Chapter 20 The Truth
The sky quickly turned dark. William waited for a long time in the pavilion until Michelle finally showed up.
She seemed to have changed and was now wearing a revealing and sexy red halter dress, draped with a shawl. She even wore a pair of red high heels that accentuated her beauty and figure.
"Sorry to keep you waiting, William" Michelle walked gracefully into the pavilion and sat down next to him. A faint fragrance and a hint of alcohol came with her. It seemed that she had had a few drinks at the class reunion.
"It's been four years, but you've become even more beautiful," William observed her carefully. The mature Michelle seemed more feminine than she had been in college.
"Thank you." Michelle blushed slightly at William's compliment, but she felt delighted. Gazing at William, she asked with a hint of seriousness, "William, do you still like me?"
William didn't know how to answer that question. If it wasn't for his engagement, he might have answered "yes" without hesitation.
But now, William hadn't thought about how to answer Michelle's question. After pondering for a moment, he suddenly came up with the most tactful way to refuse and said, "Actually, I borrowed the Ferrari and the Rolls-Royce from a car dealership. The female customer service representative there is a friend from my college club named Ella. You know her too. She happens to work there, so I asked her to help me arrange this little act. And what Daniel said is true. I don't even have a job, and I can’t afford rent. I'm just a worthless poor man. Do you still like me like this?" William suddenly turned toward Michelle, intending to use self-deprecation to make her give up on him.
But it seemed he was mistaken.
After a brief moment of astonishment, Michelle couldn't help but cover her mouth and laugh. "William, do you think I only said those things because I found out you own luxury cars?"
"Well, let's just forget what I said," William naturally understood Michelle's values. She wasn't like Madison, who saw money as life itself. On the contrary, Michelle came from a well-off family. Her parents owned profitable hotels, and she was a wealthy girl herself. She wouldn’t dismiss William so easily just because he was poor.
"Regardless of whether you're poor or rich, in my eyes, you'll always be the talented guy who pursued me for three years in college," Michelle said as she took out a letter from her bag and handed it to William.
William furrowed his brows slightly, hesitating for a moment before accepting it.
"This is the reason I went abroad all those years ago. It's all related to you. I was prepared to accept you, but..." Michelle suddenly found herself unable to articulate her thoughts, her voice filled with a hint of grievance.
William opened the letter and he took out the small note, on which a few words were written.
"Leave William for four years, or else your parents' hotel will go bankrupt."
"How is that possible?" William was shocked. It was obvious that someone had forced Michelle to go abroad.
The first thought that came to his mind was his parents.
His mother had said that the family had been barely supporting him before, but Michelle was from a wealthy family. If they got together, William believed that given Michelle's personality, she would never allow him to suffer, nor would she let him work hard outside. She would most likely join her parents' company in a high-ranking position right after graduation and enjoy a handsome salary. So, William would no longer have to worry about his livelihood and would never experience the hardships of making money like the common masses.
Could this be his parents' doing?
If that was the case, then he owed Michelle.
Of course, this was all merely speculation on William’s part. He had no idea who sent Michelle this letter.
"After receiving this letter, my parents hastily arranged for me to go abroad and forbade me from contacting you again. That was why I left without saying goodbye. In reality, I was prepared to accept you that night and be with you. But these words... arrived four years too late."
As she spoke, Michelle's eyes dimmed.
William understood the reason behind all this. It was highly likely that his parents had deliberately hindered him from being together with Michelle, all for the purpose of keeping him poor.
"So it was my fault you had to go through this in the end." Unable to suppress a bitter smile, William guessed some of the reasons but couldn't explain the situation to Michelle.
"It's alright. The letter only told me to leave you for four years. Now that four years have passed, we can be together again," Michelle said as she took William's hand shyly, holding on tight.
William didn't say anything. He felt restless, but he didn't let go of her hand. In his heart, he really wanted to accept her, but it seemed that reality wouldn’t allow them to be together.
When Michelle didn’t receive a response from William, her gaze dimmed slightly. She immediately changed the topic.
"Oh, by the way, are you going to Madison's birthday party tomorrow?"
"Yeah, how did you know?" William snapped out of his thoughts, puzzled.
"She invited me too. Let's go together!" Michelle paused for a moment, her watery eyes shifting as she continued.
"Return the Ferrari, William. Don't try to show off in front of your ex-girlfriend anymore. Leave the past behind, after all...
"We should look ahead. Think of me as your girlfriend for a day. When Madison sees me with you, she’ll definitely be jealous."
William was slightly taken aback. Michelle really thought he was competing with Daniel and wanted to impress Madison by pretending to be rich. He couldn't help but smile.
"Alright, I'll take you there tomorrow," William smiled and subconsciously, tightened his grip on Michelle's soft and delicate hand, unwilling to let go.
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