Chapter 11

Gerald knew that whatever photograph she was talking about was just an excuse to meet him. In fact, Gerald did not want to meet Xavia at all. He felt very heartbroken because he really loved her before this. However, he would be lying if he said that he did not have any feelings for her. As soon as Gerald heard Xavia’s depressed voice, he agreed to meet her immediately. He got up and looked for the pictures that he had been keeping in his cupboard all this while. They had both taken these pictures by the small lake by the campus before this. At that time, Xavia had held out her arms affectionately and Gerald had also taken her in his arms as he smiled sweetly at her. However, now that the situation had already developed into the way it had, Gerald’s heart was aching badly. Gerald stared at the one hundred thousand dollars that he had withdrawn from the bank that morning. In fact, Gerald wanted to spend that money to enjoy life and make up for everything that he had missed out on in the past. Gerald finally realized that he was being too naïve. He didn’t need any cash at all. He could do anything he wanted to with all the cards his sister had given him. Gerald knew that leaving so much money in his dormitory was not a solution. How should he explain the situation to his roommates if they found the money? Over the years, he had this bunch of sincere buddies by his side because of his poverty. However, Gerald was afraid that he would lose them if he told them the truth now. “Alright. I’ll go down to meet Xavia before I deposit this one hundred thousand dollars back into my bank account.” Gerald could not find a nice paper bag. Therefore, he simply grabbed a black garbage bag from his dormitory before he placed the one hundred thousand dollars into the bag along with the picture that he had taken with Xavia by the small campus lake. “I’m here, Gerald!” Xavia started waving her hands at him as soon as she saw him walking towards him. It felt exactly like the time when they were still dating each other. In fact, Xavia was the one who felt the most uncomfortable today. Gerald had bought a Hermes bag worth fifty-five thousand dollars today. Fifty-five thousand dollars! How long would it take an ordinary person to make that amount of money? This was especially difficult because Gerald had become rich as soon as she dumped him! Xavia could not believe what she had missed out on. That was the reason why she decided to use the photograph as an excuse to meet up with Gerald. “What is wrong?” Gerald was still upset when he arrived at the lake but he didn’t show Xavia his soft and gentle side. Instead, he pretended to be cold and indifferent towards her. Xavia could not help but glance at the black garbage bag in Gerald’s hand. After that, she said, “Ahh! I thought you would’ve brought something else with you when you came to meet me.” Xavia was very disappointed. She was initially fantasizing that Gerald would bring the fifty-five thousand dollar Hermes bag along with him as he begged her to get back together with him. Unexpectedly, he was simply going to throw his garbage out after he was done meeting her. Gerald took the picture out of his pocket before he said, “Here, Xavia. After I return this photograph to you, we’ll both have no connection to each other anymore.” Gerald was planning to keep the photograph as a memory but it seemed as though he no longer needed to do that! Xavia was a little anxious at this time. She felt very aggrieved and she stomped her feet before she hit Gerald in his chest. “You’re such an idiot! You really are an idiot! Did you really think that the reason why I asked you to meet me here is simply because I wanted you to return this photograph to me?” Gerald had a surprised expression on his face. “If that’s not the reason, then why did you ask me to meet you?” “Gerald! How can I make you understand the truth? Do you really think I have something to do with Yuri?” Xavia said, “You’re a fool! I only did this because I was trying to test you!” “Test me?” Gerald asked as he smiled bitterly. She went to the grove with Yuri because she wanted to test him? At the end of the day, it seemed as though it was a test for herself. Gerald did not want to say anything else anymore. “Alright then, you can conduct whatever tests you want. I will just return this photograph to you and we should both just stay away from one another from now on. Goodbye!” Gerald shook his head before he turned around to leave. “You, you…Gerald, stop! If you walk away from me now, I’ll jump into the lake immediately!” Xavia really did not expect Gerald, who used to be so obedient and thoughtful towards her, to act so indifferent and cold towards her now. Xavia mustered up her courage as she stood towards the lake, just as Gerald had already expected her to. Gerald knew that she was just trying to stall him, while he wanted to leave right away. However, when he saw Xavia leaning towards the lake, Gerald kept feeling his eyelids twitching out of fear. He hurried over to Xavia before he hugged her and stopped her from jumping into the lake. There were tears in Xavia’s eyes as she said, “Don’t try and stop me! If you don’t believe me, then I’d rather die! Just let me die! Let me die!” Gerald took a deep breath. To be honest, he really did not trust Xavia anymore. This was especially so after he heard the entire story of why Xavia dumped him from Nigel. However, Xavia was threatening to jump into the lake if he left her and he felt that she was being sincere. Gerald could not deny that he was a little moved at this time. After that, he hurriedly said, “Okay, okay, I believe you.” Xavia broke into a smile before she said, “I knew it, Gerald! I knew that you’re still in love with me. Even if I jumped into the lake today, it wouldn’t be because you bought the Hermes bag or because you’re rich now, but I just wanted to prove to you that my love for you is real!” “From the beginning to the end, I’ve never been a materialistic person. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have been together for so long!” Gerald did not say anything at all. At this time, Xavia looked at Gerald suspiciously before she said, “By the way, Gerald, I’m really curious. How did you become so rich all of a sudden? How can you afford to pay fifty-five thousand dollars for a bag?” Xavia could not help but ask. Gerald knew that Xavia would definitely ask him this question. However, he was no longer the Gerald who would tell her everything. Similarly, Gerald wanted to test Xavia. “Oh, so this is what happened. I rescued a young girl who was hit by a car just a few days ago and I would never have expected the young girl’s family to be so wealthy. However, since they were in a hurry, her parents decided to give me a one-off shopper’s card. They told me that it’s a very valuable card and they simply wanted to express their gratitude to me.” Xavia's eyes widened immediately. “In other words, you can only use that Universal Global Supreme Shopper’s Card once?” Gerald nodded. “Then, then…where is that bag now? You can definitely resell that bag for a lot of money!” Xavia was a little disappointed. She really thought that Gerald got rich overnight. At least, he still had that Hermes bag that was worth fifty-five thousand dollars. Gerald replied, “I gave Naomi that Hermes bag as a birthday present.” “What?!” Xavia was shocked. “You gave that bag away? You gave the bag that was worth fifty-five thousand dollars away? In other words, you are left with nothing now?” Gerald nodded. “Xavia, I really can’t believe that you're not a materialistic person. To think that you’re actually deeply in love with me. We should…” Gerald wanted to hold Xavia’s hand at this time. Slap! “Get away from me! Why would I be in love with a pauper like you?” After finding out the truth, Xavia gave Gerald a tight slap across his face. “Damn it. I can’t believe that I wasted so much time and almost jumped into the lake because of you! This is ridiculous! This is just so stupid!” Xavia yelled at Gerald as she glared at him in disgust. Hahaha… Gerald completely gave up on Xavia when he saw her acting like this. It turned out that this was actually Xavia’s true colors. “Xavia, I’m really very disappointed in you…” Gerald said as tears welled up in his eyes. Both of them used to be so good together. “Please don’t waste my time. I don’t care if a poor man like you feels disappointed in me! I really shouldn’t have bothered wasting my time on you. People like you should just pick up trash!” To vent her anger and frustration, Xavia grabbed the garbage bag in Gerald’s hand. She wanted to throw the bag of garbage directly at his face. However, since she grabbed the garbage bag so hard, the garbage bag tore apart. The one hundred thousand dollars scattered on the ground. They were all red bank notes! “What? This…” Xavia’s eyes widened in disbelief as she stared at the money on the ground…