Alexander stood in front of his office's window, smoking one stick at a time. Only when he finished the entire box did he take a deep breath, tossing the empty box into the bin. He stood in a daze for a while longer, before leaving the office with his car keys.
When the car left the office building, he glanced at the clock. It was already 11 pm. After the heavy downpour, the streets were wet with tiny puddles everywhere.
Alexander drove his car around the city aimlessly. He wanted to go to his another mansion, but when he was halfway there, he remembered that his relationship with Isabelle had only gotten better when he was present. His heart clenched slightly, and he turned his car back to the city.
He didn't know where he could go, driving around aimlessly once again. Unknowingly, he was heading back to York Garden, only when he reached it, did he come back to his senses.
Alexander hesitated slightly, slamming onto the breaks. His car stopped immediately. Straight ahead, he could see that the living room lights were still switched on. He lowered his lashes, sinking into deep thought before starting his car once again, preparing to leave.
The moment he was about to hit the accelerator, the door flew open and Isabelle ran out in her pajamas.
Alex's foot froze before leaving the accelerator, stopping the car once again.
Isabelle ran over in her slippers.
Alexander's car windows were down. When Isabelle reached the car, a wide grin spread across her face, and she asked him sweetly, "You're back?"
Alexander didn't respond, he just glanced at her briefly before turning his head away to look straight ahead. His perfect features was calm without any a trace of emotion, his entire body giving off a frosty, distant vibe.
Sensing his bad mood, Isabelle quickly hid her smile, asking cautiously, "What's wrong?"
When Alexander heard her speak, he tilted his head slightly, glancing at her through the rear-view mirror, his fingers squeezing the steering wheel. Just one glance, and he abruptly pulled out the car keys and pushed open the doors to leave the car.
He took large strides into the house, without even glancing at Isabelle.
She hurriedly followed behind him. By the time she entered the house, he had already changed into house slippers and was removing his jacket.
Isabelle slowed down, stopping about half a meter behind Alexander. In a small voice, she asked, "Have you eaten dinner? Do you want some food?"
He ignored her, continuing to remove his jacket. He casually threw it onto the sofa before walking up the stairs.
Isabelle took her phone from the sofa before following after him. At the entrance of the bedroom door, she asked him again, "Do you want to bath? It'll help you relax after a long day."
Alexander continued to ignore her as he walked out of the room.
Isabelle touched her cheeks in confusion before running after him again. "It's late, aren't you going to rest?"
Alexander pushed open the study room door and entered as though Isabelle hadn't spoken. Before she could react, he slammed the door, shutting her out of the room.
Isabelle looked at the tightly shut door. She turned the knob unconsciously, realizing it was locked.
She frowned, not understanding the situation. Why was he in such a bad mood?
Isabelle stood outside the study room for a while before walking to the bedroom. She chewed on her fingers as she pondered. Just then, she remembered Alexander telling his assistant that there wasn't much point in celebrating his birthday.
She clearly remembered the loneliness and despair on his face when he had said that.
Today is his birthday, is that why he's so moody?
Isabelle ran to her side of the bed, pulling open the cupboard to take the blue gift box out.
She had wanted to give it to him after she had prepared everything, but now, he had locked himself in the study room...
Isabelle bit her lip, standing up to get the backup keys Madam Mary had left, then went back up.
~*~
"Izzy!"
Sophia shouted before sitting up on her bed violently.
"Sophie, what's wrong?" Jake was suddenly woken up by Sophia, who lay beside him. He groggily sat up and asked her what happened with a worried expression.
Sophia glanced over at Jake, and realized that she was just dreaming. Only then, did she quietly let out a sigh of relief. She outstretched her arms and hugged Jake's waist. As she pushed her face into his chest, she said in a low voice, "Nothing, it was just a nightmare."
Jake hugged Sophia and found a comfortable position. His hand stroked her back over and over again. "Go to sleep. Don't be scared, I'm here."
Sophia didn't say a word, but she hugged Jake's waist even tighter.
In the night, silence fell again. Sophia felt Jake's strokes become lighter and eventually stop, his breaths growing slow and longer. She knew he had already fallen asleep, but she wasn't the least bit sleepy.
She opened her eyes and stared at Jake who had his eyes shut and was deep in sleep. Then, she quietly removed his hand from her back, flipped her covers, got off the bed, and left the room.
She went to the kitchen first and grabbed for a cold bottle of water. Opening the bottle, she took a sip and walked over to the balcony. She stared out into the city lights at night and thought about the dream she just had.
In the dream, Isabelle knew that she had done something terrible. She anxiously stared and pointed at her, and said that she ruined her happiness. Isabelle, in the dream, cried and cried as she said that she saw her as the world's best older sister, so how could she do this to her?
That blame, that anger, they were all real.
Sophia couldn't help but grip tighter onto her bottle. The icy cold touch slightly calmed her anxious heart.
Isabelle and her had grown up with James ever since they were young. The three of them were never apart. Their relationship was so good, they had no secrets between each other. But this was something Isabelle didn't know, nor did James.
Before she graduated, she had the life of a rich girl who everyone envied. She dated many handsome guys. Among all the boyfriends she'd had, she was impulsive and exciting towards some, whereas she was lonely and empty towards others, but that didn't mean she had never felt anything for them.
On her fourth year, close to graduation, she dated a TV host. He was tall, handsome, and his voice was piercing and charming. However, the one who she truly loved was the man who seemed proud and virtuous... Alexander.
She was the same as now back then. Even though she wasn't happy about it, she had already lost all hope of being with him. At first, her wishes were simple. He was just a guy she wanted to date, so she could at least know the feeling of being with him.
How to put it... All in all, she felt a little something for him in the end. She even had the impulse to talk marriage with this guy, but when she brought it up with her parents, they only expressed their strong disapproval. On top of that, they told her something that she never even knew... that she had to marry James.
That was when she learned about the arranged marriage between the Davis and Williams family.
The Williams family's business was vast, and James was their only son. It was truly rare to find such an ideal person.
Even though Sophia's parents had always treated Isabelle very well, when it came to such a great opportunity, they wanted to save it for their own daughter.
All parents think that the decisions they make are for the good of their children. Sophia schemed to convince her parents out of it but eventually failed. She even had to break up with her TV host boyfriend.
Sophia always saw James as a friend. She never had any feelings for him, yet she couldn't fight her own parents on this. She was afraid that she'd end up forced to marry James.
Later, Sophia was always troubled by this. She even thought about studying abroad and not returning for over ten years to avoid the arranged marriage. But before she could completely carry out her plan, she unintentionally eavesdropped on a conversation.
It was an early summer's afternoon. She remembered it well. The weather was unexpectedly good that day, with blue skies, white clouds, and a light breeze.
That day, a servant was cleaning her room when she needed to go to the bathroom, so she used Isabelle's bathroom nearby. At the time, there was a music recording software that was really popular, which she also happened to be obsessed with. When she got out, she took her phone out to record a song. It was right when the sound of Isabelle's voice came from the other side of the door.
"James, I need you to help me, but you have to keep it a secret."
People are naturally curious. When she heard Isabelle say this, she instantly forgot what she was doing. Instead, she pushed herself up against the door to listen in on them. From Isabelle and James's conversation, she knew that Isabelle was looking for James to help her check a love letter.
The contents of the love letter were very well written. Each sentence was filled with emotions, and each word was deep with love.
James, that young master, sure was serious. He remained composed, waiting for Isabelle to finish reading. When she did eventually finish, he even seriously gave her some suggestions.
In turn, Isabelle accepted James's suggestions, and she thanked him happily. She generously followed up on the promise she made James if he checked her love letter. She was going to treat him to ice cream in return, so the two of them quickly left the room.
Sophia waited until after it was completely quiet outside before snapping back to reality. As her mind was wrapped around who Isabelle liked, she opened the door and went back to her own room. When her curiosity subsided, she realized that her phone had recorded the whole thing. She was just about to delete the recording when a thought suddenly flashed across her mind. She hesitated for a while, but still saved the recording. Then she replayed it. Hearing Isabelle and James's conversation, a single thought came to her mind.
She immediately ran over to her desk, opened her computer, and stored the recording. She cut out the unnecessary parts and only left the parts that clearly suggested something romantic was going on. She then copied it onto the recording pen that her parents had bought her last year and went to the Williams family.
She knew that James and Isabelle were out for ice cream, yet she still pretended to have come for James. In the end, seeing that he wasn't home, she asked Mrs. Williams if she wanted to listen to the latest song she had recorded.
Naturally, Mrs. Williams agreed, but when Sophia's finger clicked play on the recording pen, a song didn't play. Instead, the recording that she'd edited earlier had played.
Sophia acted as though she were panic-stricken and turned the recording pen off. But Mrs. Williams, who had already heard a portion of it, asked for her to finish playing the recording.
She pretended to look anxious, as she sat next to Mrs. Williams. When the recording pen finished playing, she then carefully said to Mrs. Williams, "Aunt, no matter what, please don't let James and Izzy know that you know about their love. They told me to keep it a secret."