Riches in Disguise

Crystal shot me a deep look before turning to Dorian. "What's going on between William and me is our business-it's none of your concern! Even if he wasnoveldrama

momentarily blinded and still interested in someone like her, I'm confident he'll see her true colors eventually and forget her!"

Hearing this, not only was Dorian stunned, but I was taken aback as well. I

couldn't believe she was still standing up for me at this point.

Normally, I wouldn't bother explaining myself since I didn't care how others chose to misunderstand me. But for Crystal's sake, I couldn't let her lose face because of

me.

Taking a step forward, I said, "I'm not hung up on Lina. From a neutral

perspective, I simply believe Dorian isn't someone she should be with. I didn't want to stand by and watch her make a mistake, so I tried to warn her. In reality, she was the one begging me to reconcile, and I turned her down."

I glanced at Lina. Tears brimmed in her eyes, and her body trembled. Any lingering pity I might have felt for her had vanished entirely after her earlier betrayal.

I continued, "If you don't believe me, think about it. If I really had bad intentions, wouldn't I have acted by now? Why would I wait all this time and do nothing? That would've been the perfect chance for Dorian to swoop in and play the hero."

I paused to let my words sink in. "And take it a step further-if I were really forcing her, why wouldn't she have called for help? Why didn't she shout 'help' in the moment? Why wait until you all showed up to suddenly act like the victim?"

The group fell silent for a moment, clearly reflecting on what I had said. Everything I had mentioned made sense and was logical. If I had any ulterior motive from the start, I wouldn't have waited so long to act.

Crystal's eyes lit up. She grabbed my hand and asked eagerly, "Really? William, you really don't have feelings for her anymore?"

I shook my head. "You know very well who my girlfriend is. If I still had feelings for her, I wouldn't be with my current girlfriend."

"Alright, I believe you!" Crystal said.

Hearing that I had a girlfriend, the crowd turned their attention to Lina with more suspicion. It didn't make sense for a man with a girlfriend and top-tier admirers to waste his time chasing after an ex in a restroom. Anyone with a bit of common sense could see the truth.

Dorian turned to glare at Lina.

Lina panicked completely. Her face turned pale, and she stammered, "He—he's lying! Sure, he has a girlfriend, but he's s-still in love with me. If you don't b- believe me, look at the messages he sent me! They're all confessions—he's obsessed with me!"

With that, she desperately shoved her phone into Dorian's hands. He took it with a look of skepticism, but after glancing at the screen, he burst into laughter.

"Haha, he's a total simp! This is definitely a classic case of a simp!" Dorian laughed, shaking his head.

Oliver leaned in, eager to join in the fun. "Dorian, can I see?"

Dorian casually tossed the phone to Oliver, who immediately laughed aloud. To everyone's amusement, he started reading the messages out loud.

"Leena, where are you? I got you your favorite roasted sweet potatoes. I'll bring them over now, okay?" He read them out mockingly.

"Why don't you answer my messages? Every time I message you, it takes forever for you to get back," Oliver continued, reading another message with a smirk.

"The sweet potatoes are cold now, so I gave them to an old lady who was picking up trash on the street. If you still want them, I'll go buy you some hot ones," he continued, snickering.

"Leena, I miss you. Can I come see you after class? I got you that necklace you wanted, so don't be mad at me, okay?" he continued.

"It's not that I didn't want to buy the necklace. I just thought it was overpriced for the quality. I was planning to get you a better one for your birthday. Since you were upset, I bought it for you anyway," Oliver said, reading yet another message.

"Leena, did you block my number? Why can't I ever get through to you?"