He was pretty sure it had some savings in it.The server rolled his eyes, although he was annoyed. Nevertheless, he still had to maintain professionalism. With it in mind, he politely explained. "With all due respect, we only accept credit cards from reputable banks, mostly VIP card holders, but we do have a beer minimum; it would be the C.F.R. City Bank."The moment Richard heard those words, he was dumbfounded. What the... VIP card holders? What's even more incredulous is that the C.F.R. City Bank was considered a beer minimum.'Wasn't the C.F.R. City Bank the biggest bank in the City?' Richard mumbled in disbelief. On the side, teacher Vivian was similarly stunned, but soon she recovered, and she was starting to worry as she uttered. "Does it mean we will have to leave?""Let me think..." Richard gritted his teeth; he shouldn't have lost his cool, yet he had
Around ten in the morning, Alex finally arrived at his destination.He got out of the car while taking off his eyewear, which caused his brows to involuntarily twitch as he felt the heat rays from the glaring sun. Then he turned his attention toward the famous property of Antonio Florence.Undoubtedly, the plantsIt was a mixture of greenery and modernity, as the villas and the mansion were surrounded by gorgeous, rare plants. Alex wondered how they managed to grow those plants that could only be seen in different countries!Indeed, the place deserves its name, the Golden Paradise.Just then, someone came toward Alex."Sir, this way, please." A young man in his late teens who looks like an employee with his white and black uniform came to Alex and led him toward where a group of visitors was.'Kate and the others are not present. They've already gone ahead; I should look for them later.' Alex mumbled while scanning the crowd, looking for his co-workers, only to fail.At this point, as
Weeks passed, and everything was back on track. Alex could be seen jogging around the plaza, as the children were playing while noticing the young man, Alex pass them by while gasping for air.Gradually, Alex slowed down. He was thirsty and dead tired from working out. He took a seat on a vacant bench, gulping down the water bottle and putting some on top of his head to refresh himself. "That felt good," Alex uttered while feeling his muscles start to relax.Just then, Alex heard his name being called from a distance. He shifted his gaze toward the direction of the voice and saw a young lady wearing a yoga outfit.Rihanna? Alex thought in surprise at her appearance."Alex..." Rihanna was catching her breath as she spoke. "I noticed you from the apartment's balcony earlier; I wanted to tag along, but you were jogging too fast... Oh, I almost forgot this is for you."Rihanna took out a small pink towel and handed it to Alex in a shy manner."Wow, thank you, Rihanna." Alex grinned as
At this juncture, the veterans were starting to incircle around Alex; one of the veterans even moved a step closer toward Shenna.Just as the perverted veteran was about to grab her, Alex suddenly blocked his outstretched hands with his body."Tell your men to stop." Alex's words were directed toward the veteran leader, who was simply standing at the back of the group of veterans.Hearing Alex's sentence, the veteran leader signaled to his group of veterans to stop."You want me dead, right?" Alex said while pushing the terrified Shenna behind him to cover him from the veterans."Indeed, we want you dead; your head will be valuable." The veteran leader's statement was very alarming."At least give me a reason why you are after me... Is it because of the Crown family?" There was no need for Alex to hide his identity at this point; most likely, they already knew him beforehand. What's more puzzling is: what was their intention?"You sure have guts." "Alright, I'll explain it to you....
Bruce was taken aback as he looked at the furious Alex and Shenna, whose eyes were burning with defiance as she glared daggers at him."Pft." Bruce couldn't hold it in as he burst out laughing, and he wiped the tears from the corner of his eyes."You two are really similar! Showing such a face, how scary."Bruce stopped laughing as he continued to mock Alex. "Remember this place? Isn't it ironic? It's where your 'little girlfriend' decided to betray you because she wanted to use me to get promoted? If I were in your position, there's no way I would date such a woman, not to mention putting myself in danger!"Bruce wasn't done mocking Alex, as he proceeded to speak while leaning at the table with a grim face. "If you aren't blind, then you're certainly a fool!"In Bruce's opinion, Alex was an idiot.Alex understood that Bruce was using this tactic to play with his head. He was cleverly sowing discord between him and Shenna. But would he allow himself to fall for it easily? No!However,
The sudden interruption made Bruce's countenance stiffen; it took him a few seconds to recover as he mumbled. "Speaking of the devil!"There wasn't a doubt in Bruce's mind who the caller was! Without hesitation, Bruce picked up the call."My, my, I didn't think you'd be this fast for a fool!"Alex didn't immediately answer, making Bruce irritated. Just as he was about to yell at Alex on the phone, Alex's voice could be heard."... I'm outside, the money is already here, and I want to see her." Bruce signaled his men to go downstairs. He chuckled coldly while replying. "Showing concern, aren't we? Why don't I invite you in?""Alright." Alex replied on the phone.Bruce thought for a moment before responding in a mocking manner. "Do you want me to put your little girlfriend on the phone?" "There's no need for that; just make sure not a strand of hair is missing; otherwise, you'll regret it." Alex's tone of voice was deep.Without giving Bruce a chance to reply, the call was suddenly cu
Shenna was thinking hard about what purpose her abductors were after...Was it money? No, that shouldn't be the case, as who didn't know she didn't have anything on her name...Shenna couldn't help but think of her family, but then she smiled bitterly; knowing her family, she could easily imagine their indifferent reaction; they wouldn't lift a single finger to help her. If they knew he was abducted, they would even blame her for being careless...Unconsciously, Shenna bit her cheery, ripe lips until they bled; however, she didn't care as she ignored the pain.Although she could feel her anxiety rising, she had no idea where she was or what she should do; she was all alone in this lonely room, waiting for her abductors to do their worst...'No, I hate this feeling. I need to do something; that jerk Alex would mock me if I didn't do something. Shenna did so angrily in her heart; she didn't want Alex to look down on her. She inhaled deeply. She needed to figure out how to escape here be