Chapter 155

“Gilmore, how did you do that?” Elaine asked after a long silence.

He offered a mysterious smile and a single word: "Secret." He added, "Now Tobias won't be able to find you. We can watch the meteor shower here, undisturbed."

She glanced around the empty rooftop, noting several distant lights. They were perfectly safe here. Tobias would never have imagined she'd be on a rooftop. It was a massive surprise for her, too.

Feeling safe from Tobias, Elaine breathed a sigh of relief. They found a clean spot and sat down.

"I helped you dodge a bullet today, but Tobias will bother you again at university," Gilmore said, a worried look on his face as he stared at Elaine.

Elaine replied, "I'm taking a train back to my hometown tomorrow morning to visit my father. I've requested fifteen days off to care for him. During that time, Tobias won't even remember tonight, and even if he does, I dare him to hurt me openly on campus."

"I'll drive you to the station tomorrow. Call me if he ever dares to bother you again," Gilmore promised.

Elaine nodded slightly, touched. She never imagined such a kind man would help her in such a desperate situation. He'd saved her like a true hero. Every girl dreams of meeting her hero, someone who makes her heart race. Elaine had always thought such heroes existed only in fiction, but now, she believed—a true hero sat beside her.

"Um… when we were in that room, didn't you say something about a date? Do you still mean it?" she whispered, her head down.

Gilmore stared at her, head still lowered. After a moment, he said, "I saved her and lent her 200,000 dollars to save her father. So she's fallen for me?" He continued, "But honestly, I didn't expect anything in return. Moreover, I have Lilian, Claire, Helene, and Christine—who isn't technically my girlfriend yet. I have four girlfriends already. Including Elaine, that'll be five."

Chapter 155

Gilmore felt he needed to think. "Elaine, to be honest, I'm not monogamous. I'm a ladies' man. If I become your boyfriend, I'm afraid I'll break your heart," he decided to tell her the truth. He hesitated to confuse or disappoint such a pure girl before getting attached.

Elaine was stunned. Disappointedly, she replied, "I know I'm not good enough for you, so you chose to describe yourself as a terrible man. I'm not forcing you. Why are you lying?"

She stood and prepared to leave. Gilmore was dumbfounded. He hadn't expected his words to be misinterpreted. He was thinking, "Jesus! Everything I said is true! I have four girlfriends! How is that not a playboy?" He didn't want to hurt her, but she didn't believe him.

Seeing Elaine covering her face and running away, fearing she might do something drastic, he quickly followed. He grabbed her arm. "Elaine, where are you going?"

"Let go of me! I'll pay you back, although it'll take time," Elaine said stubbornly, looking away.

Gilmore turned her to face him, holding her arms. He saw her face was covered by her right hand, and tears stained her eyes. It was Elaine's first expression of feelings for a guy, and she was pathetically rejected. The blow was heavy; her fragile heart was broken. She ran to hide her sadness. She didn't expect Gilmore to follow and see her crying. Mortified, she wished she could disappear.

Gilmore was shocked. "Are you crying?"

Sobbing, she turned away. "I'm not crying. Dust blew in my eyes."

He didn't expect such a dramatic excuse. Her tears, however, were unexpected. "It seems she's fallen for me," he thought.

As a grown man, seeing a beautiful woman crying, he couldn't say he was unmoved. He replied, "Fine! If you think a playboy who dates several girls is boyfriend material, I'm happy to be your boyfriend." He thought, "It's true I have four girlfriends, but a man can't refuse a pure campus belle like Elaine, right?"

Hearing this, Elaine finally looked at him, disbelief in her teary eyes. "Does this mean he agreed?" she thought. "Gilmore, will you be my boyfriend?" she asked, dreamily. Could this hero really be her boyfriend?

Gilmore stroked her hair. "I've told you, as long as you don't mind my being a playboy, I'm happy to date you."

She didn't believe him, and said happily, "I know you'll be a good boyfriend." She hugged him. Her blushed face was against his chest. "From now on, this hero will be my boyfriend," she murmured.

Gilmore hadn't expected this. He sighed, "If I'd known such innocent beauty would fall for me, I wouldn't have saved her or given her money." But he wouldn't refuse to help such a beautiful girl. "Life is hard!" he thought.

Suddenly, the sky brightened. A meteor shower began, illuminating the rooftop where they held each other. Elaine lifted her head, her eyes sparkling as she watched. Overwhelmed, she whispered, "It's so marvelous." Whether she meant the shower or her new relationship, nobody knew.

Chapter 155

No matter what, she'd never forget this night, Gilmore, and the meteor shower.

As their romance blossomed, a hotel staff member opened the door to Room 8, 50th Floor. Tobias and his men stormed in, but the room was empty. They found the window open but no escape route. No one could jump from the 50th floor. Tobias was confused. "Elaine was clearly here, but where is she? How did she disappear?"

This cleaned-up version corrects grammatical errors, improves sentence structure, and removes inconsistencies and extraneous elements like the time stamps and percentage signs. The non-English characters were also removed as they were likely part of the original source formatting.