...This Friday was Alexander's birthday?
Ever since they had known each other, Alexander had never celebrated his birthday. In the past, she had asked James if he knew Alexander's birthday but he had refused to tell her.
"Mr. Smith, you're going to celebrate Mr. Williams's birthday, then what about your own?"
"Do I have a choice?" Alexander replied casually as though he didn't care about his own birthday.
Isabelle frowned. Through the tiny door opening, she could vaguely catch a glimpse of Alexander. He had his head lowered as he flipped leisurely through the documents. As he flipped, he paused momentarily as though a thought had struck him.
He lifted his head, looking into the empty space in front of him, his expression dazed, a tiny deprecating smile curling his lips. He lowered his head once again, studying his documents. With an emotionless expression, he replied indifferently, "Besides, there isn't much to celebrate."
Ever since his mother passed away, the number of people that knew his birthday dwindled, his father, his wife, and his grandfather... But every year on that day, they would only celebrate James's birthday. How could they remember his? There wasn't much to celebrate... and there wasn't anyone to celebrate with him...
His assistant did not say anymore.
Silence fell on the room.
Alexander sat gracefully, resuming his work. However, from the tiny opening, Isabelle could see the usual cold, detached look he had on his face, even his tone was his usual frosty one. But somehow, she could sense a hint of loneliness and isolation.
She distinctly remembered that every year on James's birthday, he would often invite everyone out to have fun. It was always a joyous occasion and Alexander would definitely be there. He would even prepare a present for him, appearing indifferent as usual. Who knew that it was also his birthday...? It was both their birthdays, but he had to stand by the side lines, watching as his little brother was flooded with gifts and blessings. And on that very day, he wouldn't receive a single greeting.
Isabelle could feel a throbbing ache clench her heart, she leaned against the wall for a long while. Only when Madam Mary came out of the kitchen did she finally come back to her senses, walking over to knock on the door.
That afternoon, Alexander and his assistant left directly after lunch.
Isabelle had the whole day to herself since there wasn't any filming that day. Since it was both Alexander and James's birthday on Friday, she decided to get the both of them a present. Out of habit, she called Camila to ask her out, but she was on a date. Isabelle didn't want to disrupt her, so she called Sophia instead.
Since Sophia was working in Davis Enterprise, her working hours were flexible, and she agreed to Isabelle's request instantly.
Coincidentally, both Isabelle and Sophia had to renew their car plates that day. Since Davis Enterprise was in the central business district, Isabelle took the metro over to find her cousin.
Sophia remembered that it was James's birthday, hence she decided to pick out a present for him while Isabelle shopped.
When Sophia was about to pay, she turned and saw Isabelle leaning over the counter, staring at something. Sophia titled her head slightly and saw her pointing at an elegant tie clip.
Sophia couldn't keep her laughter in. "Izzy, isn't one present enough? How many presents are you going to get James?"
Isabelle smiled back at her as she received the neck tie from the counter staff with her hands. She looked down to inspect the tie clips for a while before turning to look at Sophia. Holding up the necktie to her own chest, she asked, "How is it?"
Sophia took two steps back, studying Isabelle. After a short pause, she nodded slowly. "It's good."
Isabelle lowered her head again to scrutinize the necktie once more before nodding her head in satisfaction. The more she looked at it, the more pleased she was with her choice, she started to imagine how Alexander would look.
Sophia looked on impatiently, hurrying her, "Izzy, are you done?"
Isabelle passed the tie clips over to the counter staff. "I would like to get this."
The counter staff smiled slightly as she nodded. "Would you like to pay together or separately?"
Sophia took out her wallet and pulled out a black card. Without even thinking, she replied generously, "Together."
"Separate." Isabelle reached out to block Sophia's hand as she smiled warmly at the staff. She turned back to look at Sophia. "Sis, it'll be better for me to pay for a present myself."
Sophia seemed slightly irritated. "Suit yourself."
She turned back to pass her card to the staff. "Charge my item then, there isn't a password."
The staff smiled politely as she reached over to take the card to make payment. Afterwards, she packed Sophia's item into a bag and passed it back to her. Pointing towards the customer service counter at the exit, the staff continued, "Miss, if it's a gift, you could go there to get a card and your gift wrapped."
Sophia smiled slightly as she nodded in acknowledgement. Reaching over to grab the bag, she tilted her head towards Isabelle. "I'll go over to take a look first." She then walked away.
After settling the bill, Isabelle walked over as well. She picked out two exquisite boxes and passed it to the staff, informing her in which box to place which gift. The red box was for James and the blue box was for the tie clips.
Sophia who was writing her blessing at the side asked curiously, "Izzy, isn't both presents for James? Why do you need to separate them?"
Isabelle's fingers trembled slightly before she resumed writing the birthday card. After writing 'Happy Birthday', she replied lightly, "I have a friend in the filming crew with the same birthday."
Initially, Isabelle had wanted to tell Sophia that it was for Alexander, but when she remembered that Sophia was rejected by Alexander a month ago, she couldn't bring herself to tell her, afraid that she would be upset.
"Oh..." Sophia replied indifferently before passing the card over to the staff.
After Isabelle had packed both gifts, they left the shop.
When Isabelle had mentioned about the filming crew, Sophia seemed to have been reminded that the day after her cousin was in danger, rumors of Annabelle exploded.
In the past, she wouldn't have thought much of it. But after the night she had witnessed how Alexander went crazy because of Isabelle, she immediately understood when Annabelle got scolded by everyone the next day, it was definitely Alexander's doing.
She had thought that he had done enough, but that night, when she attended a dinner, she met several board directors from Global Entertainment. When the conversation stirred towards producer Johnson, they clarified that Alexander had forced him to withdraw his funds and leave the crew.
Alexander's love for Isabelle had gone to a point where he could forsake monetary benefits...
"Sis, how's this dress?"
Isabelle's sudden voice jolted Sophia back to her senses. She turned towards her. Isabelle stood in front of a full-length mirror, her hands holding onto a small pink dress, her head tilted to a side, awaiting Sophia's verdict.
The rays from the lamp fell on Isabelle, leaving her flawless milky skin glistening. She wasn't wearing any makeup, but her skin was smooth and delicate, her thick lashes framing her soulful eyes, her red lips a stark contrast against her white teeth. Isabelle was no doubt a beauty.
After Isabelle's parents died, she had been living in Sophia's home. All these years, Isabelle had constantly given in to her cousin's requests and had always been compliant. Hence, even though Sophia was aware that Isabelle was much prettier than she was, she had never harped on it.
Deep inside, she had always believed that Isabelle could never suppress her. In her eyes, Isabelle was just an orphan while she was the eldest daughter of Davis Enterprise, the apple of her parents' eyes, the future owner of Davis Enterprise.
But now, as Sophia stared at Isabelle, she was left in a daze.
She had never known that Isabelle was this mesmerizing, to the point it tugged at her heart. Was this why Alexander had fallen for her? For her looks?
Isabelle turned to look at Sophia who was staring at her, frowning slightly. Her plump lips pouted as she called out to her, "Sis?"
When Sophia finally came back to her senses, she realized that she had gone into a daze. She lowered eyes before looking back up to praise her cousin, "It's pretty. Do you like it? I'll get it for you."
Isabelle turned to face the mirror, studying herself a little longer before shaking her head. "Forget it, let's go walk around."
After walking for another hour, Isabelle still didn't get anything. In the end, they randomly entered a coffee shop for a rest.
Ever since Isabelle found out about Alexander's birthday, she had been secretly planning on how to celebrate it. When they entered the coffee shop, she saw a wall that was filled with pretty pink and purple balloons. Inspired, she decided to decorate York Garden to surprise Alexander.
After ordering coffee, Isabelle reached for her phone and went on Amazon to pick out balloons and some pretty decorative items whilst she was at it. She felt immediately excited, seeing as she could amass all different types of pretty candles. With her head tilted, she thought about what she wanted to write on the bedroom floor.
After thinking about it for a long time, in the end, Isabelle thought of the most simple words: "Alexander, Happy Birthday."
And so, she sent those words off to the store with the dimensions of the bedroom floor. The store took a moment to estimate it all, then told Isabelle just about how many candles she needed.
Following the store's instructions, she made her order.
There needs to be a birthday cake to celebrate a birthday... Isabelle finished shopping for the decorations. She originally wanted to go order a cake from Black Swan, but once she exited the coffee shop, she saw an advert for handmade cakes. She blinked, hesitating, but finally gave in. She followed the advert and entered the store. Inside, she bought all of the equipment needed to bake a cake, an oven, and ingredients; she was ready to personally bake a cake for Alexander's birthday.
When Isabelle finished paying, she thought about her perfect idea and her lips couldn't help but curve upwards.
Stunned by Isabelle's beauty, every now and then, Sophia would stare at her for a while. She wasn't sure if it was her mind playing games on her, but the more she examined her cousin, the more beautiful and flawless she looked from all 365 degrees round. Her beauty was definitely worth a second look.
Sophia saw that Isabelle was always playing with her phone. Every now and then, she would also let out a silly laugh, which prompted Sophia to not be able not to ask, "What's got you so happy?"
When Isabelle heard Sophia's words, she raised her head and stared at her with curved brows. Then she bit on her straw and drank some juice. With a cheerful smile, she said, "I bought some things off Amazon."
"You are good-for-nothing! How is this something to be so happy over," Sophia teased, doubtful. She lowered her head and glanced over at her own phone. A notification popped up. Sophia casually clicked it open and saw news of Alexander's new film in cooperation with Hollywood.
The news published a photo of Alexander's close-up. His handsome eyes and cold expression were celestial.
Sophia stared at it for a good long while before diverting her eyes to Isabelle. She said, "Alexander is just becoming bigger and bigger. Not only does he own the film industry in mainland, but now he's entering Hollywood."
Isabelle had also seen the news sent in the group. When she heard Sophia's words, her lips curved into a smile, and she said to Sophia, "Yeah."
Back in university, when she missed him, yet she couldn't brazenly contact him, so she had thought of all these ways to send him texts.
Even now, when Isabelle saw the headlines, she was just as sneaky and hesitant as she was before, sending Alexander a message, [The news say that you'll be working with Hollywood on your new film. Is that true?]
Alexander quickly replied to Isabelle's message with just a simple one-word reply, [Yeah.]
But even so, it suddenly felt to Isabelle like they had gone back to the beautiful times of their youth.
Isabelle stared at her phone screen, and thought for a moment. Then, just as she used to do whenever she went to NY, she sent him another message, [You have to treat me to dinner.]
[Okay.] Isabelle's phone received Alexander's reply, which was then followed by another message with a few more words, [What do you want to eat?]
[Anything's fine.] After Isabelle typed this, she paused for a second, and added the words, [When?]
[Today.]
[Then Sophie might come. I'm with her right now.]
[Ok, where are you? I'll come pick you both up.]
Seeing as Alexander had no thoughts, Isabelle told him where they were.
After about a minute, Alexander sent another message, [Alright, wait for my call.]
[Okay then.] Isabelle replied to Alexander with those two words. She turned her eyes from her phone, towards Sophia who was taking a selfie. "Sis, as I sent Alexander a message just now to congratulate him, I casually asked him to treat us. Who would of thought, he actually agreed? Do you want to eat?"
Sophia's expression, as she looked into the camera, slightly froze for a second, and she said in a neutral tone, "Whatever, I don't mind." She looked into the camera, posed with an elegant expression, and pressed the capture button.
Just when Sophia put her photo ready to edit, she looked up at Isabelle and said, "Izzy, can I ask you a question?"
"What question?" Isabelle stared at Sophia with her full attention.
Sophia also put down her phone, and her expression became serious. "Izzy, do you know who Alexander likes?"
Isabelle shook her head. "No, I don't."
She paused, bit her straw, and took two sips. Then said to Sophia, "But when I asked him once, he told me that the woman he loves is already married."
Sophia didn't make a sound but stared directly at Isabelle. She closely looked her up and down. After staring for a long while, Sophia realized that Isabelle's eyes were only filled with curiosity. She wasn't hiding anything, nor did she look guilty. Only then did Sophia divert her eyes. It seemed like Isabelle really didn't know that she was the woman Alexander was in-love with.
Sophia lowered her head, stirring the coffee in her cup. With a gentle "yeah", she continued to say, "She's married."
So Sophia already knew that the woman Alexander loved was married after all. Didn't that also mean that she knew who she was?
Isabelle forcefully bit her straw. After some hesitation, she still asked, "Sis, do you already know who Alexander loves?"
Sophia didn't say a word.
Isabelle lowered her eyes. She secretly mentally prepared herself, then asked in a relaxed voice, "Who is it?"
Isabelle was already married to James, and in all these years, Alexander didn't let her know that she was the one he loves.
He must of not wanted to disrupt his brother's marriage.
Also, Isabelle and James seemed like they were doing well... If she revealed the truth, would it disrupt Isabelle's happiness?