Riches in Disguise

Joshua never thought his carefully constructed image would crumble so quickly.

"Let me explain! It's not what you think. It's Sophia! She's mad because I lied to her. She set me up!" he babbled, desperate to save his reputation.

"My dad owns Spring Harvest Agro-Tech! Imperia Manor belongs to me, and so does this car! Don't fall for her lies-"

Before Joshua could finish speaking, Alan pressed a button on a recorder and pointed the microphone at him. "Everything you just said can be used as evidence of debt evasion in court. Joshua, feel free to say more if you'd like."

Seeing the recorder, Joshua instantly clammed up. Getting caught for fraud could land him in jail.

Still bewildered, Tom stepped forward. "Excuse me, sir. Could I ask whose lawyer you are?"

Alan responded, "I represent the Spring Harvest Foundation for Poverty Alleviation, and I'm also the personal attorney of the foundation's founder. My name is Alan Dignam. Here's my card."

Tom took the business card and glanced at it. "And how is Joshua related to this?"noveldrama

"Joshua was a recipient of the foundation's aid. However, due to his misuse of the funds and his dishonest behavior, we terminated his support over a week ago," Alan replied.

Over a week ago? Zack and Louis were dumbstruck. That was exactly when Joshua had told them his bank account had been frozen!

Watching the looks of shock and anger wash over their faces, I didn't feel the slightest bit of pity. They had chosen to fawn over Joshua, so now they had to deal with the consequences.

"Joshua, you lied to us! You owe me 1,800 dollars! Pay me back now, damn it!"

"Same here! You owe me 1,600 dollars! Pay it back!"

Zack and Louis reacted first and lunged at Joshua, aiming to grab his phone.

Joshua stumbled backward, unable to fend them off. At this point, any hope of salvaging the situation was gone. His only option was to run.

However, Zack and Louis had cornered him. They pulled and shoved Joshua, not giving him a chance to escape. Soon, the others joined in.

"Joshua, you owe me 5,000! You said you'd pay it back this week! Where's my money?"

"You better pay me back the 2,200 you owe me! Transfer the money to me right now!"

"I only had 300 left, and you made me send that to you too! Joshua, do you even have a conscience?!"

Within moments, the crowd swarmed him, knocking him to the ground. He shouted for mercy, "Stop hitting me! Even if you kill me, I don't have the money! I swear, I don't have it! Please, stop!"

Tom and Roger were stunned speechless. It wasn't just the students who had been duped-teachers, who were knowledgeable and wise, had been fooled too. Suddenly, Joshua broke free from the crowd, his face battered and bruised. As he scrambled away, he pointed at Lina. "You want money? I spent it all on that woman! Go ask her for it!"

At his words, all eyes turned toward Lina.

Panic washed over Lina, and she frantically shook her head. "No! He never gave me any money! The most he did was buy me a few gifts, nothing more! I swear!"

When she saw some people begin to move toward her, she was scared and turned to run. She had barely taken a step before Sophia grabbed her by the hair.