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!"

family members here? The patient is about to undergo surgery, and we need

me a hateful glare before

that Joshua had any family members in this city. After

ward, I asked a passing nurse, "Excuse me, could you tell me what kind of surgery

and replied,

ton

another girlfriend besides Lina? And they'd even had a

so much funding for

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

return to the dorm, giving me some

until the results of the entrepreneurship competition were announced that he finally

the event, eager

parents didn't attend to avoid drawing attention, but Dad's secretary, Carmen, came to support me. She didn't reveal her identity, sitting quietly in the audience

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

one of the first

confidently rambled on about this project, not wasting

five minutes. He had good speaking skills, but

pitch, making

Joshua finished, one of the judges stood up and announced, "The ninth contestant's verified earnings

project hadn't done well, and it looked like

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

to ignore them, but their constant cuddling

was only open to freshmen, and there weren't many participants. After half an hour,

up and walked to the stage. My project was a

of starting with a speech, I