The poor Billionaire novel (Ethan) novel Chapter 21
Ansley's refusal hurt Kole's ego. He couldn't accept that such a beautiful girl refused to be his girlfriend. It was even more annoying that she was friendly to Horace, but spoke to him with such indifference. As far as he was concerned, he should have the upper hand since he was rich and Horace was poor.
"Kole, are you insane? If you want to woo this girl, you are free to do so. Why must you insult me to feel good about yourself? To put up the appearance of a rich boy, you keep calling me a poverty-stricken loser. In my eyes, you are the one who is a poverty-stricken loser."
Horace spat and added, "What an ill-mannered bastard! Don't get angry now. You provoked me first, so you deserve all the insults."
Now Horace could no longer put up with any form of bullying. He was no longer the pauper that learned to endure oppression because he had no power to deal with the oppressors. But now that he was wealthy and powerful, he didn't have to worry about getting into trouble for standing up to bullies. Although he wasn't arrogant and domineering, he didn't want to be a pushover.
"Hey, Horace, how dare you speak to me like that? I must say that your new toughness doesn't suit you at all. Why are you putting up an act? Aren't you the same poor boy who begged to eat leftovers before?"
Pointing at Horace, Kole continued slowly, "Despite your new toughness, you are still a beggar. Look at yourself. You came here to meet our former classmates because of the help we want to offer to you. How dare you woo a girl? You can barely afford to eat and dress well, but you just asked the girl to pick any expensive restaurant she likes. How do you intend to pay for it when you can't even afford something on a stall? Our former classmates organized a fundraiser for you here, but instead of going inside to meet them, you are busy bragging and flirting with a girl. Have you no shame? In fact, I will tell the others what you did. I doubt if they would still donate money to you. Hahaha! Horace, apologize to me now that I am still calm. Maybe I will forgive you."
'Horace's former classmates organized a fundraiser for him?' Ansley was stunned to hear Kole's statement. She knew that Horace was rich, so she was surprised that they were raising money for him. 'I don't get what's happening here? Do his classmates plan to donate one hundred million dollars each?' she thought confusedly. To Ansley, one hundred million dollars seemed to be the least amount that could be donated because Horace was already rich.
'This guy doesn't seem all right upstairs. Maybe he's talking nonsense,'
Ansley sighed in her heart. She had seen many badly-behaved rich kids, but she didn't expect that someone as young as Kole could be mentally unstable.
"Kole, you are free to tell the others whatever you want. I'm not a coward!" Horace hated cheap blackmail. He didn't even come here to accept their money. After all, he didn't need it. If it had been before, he might have bent a knee for Kole. Now that the tables were turned, his former classmates were the ones that needed to show him respect.
Horace's obstinacy fueled Kole's anger. He muttered three 'okays' before he added, "I can see you have guts now. When our classmates refuse to donate any money, don't cry and beg them. You are nothing but a poverty-stricken loser that badly needs donations. How dare you pretend to be powerful in my presence? I can't believe it!"
"Hey, are you kidding me? Okay, let's do this. Almighty Kole, please make me cry once! Ha-ha! Honestly, Kole, you are worse than a scumbag in my eyes. A pathetic scumbag!"
With absolute disdain, Horace eyed Kole from his head to his toes. He made sure to make it obvious that he wasn't afraid of whatever would happen later.
"Okay, Horace. I hope you would have the nerve to laugh later!" After saying these words, Kole snorted coldly and quickly walked into the Lake Hotel.
Horace had provoked him, so he wanted to meet their former classmates in order to dissuade them from donating any money.
Ansley stared at Kole's receding figure before asking curiously, "Horace, aren't you from a rich family? Gifting five million dollars to that old man on the bus wasn't a big deal to you. How come he called you a loser? Are your former classmates all billionaires?"
"Billionaires? Tsk, tsk, tsk. Young girl, there are only a handful of billionaires in Rinas. You don't have to guess. They all think that I'm a poverty-stricken loser. Ha-ha! Look at the way I'm dressed. Don't you also think I'm poor?"
"To be frank, I will say yes. You look poor. If I hadn't seen what happened on the bus today, I would never have guessed that you are a super-rich man. You are not dressed like one at all!" Ansley looked at the shabby clothes Horace was wearing. She shook her head and sighed.
With a pensive expression, she thought, 'The rich are really good at putting up an act. Why did they suddenly start pretending to be poor? Are they trying to deceive ordinary people into offending them? It seems that it would be dangerous to mess with a poor person in the future. After all, it could be that a pauper is just a wealthy person in disguise.'
All of a sudden, another voice sounded. "Horace, why are you standing outside? You need to go in. Today's fundraiser was organized for you. How can we start if you are not present?"
Horace turned and saw that the person was his former class monitor, Rhett.
"Hello, Rhett!" Horace greeted him in a friendly tone. He had suffered a lot at the hands of Rhett while they were in high school. However, the impression he had of Rhett changed slightly after the call that morning. He was somewhat willing to forgive him and perhaps befriend him.
"Hey, Horace. Everyone is waiting for you inside. Come in!" Rhett said with a smile, as if he was a changed man.
"Okay!" Horace nodded. He then said to Ansley, "I need to go in now. Talk to you later!"
"Okay, Horace. It was nice meeting you!" Ansley chuckled coquettishly, which stunned Rhett. He had never seen such a beautiful young girl. Her captivating smile gave him butterflies.
"Let's go, Rhett!" Rhett was staring at Ansley affectionately. He didn't jolt back to reality until Horace called him. He then led the way to Room 202 of the Lake Hotel.
Horace's former classmates were chatting so loudly that he heard their voices as he stood at the door.
"I heard that Amaia dumped Horace!"
"How come a goddess like Amaia agreed to date a pauper like Horace in the first place? She's way out of his league. Well, that serves him right."
"Horace is one of the few people that have no self-knowledge. Didn't he know that Amaia isn't in his league? If he wanted to date so badly, he should have wooed someone in his social class!"
"I wonder if Amaia and Addy will come here later. Their appearance would not only surprise Horace but make him sad. I can't wait to see the look on his face. It would be hilarious!"
Just as they were gossiping, the door swung open. Rhett entered the room with Horace and announced, "Welcome the man of the hour, Horace. Welcome!"
"I thought you were about to announce Addy's arrival. Who cares if Horace is here? Man of the hour, my foot!" one of Horace's former classmates said with no interest and averted his gaze.
"I don't associate with losers like him. Welcome him if you like. But as for me, I don't care about his arrival!" a female former classmate said disdainfully as she glanced at Horace with disgust.
"Huh!" Horace chuckled. "I'm afraid you are not even worthy enough to welcome me. Save your welcome. I don't need it!"
With a smug smile, Horace found an empty seat close by and sat down. Although they gave him a cold shoulder, he decided to stay and see what would happen since he was already here. He wanted to see who would be humane enough to treat him well.
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