CHAPTER 36: CHAPTER 36: PRIYA’S DELUSION

Without any hesitation, Priya picked up her phone and began typing frantically on Instagram, her fingers flying across the mobile keyboard as she sent message after message to Alex, her excitement overflowing with time.

"Alex, long time no see, I see you’re getting better and better now, you have become so successful!"

"What business did you venture into after college?

Or is your family already wealthy?

How did you become the Boss of Emerald Villa? I heard that even the Villa itself is worth a $100 million!"

"And that girl today... is she truly just your friend? Tell me the truth!"

One after the other, she spewed out words, clingy and persistent, like an obsessed fan pursuing her beloved celebrity, never hesitating to think before typing, never out of ideas.

It was not long before Priya had already sent over a dozen, no two dozens of them at the very least, the message bubbles piling up across the whole chat window, so much so that she herself could no longer see what she had typed anymore.

On the other hand, Alex flipped through her chatter with a lack of interest, his face deadpan, his responses as short as possible—

"Oh."

"Yeah."

"I’m going to shower."

The contrast was strong: while Priya dove into the conversation as if her life was at stake, Alex’s chilly and short replies clearly showed that he had not a tiny spark of interest in her.

Yet Alex politeness is keeping him from blocking her outright.

And yet when Priya looked back at the history of the chat, viewing her dozens of messages stacked against Alex’s one-word answers, she did not feel embarrassment, but bewilderment, as if she could not understand why he was not communicating anymore.

"No way... are all wealthy people really that busy these days?" she whispered to herself, tilting her head before quickly devising a reason to soothe her wounded pride.

"But that’s the truth! Men like Alex are just surrounded by so many social activities, so many business dinners, people must be fighting all the time for his attention."

"And yet... and yet he still responded to me so quickly. Doesn’t that already show that he has a interest in me or something?!"

Her own words comforted her, and she hugged her phone tightly against her chest, her eyes sparkling with renewed determination as she murmured, "Hehe, I still have a chance."

In her heart, Priya twisted his coldness into warmth, convincing herself that if Alex truly wasn’t interested, he wouldn’t have bothered replying at all, not even with a single word.

Priya’s eyes shimmered brightly, her mind still lost in fantasies of marrying into wealth, her heart weaving golden daydreams where she became Mrs. Carter, living a life of fame and fortune beyond anyone’s reach.

At that moment, her phone rang again—this time not from Alex but from someone in her contacts listed as "Top Fanboy." That was what she had named Raju, the sole guy who was always lurking around her, her most faithful fan, permanently faithful like a puppy.

"What’s my goddess doing? Is she sleeping?"

"Are you available in the next two days? I’ve made a reservation, we can go out for dinner together."

"Why don’t you get back to me? Are you working?"

Message after message illuminated her screen, the ceaseless notifications chiming in one after another, until the sound itself became a sort of annoying background noise that irritate against her nerves.

Glancing at the group of clingy messages, Priya couldn’t help furrowing her brow, feeling completely choked. In her mind, Raju was grown has a nothing but a nuisance, a pest that didn’t know his limits, someone who never seemed to get it into his thick skull that she had so much more important things to attend to than indulge in his rubbish.

But then again, Raju was still her "Top Fanboy," the one who was always complimenting her, the one who did his job well enough to keep her ego happy. For appearances’ sake, it wouldn’t be wise to completely ignore him.

After a lot of thinking she tapped out a response and sent a brief message, "Oh. Yeah. I’m going to take a shower."

Who knew? That little slice of attention was like putting gasoline on fire. Raju became even more intense instantly, sending her a dozen messages in under a minute, his bubbles of messages swamping the screen so much that Priya wish to discard her phone.

Finally her restraint broke. With a determined look on her face, she instantly silenced his notifications, shutting him out totally, and turned back to what she believed actually counted chatting with Alex...her future ideal husband.

But no matter how long she gazed at her screen, refreshing and waiting, seconds creeping by at torturous pace... Alex never responded.

The silence from his side was more crushing than any rejection.

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The following morning, Alex Carter woke up, stretched out leisurely, and sensed a unusual feeling of comfort coursing through his body.

Since settling into Emerald Villa, his life had turned around in a big way. The peaceful surroundings, the open air, and the large room provided a deeper sleep than ever before.

He slept soundly every night. He woke up each morning feeling refreshed.

After scrubbing his face and brushing his teeth, Alex carelessly swept up his phone from the nightstand.

It’s okay if he didn’t but when he finally did, instantly he stiffened.

His Instagram inbox was full to the brim—dozens of new messages from Priya.

The time on the most recent one? 4:30 in the morning.

"...No way," Alex whispered, a black line creasing his forehead.

Has she become so obsessed? Didn’t she have to sleep? Had she actually spent the whole night spamming him?

Scrolling through the torrent of messages, Alex glossed over two or three messages before letting out a tired sigh.

He had no time to read the rest.

He had more important things to do such as putting on his uniform and heading to his work as a security guard.

Each day he worked was another opportunity to rack up time, another day closer to going back to ancient times.