"Open the Alipay homepage and search '576545074' to claim the red packet. Those who have gotten the big red packet, hurry and use it now!"
On Sunday morning, Alex Cohen took the opportunity to spread the Alipay red packet search code over to several groups on WeChat. He was doing laundry while he kept refreshing the red packet page.
Suddenly, the sliding door was pulled open and a beautiful young lady wearing a Dior silk nightgown rushed in. Her beauty and figure were on par with those stars that Dior invited as their spokesperson. She was a real stunner but was cold as ice. She stared at Alex with her big bulging eyes and yelled, "Son of a b*tch! What have you done?"
Alex pointed to the bucket of laundry next to the Siemens drum washing machine and eagerly explained, "Isla, I didn't make a mistake this time! I sorted and washed them the way you wanted. The laundry detergent I used wasn’t the wrong type either, and I didn't mix in my clothes with yours..."
"I'm asking what have you posted in the group!"
"The group?"
Alex opened his WeChat and took a look. He instantly panicked.
Recently, he had added a lot of groups to earn more incentives. Just now, when he hurriedly forwarded the message, he did not see clearly that he had actually sent the red packet search code to Isla’s family group. It was too late to withdraw it now.
Alex was aware that Isla Sullivan, as a daughter of a rich family and whose set of pajamas already cost two or three thousand dollars, looked down on the meager incentives given by Alipay. She incidentally also looked down on the people who went around begging others to scan the code. Moreover, Alex’s behavior was at odds with his current status, which might give away their real relationship.
Three months ago, his father was found to be in urgent need of medical treatment for uremia. However, their family was poor and he had only just recently graduated with no savings at all. For the sake of money, Alex was introduced to Isla Sullivan, who did not want to fall victim to a marriage of convenience, so she asked him to marry into the Sullivan family.
Although he managed to get half a million dollars, which he used to move his father from the countryside to the city so that he could get treated at a big hospital, Alex was only Isla’s nominal husband and had no real status in the family. He slept alone in the guest room at night and was in charge of all the household chores during the day. Rather than being the man of the house, he was more of a male nanny. Furthermore, he was the unpaid and undignified kind who even had to eat Isla’s leftovers.
However, Alex had accepted Isla’s money and even signed an agreement. All the grievances he had would just have to be suffered in silence.
Isla Sullivan did not give Alex a chance to explain and scolded him.
"Alex Cohen! You're a man. Can't you find a job if you want to earn money? Do you think that a few cents or a few dollars will make you rich? I'm warning you. If my parents find out that we're in a fake marriage, you'll have to pay me 50 million according to our agreement!"
Alex shook his head repeatedly.
"Don't worry, I won't be sending any more to the family group!"
"Do you mean that you’ll continue to send it to other groups? Alex Cohen! Can't you save face for yourself?"
"I…”
Alex had troubles but could not voice them.
Currently, he could not care less about his image and just wanted to get money!
From the previous half a million that Isla gave him, he had already spent half of it on his dad’s dialysis. A few days ago, the doctor said that dialysis was not working and his dad needed a new kidney, which would cost another huge sum. It would be enough if he could donate his kidney, but the tests revealed that his kidney did not match his dad's, so he had to buy it. This left him with a shortfall of 150,000...
"Mud can’t support a wall! What are you standing there for? Why don't you go prepare breakfast?"
Isla's contempt for Alex was apparent in her words. She then went back to the house after she said that.
Alex was done with laundry and made breakfast for Isla. He went downstairs to take out the trash and did not go back in. Instead, he rushed directly to the Hudson Designs LLC located on Yewvale Road. This company was established by his senior, Hudson Lowe. After Hudson graduated from Quill City University last year, he founded this company along with his roommate Felix Moore.
Alex worked there for half a year, but just as he was getting better, he had to take a long leave of absence to take care of his father...
At the company, Hudson was organizing an overtime meeting with his staff. When he saw Alex, he immediately got interested.
"Yo, what kind of wind blew the Great Designer Cohen here? I've been curious about something for a long time. Didn’t you seduce a rich woman and even gave up your job afterward? So why do I see you begging people to scan the code on WeChat every day? Is this your side business or…”
Almost everyone present stared at Alex with a teasing face and waited for the joke.
They all thought that Alex had become a little boy toy. On the surface, they showed disdain and scolded him for being spineless, but in their hearts, they were just envious of him.
This month, Alex had sent a search code to the group daily. They figured that his life did not seem to be as good as they had imagined. They were all stoked and tried all kinds of methods to mock him. They turned around and scanned each other's search codes and even backhandedly reported him, which almost caused his account to be blocked.
The only one who knew the truth, Felix Moore, got up and walked to Alex. He asked softly, "Brother Alex, what's the matter?"
Alex nodded and turned towards Hudson.
"Mr. Lowe, can we have a few words alone?"
Hudson Lowe waved his hand and said, "No need. If you have something to say, say it here."
"Mr. Lowe, my dad is having an operation. I want to borrow some money…”
As soon as he said this, the room instantly exploded with laughter.
"Alex, could it be that you didn't satisfy the rich woman so she stopped supporting you?"
"No wonder you're so keen on promoting the search code! So you're counting on the incentives to get by. You've actually stooped to this level...What an eye-opener! Haha!"
"If you ask me, since you don't have any money, simply ask your father to give up the treatment. If you feel guilty, you can just ask for death. It's a waste of air for someone like you to live anyway. Sooner or later, you'll be mocked to death…”
Felix Moore could not bear this anymore and said with a blank face, "Cut the crap, all of you! The truth is not what you think!"
Alex cast a grateful look at Felix and looked around the group before he continued, "I encountered some difficulties. That's why I've come to ask for your help. No matter who it is, if you’re willing to help me with this favor, when I have money, I’ll most definitely return it tenfold!"
Hudson Lowe rolled his eyes.
"Enough. We don't have any spare cash in our hands. You should leave. Don't delay our meeting."
"Okay, sorry for disturbing you…”
Alex's heart turned cold and he turned to walk out.
Hudson glared at Alex's back and said with a cold smile, "A poor fella who can't even pay for his father’s medical treatment. No one even knows if he can repay the principal, yet he still dares to boldly say that he will repay it tenfold? Where on earth did he get the courage? Don't let him fool you guys. Only a fool would lend him money!"
Most of them agreed, but Felix Moore hesitated for a few seconds. He opened Alipay and transferred 50,000 to Alex.
"Brother Alex, this is the money I saved to buy a house with Quinn. I’ll lend it to you first since I can't afford to buy a house for a while anyway, so don't be in a hurry to pay me back. Just don't let Quinn find out…”
Outside the front door, Alex looked at his phone and was almost moved to tears.
He had managed to borrow 50,000 on this trip. This was very unexpected and surprising, but it was far from what he needed.
Alex sighed and contemplated for a long time before returning home to find Isla. He knew that there was little hope, but he had no other way, so he could only open his mouth and asked, "Isla, can you please lend me 100,000?"
In the meantime, Isla said, "You already spent half a million dollars so quickly?"
Alex shook his head and told her the truth about his situation as well as his difficulties, then added, "I'm not asking you to give me the money. I’m borrowing it. I'll definitely pay you back in the future!"
"That's one way of putting it! You're just a piece of trash living life day by day. How are you going to pay me back? Sell your body or your kidneys?"
As Isla was speaking, her phone rang. Upon seeing that it was her mother calling, she walked to the window and answered it. Isla did not speak yet before Xena Sander’s loud voice came from the receiver.
"What's going on with that search code that Alex posted in the group?"
Isla glared at Alex and asked inquisitively, "Mom, what's wrong?"
"Just now, your aunts and uncles told me about this. They said that Alex's behavior was equivalent to internet begging and that he was, to put it bluntly, a beggar! Since you married this worthless piece of trash, they've already been mocking me. Now with this, I've completely lost face! Are you still dead set on not divorcing him? Do you want to see your poor old mother die of frustration?"
"Mom, Alex was...he was forwarding it to someone else...right, it's for someone else."
"Then hurry up and say so in the group! Otherwise, I can’t bear to see anyone later! By the way, are you pregnant yet?"
"Not yet. Pregnancy’s not a game. How can it be so easy?"
"I don't care about that! We agreed that either you conceive a child within three months or you divorce him. Now the deadline has come and gone! We didn't agree to this marriage in the first place, but you just had to sneak around and secretly got the marriage certificate. It's about time to put an end to this!"
"Mom, I...I'll be honest with you. There's something wrong with Alex's health…”
"What? Is he really that useless? Just you wait! I'll go over with your father tomorrow to deal with this. You must get a divorce! No...I can't wait till tomorrow. We're coming over tonight!"
After Xena Sanders said that, she angrily hung up the phone.
Isla was also anxious. She wanted to rush over and tear Alex Cohen to pieces. However, the situation was urgent and she had to suppress her anger. After a moment of contemplation, her eyes suddenly lit up.
"Alex, I can lend you 100,000 now, but you must admit to my parents that you have a physical problem and that I can only conceive a child after your treatment."
In reality, Alex had clearly heard the conversation between Isla and Xena.
It would be impossible for him to agree to Isla’s degrading request before their marriage.
However, things were different now. He was living under her roof, so he had no choice but to bow to her. Not to mention that he was desperately short of money.
Just as he was about to reluctantly accept Isla’s offer, he received a call from an unknown number. The caller said that he had an urgent need to meet Alex.
Alex ran to the neighborhood entrance and saw a middle-aged man with a black leather bag standing at the alleyway next to him. The man waved at him and Alex walked over puzzled.
"Are you looking for me? I don't think we know each other. How did you get my phone number?"
The middle-aged man was emotional. He was alert and looked around before he quickly pulled Alex to a secluded spot inside the alleyway. Only then did he speak.
"Oh! My son! Daddy finally found you!"
“What did you say? You...you're my dad?"
"Exactly! I'm your biological father, Wayne Larson! Due to some reasons, I sent you away as soon as you were born. I've been looking for you in secret ever since, but only managed to get some news about you a few days ago. You had your blood drawn when you were tested at the hospital. I've already done a paternity test with that. Here are the results, look at them!"
As Wayne Larson spoke, he took out a document from his bag.
Alex took the document and confirmed that the identity was correct before he continued to look down. In the result column, it stated that the probability of his DNA matched with Wayne Larson was 99.99%...followed by a long string of nines. Two large red words were also stamped on it: confirmed parentage!
Actually, Alex had already heard the rumors that he was adopted, but now that he had met his biological father, he was still in a trance.
"Since you've abandoned me, why did you come to find me? Are you just meeting me to make up for the fatherly love as they do on TV?"
Wayne sighed and said bitterly, "I'm sorry, son. For the time being, I still can't publicly recognize you, nor can I give you fatherly love. We will most certainly be reunited as a family in the future, but for now, I can't give you anything but money…”
"Coincidentally, all I need right now is money!"
"That sounds good to me...but your mother is in charge of my money. This time, I only came out with just a little pocket money. I’ll transfer this to you first."
Alex wanted to stiffly reject Wayne, but he did not have the willpower to do so, and subconsciously displayed his recipient code.
Ten seconds later, Alex heard a crisp sound from his phone.
"Alipay received, 1 million!"
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