The number of people in the club was increasing, with many coming over to greet Bella.
Being the daughter of the prestigious Bell family and the Vice President of Whitestone Group, countless people sought to build a relationship with her. Frankly, a slight mention of an opportunity in a project from Bella could help someone earn millions of dollars. If they could secure a long-term collaboration, it would be like finding a golden goose. More importantly, Bella was already 27 and still unmarried!
Winning Bella’s favor would mean gaining both prestige and wealth. There was no doubt that William’s appearance had indeed caught the attention of people harboring such intentions. When Bella greeted others, she was holding William’s hand, her face beaming with a sweet smile, resembling a young woman deeply in love.
Whenever someone asked about William’s identity, Bella would reluctantly introduce him, saying, “This is my boyfriend William.” Finally, at this moment, she realized that she had been far too impulsive.
In this setting, walking hand in hand with William, exhibiting such affection, would make her the gossip centerpiece in her entire social circle the next day. She knew the news would spread quickly. Being exposed was inevitable! She had been too impulsive!
William released Bella’s hand, rubbing his own hand and asked, “Are you nervous? Your palms are all sweaty.”
“Forget it, given the current situation, help me deal with Lucas later,” Bella couldn’t care less now. She had experienced William’s capabilities firsthand; she anticipated a scolding from her father today. Even so, she didn’t want Lucas to harbor any more expectations of her.
A man who tied a small ponytail really considered himself an artist; Bella had no good impressions of Lucas from the first glance.
Of course, the only good impression William had left on her was probably his extraordinarily delicious cooking.
As Bella spoke, her phone suddenly rang.
She pulled out her mobile phone from her handbag, took a look, and couldn’t help but take a deep breath, “Dad’s information network is really well-connected.”
Picking up the phone, Bella still had a smile on her face: “Hello, Dad, what’s up?”
After a pause, Brian Bell asked from the other end, “Did you take William to the art exhibition?”
“Yes, what’s wrong with that?”
“You told others that William is your boyfriend?”
Moving to a corner, Bella lowered her voice and said, “Yeah, I don’t like that Lucas.”
“So, you had William pretend to be your boyfriend again?” Brian Bell sighed, continuing, “If you genuinely like the young man William, that’s fine, but have you considered the consequences of everyone finding out about this? What will you do later? You go around telling people that William is your boyfriend; do you realize how foolish this is?”
“Hmm? So, will you arrange these kind of purposeful dates for me in the future? After all, everyone now knows I have a boyfriend.” Bella suddenly realized something; with her actions today, almost everyone in her social circle knew she had a boyfriend. Whether he was a kept young man or not, wasn’t important.
Even if this ruined her reputation, the effect achieved was quite good. ．
“I am done worrying about you; do as you please!” Brian Bell actually had other thoughts; William was not an ordinary person, and he had no objections to Bella getting close to him.
He had had someone investigate William; both Lila from the Carter family and Alice from the Turner family were frequently seen visiting William, especially Alice, who was practically living at William’s place.
The patriarchs of the three families have been old friends. He had even called Christopher today to ask if he knew anything about William’s background. To his surprise, Christopher claimed that he didn’t know who William was.
According to his investigation, Lila had visited William countless times; how could he, as a father, not be aware of it?
Regardless of whether what Christopher said was true or false, Brian was certain that it was the elders from the Carter and Turner families who had encouraged the two girls to seek out William.
Those old guys were no simpletons; anyone receiving such attention from them was certainly not ordinary. Moreover, his dad had made it clear that he wasn’t allowed to mess with William, refusing even to share any details about him.
This William indeed was a mysterious figure.
Hearing her dad’s words, Bella let out a long sigh of relief. Was she finally completely liberated this time?
“Daddy, love you.” Bella couldn’t help but feel happy at the thought that she no longer had to endure the troublesome dates arranged by her family in the future.
“Alright, alright, I’ll mention it to York Brimstone,” Brian Bell said, “I had someone check on his son too; indeed, he is not a good match for you. But be tactful, don’t offend him too much.”
“Rest assured, I know how to keep things in check; how could I possibly offend someone so badly?” Bella said with a smirk, “I’m not talking to you anymore, I am hanging up first.”
After hanging up, Bella walked over to William and whispered, “My dad said I don’t have to worry about this specially arranged date.”
William raised an eyebrow, “Then we don’t need to continue this act, let’s settle the bill!”
How straightforward!
“But I just told someone you are my boyfriend; at least see it through for today.” Bella said, gritting her teeth, “You aren’t afraid that I’ll dodge the bill, are you?”
“Fine, we’ll settle it after it’s all over.”
Bella felt a tightness in her chest and said, “Could you please find another word to use?”
“Isn’t this what you said?”
As Bella and William were chatting leisurely, not far away, David took several photos of them with his mobile phone.
William noticed his arrival but only gave him a brief glance.
David smirked provocatively at William, even waving his mobile phone at him, indicating that he had captured evidence of William and Bella together.
It largely felt like he had caught them red-handed.
And then, he actually walked over.
Alice, arm in arm with Evelyn, completely ignored them, having discerned that no one could take advantage in her master’s presence.
David heading over was akin to delivering himself to the slaughter.
“Miss Bell, hello.” David had already sent the freshly taken photos to Lila while walking over, and had even turned on the recording function of his phone.
Bella had only met David a few times and they weren’t very familiar with each other, but she greeted him warmly out of courtesy: “Hello.”
David glanced at William beside Bella and asked, “I wonder who this is…”
Bella smiled and said, “He is my boyfriend, William Johnson.”
“Oh, may I ask where Mr. Johnson is currently working?” David chuckled, pretending not to recognize William.
William narrowed his eyes slightly, saying, “Are you pretending not to know me? Does that mean I don’t have to pay you back for the bottle of wine I owed you from the mixer event?”
David had planned to bring this up later, but he didn’t expect William to take the initiative.
“You owe him money?” Bella asked, somewhat curious.
“10,000 US dollars.” William nodded, “It’s only right to repay one’s debts. But I don’t have the money for now.”
David couldn’t help but be stunned; he dared to bring this up even though he didn’t have money to repay? And so confidently at that?
Did he expect Bella to pay for him?
Had this young man reached a transcendent state from being a gigolo?