Chapter 653 - Is It A Wealthy Family?

If Lucas was standing there alone, dressed in such ordinary and shabby clothes, everyone would have been nonchalant toward him or even wondered if he was out of his mind.

But Connor Hale, the youngest helmsman of the four top families in Orange County, was standing behind Lucas. Moreover, Lena, the daughter of Ethan Sawyer, the richest man in Orange County, and Kenneth Parker from LA were standing beside him with respectful expressions.

Furthermore, Alexis, the heiress of the Coles, had even openly declared that she had a crush on him.

With all these elements, would anyone still think that Lucas was a penniless man who didn’t have a high status or a powerful background?

Many were shocked by Lucas’s domineering words, but they no longer saw him as a penniless man talking big and blowing his trumpet. Instead, they started seriously pondering about which wealthy family he was from.

With his formidable and imposing aura, they thought that he was very likely from one of the terrifying families in DC!

But not everyone thought so.

Dallas, Nate’s longtime lapdog, immediately came forth and looked at Lucas with a contemptuous expression. He exclaimed to the surrounding guests, “Don’t be fooled by him. Lucas isn’t the scion of a wealthy family at all. He’s just a penniless man who likes bragging and pretending!

“Look at the clothes he’s wearing. Which scion would dress so shabbily? Even if they prefer to keep a low profile, they would at most choose not to wear clothes with large designer logos. Who would really wear these cheap clothes that cost less than a hundred bucks?

“Also, you guys probably don’t know that this guy came alone without any bodyguards, and he drives a lousy Jaguar only worth around fifty grand. Even our servants don’t drive such cheap cars.

“Besides, even if he’s pretending to be low-key, he can just do so when there are lots of people. But even when no one was paying attention to him outside just now, he still looked so shabby. What does that say about him? It means that he’s really just a penniless man who’s putting up a pretense in front of us!

“Don’t be fooled by his seemingly domineering words into thinking that he’s impressive. In my opinion, Mr. Hale and the others might have been fooled by his appearance into thinking that he’s the heir of some big family!”

Dallas’s remakes made many people subconsciously waver and second-guess Lucas’s identity.

What he said did make some sense.

If Lucas was really the noble scion of a wealthy family, there was no need for him to pretend to be poor even when there was no one around. Who would he be pretending to be poor for?

Well, unless… he wasn’t pretending but was poor to begin with, which was why he wore such low-class clothes and drove a car that was unimpressive in the eyes of the ultra-rich.

Hearing the derogatory remarks about Lucas, the few people standing beside him were instantly annoyed.

Alexis was the fastest to act. Almost immediately, she frowned and shouted angrily, “Don’t spout nonsense here! You don’t know anything, so why are you trying to mar Lucas’s reputation? Do you know who he really is? How dare you babble nonsense.”

Being scolded, Dallas shrank back in fear. But having gotten used to being Nate’s lapdog, he had become much more thick-skinned than the average person. He hurriedly said playfully, “Miss Cole, don’t be upset with me. I’m just being kind because I’m afraid that you might get deceived by some people with evil intentions.”

He couldn’t afford to offend Alexis, but he didn’t take a penniless man seriously at all.

“Brat, you sounded really impressive when you were speaking to Nate just now. You even said that you’re someone whom even Nate can’t afford to provoke. You sounded really confident, but you should see if you have the grounds to do so!

“It happens that everyone here has prepared gifts for Alexis since it’s her birthday today. In that case, why don’t you show us the gift you brought and let us see if you have what it takes to be Miss Cole’s boyfriend.

“If you say that you’ve forgotten to bring the gift or try to brush us off with a gift that costs a couple of hundred dollars, you’d better drop the act in front of us now!”

For a moment, countless gazes were on Lucas.

Indeed, although Dallas was Nate’s loyal lapdog, and what he said was rather unpleasant, his idea wasn’t too bad.

If Lucas was unwilling to reveal his identity and was deliberately pretending to be a low-key penniless man, the gift that he would give Alexis shouldn’t be too cheap and unpresentable.

Nate’s eyes instantly lit up.

Indeed, since he couldn’t find out the truth from Lucas, he decided to gauge Lucas’s financial power through the gift he prepared for Alexis.

If he couldn’t present a decent gift or took out one with a low value, it would be enough to show that he was lying!

“That’s right, Lucas. Since you want to be Alexis’s boyfriend, you won’t give her a cheap birthday gift, will you? Hurry up and show us what you’ve got!” Nate said with an expectant look on his face.

Kenneth sneered.

The gift Lucas prepared for Alexis was from his Heavenly Pavilion, so it naturally wouldn’t be something shabby. Nate and Dallas, who wanted to shame Lucas, were probably going to end up proving themselves wrong.

But after Alexis heard what Nate and Dallas said, her expression changed slightly.

Lucas had saved Edmund’s life and thus ended up becoming friends with them. Because he was Edmund’s savior, both Edmund and Alexis respected him enough not to send anyone to investigate his background.

According to the information Alexis had received before, she only knew that Lucas had married Cheyenne Carter and became her live-in husband. It seemed his family conditions had been really poor at the time, and he didn’t have parents, so he had lived with his wife’s family.

When Lucas barged into the Kingston manor in San Francisco, Alexis finally learned that he was the person in charge of Stardust Corporation’s Orange County branch, and he also had some ties with the Hales and the Parkers. But how much could he possibly achieve within a few short years?

Therefore, in Alexis’s opinion, Lucas might not be poor, but there was definitely a gap between him and Nate, who had his family’s massive wealth.

Thus, she assumed that Lucas’s birthday present for her wouldn’t be particularly expensive. Once he presented a gift incomparable to Nate’s and Dallas’s gifts, he would probably be ridiculed relentlessly right on the spot.

At the thought of it, Alexis immediately stood up and rebuked loudly, “Lucas’s gift is meant for me, so why should I show it to you? What right do you people have to pass judgment and make remarks about his gift to me?”