Chapter 64: Chapter 64: Con-Man Vicky
Alex was lost in thought when his phone suddenly rang.
It was Satyansh, earlier before this time travel to another world he has promised him that he will help him in his love problem.
"Brother Alex! I have found out when they are meeting—it is going to be this afternoon!
Are you free? Come with me and help me teach that bastard Vicky a lesson!"
On the other end of the phone, Satyansh’s voice burned with anger.
Alex immediately recalled the promise he had made some days before.
At that time, Satyansh, a high school classmate and close friend, requested his assistance to check whether his girlfriend’s old boyfriend was truly faithful towards her.
"Just assist me this one time, Brother Alex," Satyansh had requested then. "No matter what occurs later, I’ll be by your side throughout my life."
Then, listening to the same stubborn resolve in Satyansh’s voice, Alex didn’t hesitated even a bit, and then nodded resolutely—although Satyansh was blind and could not see that her current girlfriend is not really suitable for him.
"Alright," he said.
He had never before resorted to money to handle someone.
The mere idea of it sent something wild and exhilarating within him.
———
That afternoon, Vicky took Sophie out for a walk down the crowded commercial street.
As he strolled with her, he kept throwing those cliche pickup lines, one honeyed phrase after another.
They were well-spoken, almost scripted, but delivered in a disarmingly sincere manner.
"Truth is," Vicky sighed, "I never actually wanted to break up with you Sophie.
You were just... too good for me. I did not feel like I was good enough for you.
Then, when I had finally earned some money and attempted to win you back, I discovered you already had a boyfriend."
His voice had just the right amount of regret, tenderness, vulnerability, and somewhat selflessness.
The words struck a chord in her heart.
Sophie heart skipped a beat.
Her cheeks flushed pink as she lowered her gaze, a faint smile tugging at her lips.
For a moment, she almost forgot why she had ever doubted him at all.
Sophie cheeks turned red, and she lowered her head shyly. There was a trace of joy in her expression, as if she had been touched by his words.
Seeing her blushing pink due to happiness, Vicky smiles inwardly.
Behind his gentle facade, there was nothing but scorn and a hunter’s superiority complex.
Satyansh had been right all along about Sophie’s so-called ex-boyfriend that he was just a scumbag.
To Vicky, she was merely another piece of prey, no different from the others preys.
In fact, Vicky had no job in particular, other than floating from one fraud to the next, living only off beauty and his charm. He lived off on women one after another, extorting money from them with cheap tricks.
"Those women are so innocent.....or to say they are too dumb," he smiled to himself. "I talk a little, tell a little story, and they believe every word of it, every damn word."
He even take pride in himself that:
"Some guys spend years pursuing women and still don’t get anywhere close to their women. Me? I hardly make an effort and they land in my lap. Easy.
Just like that little rich bratty girl I conned last time—I told her that my mother had a cancer and that she have to send me nearly twenty thousand dollars, and she believe it like a fool she is, send it to me without hesitation."
When he came to Sophie, he had deliberately dumped her, believing that there was no profit in her.
But once they broke up, he understood how much she still loved him. "Ha! If she is this attached without me giving her anything, imagine how much I can squeeze out of her when I make a move. Too easy," he praised himself.
Conning people, to Vicky, was not something to be guilty about.
He conned people because he think it was his talent. "If other people can’t do it, that’s their fault.
I can and I will get money from them on my own talent, and that makes me stronger than them.
Smarter too."
He continued to have a hurt look, his voice sinking into a whiny tone.
"Sophie, I like you very much. I wish I could be with you, but I do not want to ruin your life."
Her head snapped up in surprise.
"What? What are you saying?" she demanded, alarm creeping into her tone. "Why would you leave me? What’s wrong?"
He clenched his teeth, pretending to be on the verge of desperation.
"Fact is... I started a little shop, but it went out of business.
And I am currently swimming in debt incurred due to it.
At that time for the business, I borrowed money from loan sharks. Now they are threatening to snap my hand if I do not able to pay them back in time."
Sophie completely gasped at that, her complexion turned pale at a speed visible to the naked eye.
"You dare to borrow money from loan sharks?! How much?"
"Around ten thousand dollars," He grumbled, looking down fully in act. "I didn’t want to, but there was no other choice. I have to get out of Mumbai now.
Tonight, I am leaving the city forever. I don’t want you to get tangled with me in all this."
He let her hang on that note, his shoulders sagging, the look of a man crushed by society.
Yet within him, he was smiling ....because he could already anticipate the fear in her eyes.
Fear of him leaving her forever.
Yes, sure enough, Sophie’s heart is in complete pain at his fake predicament. Her fists clenched hard as she shook her head wildly.
"Don’t leave! Don’t abandon me like this! How much do you owe exactly to them?
Let’s cooperate to give it all together we will definitely be able to figure out a way to settle it!"