Seeing James's fearful expression, Kennedy Bella angrily punched him, shouting,
"Who's trying to trap you? If the school closes, I can just go home and sleep."
James breathed a sigh of relief. "Whew, you scared me. I thought you were going to force yourself on me."
Kennedy Bella's eyebrows shot up, her voice icy, and she enunciated each word slowly,
"What did you say?"
"Weren't you planning on taking advantage of the fact that I was your hero today by forcing our cooked rice to become raw rice again?"(a Chinese saying, meaning: to force an irreversible thing to happen)
James continued to provoke her fearlessly.
Kennedy Bella lost it again. She turned around in her seat and unleashed a flurry of "Foshan Shadowless Kicks" on James.
The girl's legs looked slender, fair, and delicate.
But they were surprisingly painful when they connected.
James's two fists were no match for her kicks. Defeated, he retreated to the back seat, trying to escape her wrath.
But Kennedy Bella wouldn't let up. She chased after him,
hitting and biting, giving James a thorough thrashing.
James wasn't entirely on the losing end, though. He managed to grab her and leave a few handprints on her bottom.
The two of them made quite a ruckus in the car.
Jay Johnson, waiting by the roadside, saw the car finally stop shaking after a while.
He carefully opened the door and slid into the driver's seat.
He glanced at his boss, who was sprawled out in the back seat, and at Kennedy Bella, whose face was flushed.
Jay Johnson was filled with concern.
Five days, four women.
And each one was a stunning beauty, capable of draining a man dry.
As a man in his thirties, he knew the limits of the male body all too well.
If a man didn't know how to conserve his energy when he was young, he'd end up like Jay, barely able to make his "public grain tax" contributions once a week. (a Chinese saying, meaning: to have sex)
He worried that if this continued, his boss's health would collapse within two years. Then who would pay his salary?
But he was just a bodyguard, not his boss's father, so he couldn't say much.
All he could do was silently drive his boss's fourth girlfriend home.
Along the way, James and Kennedy Bella bickered and traded insults.
James, with nothing to lose, remained calm and collected.
Kennedy Bella, willful and unrestrained, gave as good as she got.
They interacted as if they were old friends,
sometimes arguing fiercely, sometimes being overly polite to each other.
The next day, around noon.
For the first time in days, James wasn't disturbed by a woman and slept until he naturally woke up.
He was truly exhausted.
Every day for the past few days, he had woken up to a different girl.
Each girl had her own unique charms.
Some were seductive, others were stunningly beautiful and fragrant.
Most of them were snuggled up naked in bed, stirring his desires.
As the saying goes, "The whole day's work depends on a good start in the morning."
Every morning, James's legs felt a little weak.
Today was the only morning he felt fully energized.
He reached for his phone.
Holy crap.
Seven or eight contacts on WhatsApp had red notification numbers next to them.
Before, he could leave his phone untouched for a week and no one would contact him.
Now, after just half a day,
so many messages had piled up.
Life had truly become colorful after activating the money cheat.
James rubbed his eyes and opened the chat with the most messages firstâWinnie Morgan.
She reported that Anna Rivera's case had taken another turn.
It seemed like a verdict wouldn't be reached anytime soon.
She couldn't intervene further, only assist the police by providing some evidence.
The whole ordeal had cost over $600,000 so far.
Then there was the matter of James's villa.
According to the plan James had selected, the furnishing was already underway.
It would take about three days and cost nearly $2 million.
And regarding the media company James wanted to start,
she had been instructed to find suitable office space.
After searching online and personally inspecting several locations, she recommended three options for James to choose from.
One was an empty shell, which James immediately rejected.
He didn't have time to wait for renovations.
The other two were fully furnished. One was larger, over 4,000 square feet, priced at $60 per square foot, for lease only.
The other was a 1,200-square-foot, three-story standalone office building with a large rooftop terrace.
It was beautifully decorated, previously occupied by an advertising and creative agency. The layout had a futuristic, techy vibe.
It was also in a great location, right by the New York City Cultural Plaza.
The surrounding area was commercially developed, with plenty of dining, lodging, and transportation options.
The asking price was $1,500 per square foot, or $100 per square foot per month for lease.
James carefully read through Winnie Morgan's report,
appreciating the convenience of being wealthy.
Everything was taken care of; he just had to give instructions and make simple choices.
He was satisfied with Winnie Morgan's performance.
He replied to her three points separately:
"Just keep an eye on the case. No need to waste any more time on that woman."
"For the villa, speed up the process as much as possible while maintaining quality."
"Go negotiate with the owner of the office building. See if you can get a lower price. I want to buy the 1,200-square-foot one."
James planned to buy this property under his own name.
Buying things under a woman's name always left him feeling uneasy.
Anyway, the money was just sitting there, doing nothing.
Bank interest rates were so low that it was better to invest in real estate.
Even if he didn't use it himself, he could rent it out for over a hundred thousand dollars a year.
Having a building as security would enable him to fulfill the promise he had made to Shirley Taylor.
Even if he suddenly lost everything,
he could still support Shirley Taylor for the rest of her life with this property.
She seemed even poorer than he was back in his college days,
so she probably wouldn't cost much to maintain.
He noticed that there were three new messages from Shirley Taylor on his phone.
James opened the chat.
Last night at midnight:
"Brother, I can't sleep. Are you asleep yet?"
Half an hour later:
"Goodnight, brother."
This morning at 8 a.m.:
"I'm going to the library to study. Remember to get up and have breakfast, brother."
Reading Shirley Taylor's concerned messages, James felt a pang of guilt.
He hadn't replied to her all night, yet she wasn't angry at all.
Compared to Tailsa, who got angry after just a couple of sentences, Shirley Taylor was definitely the better choice.
James quickly replied:
"I'm sorry. I was so tired last night that I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow."
Shirley Taylor hadn't slept well last night.
She had tossed and turned all night, her mind racing.
She had heard Bella talking on the phone in the bathroom, and it sounded like she was talking to James.
At first, she didn't think much of it.
But Bella was gone all night, and there was no word from James.
Asa claimed that Bella had been called home by her mother.
Having read a lot about micro-expressions and psychology, Shirley Taylor could tell right away that Asa was lying.
Asa's eyes darted around when she spoke, a clear sign of deception.
On top of that, James and Kennedy Bella had interacted a lot today.
Even the most oblivious person could sense that something was off.
Shirley Taylor had lain in bed last night,
replaying every word James had said to her, every smile he had given her.
Tears welled up in her eyes without her realizing it.
She finally drifted off to a restless sleep around 3 or 4 a.m., only to wake up to find no reply from James. Her fear intensified.
She was worried that James would abandon her.
She spent the whole morning in a daze, unable to concentrate on her studies.
And now,
she finally received a message from James.
Her mood did a complete 180.
Her initial dejection was instantly lifted, and all her sadness and grievances vanished.
She believed James's words.
As long as she didn't see James with another woman with her own eyes, she would believe anything he said.
"Have you eaten, brother?"
"I'm about to."
"What are you doing this afternoon, brother?"
"Thinking about you," James replied flirtatiously. "I really want to see you."
Shirley Taylor's heart raced, and a silly grin spread across her face.
"Then should I come find you?"
"I'll come find you. Let's have lunch together. You haven't eaten yet, have you?"
"No."
"Then wait for me at the school gate."