The Poor Billionaire

Chapter 21 Unfriendly Welcome

"Girl, are you blind? Can't see that I am worth more than this poverty-stricken loser? I just saw you

talking and laughing with him. You may be young, but I think you should be sensible enough to make

the right choices. If you agree to have a relationship with me, I can spoil you with all the good things

you desire. Choose any expensive restaurant you like in Rinas. You know what? I am so wealthy that I

can afford to take you anywhere. Don't mind Horace. He's a big liar. He's making empty promises!"

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. ConTEent bel0ngs to Nôv(e)lD/rama(.)Org .

"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.