Riches in Disguise

Chapter 7

I held back my tears and smiled. "Don't worry about it. I'll take care of the

medicine bills. You just focus on getting better."

I spent the entire morning talking with Jane and learning about her situation. She had no friends or family in Welsington City, and no one visited her while she was in the hospital.

So, I promised to visit her every other day. Three times a week seemed just right -not too much to disrupt my schedule, and enough to not interfere with her rest and treatment.

As I was getting ready to leave, Jane suddenly started crying. "Thank you, William. I've already spent so much of your time, and now, with this illness, I'll owe you even more. I don't know if I'll ever be able to pay you back."

"What are you talking about? Who said anything about paying me back?" I laughed, gently pinching her cheek.

To ease her mind, I decided to tell a little lie. "Besides, it's not all from me. I crowdfunded it, and lots of kind people chipped in, so you don't need to feel any pressure."

"Really?" Jane clearly felt more at ease.

I was about to nod when Joshua's voice suddenly came from the doorway. "I wore those shoes yesterday and knew they were real. I was wondering where you got the money to buy something that expensive. William, it turns out you're embezzling donations!"

I took a deep breath. How was it possible to run into Joshua even at the hospital? He really was like a bad penny.

"Jane, you rest up. I'll be going now." I didn't want her hearing any more nonsense, so I closed the door behind me and dragged Joshua outside.

"Joshua, listen to me. This is the last time I'm going to warn you. Stop bothering me, and we'll call it even. But if you keep this up, I'll make sure you get exactly what you deserve!"

I realized I wasn't very good at threatening people. Even I felt unsatisfied after saying that. Maybe I should practice more.

Sure enough, Joshua wasn't fazed at all. In fact, he seemed more cocky than ever. "Why are you so angry? Is it because I caught you doing something shameful? Don't think that you can just walk away from this. I will tell everyone, including teachers and students. You name it!"

here? The patient is about to undergo surgery, and we need you to come

glare before sprinting toward

The documents that Alan gave me didn't mention that Joshua had

passing nurse, "Excuse me, could you

chart and replied, "It's an

words hit me like a ton of bricks. I mean, I was

another girlfriend besides Lina? And they'd even had

approved so much funding for someone like

to be hit with another wave of drama, especially after Joshua had threatened to ruin my reputation at the

return to the

results of the entrepreneurship competition were

attended the event, eager to

drawing attention, but Dad's secretary, Carmen, came to support me. She didn't reveal her identity, sitting quietly in the audience as a family representative, cheering

five minutes to present their project. Once they finished, the judges would

one of

He confidently rambled on about this

second of his five minutes. He had

no focus in his pitch, making the whole thing come off

the judges stood up and announced, "The ninth

Joshua's project hadn't done well, and

returned to his seat next to Lina, who happened to be sitting right in

their constant cuddling and whispering were hard to

it was only open to freshmen, and there weren't

and walked to the stage. My project was a charity game

I