It was as though Alexander was thin air.

As Mrs. Williams waved Isabelle over to sit down, she also ordered the housekeeper to prepare tea. Without any intention of waving Alexander to sit down, she turned to look at Isabelle and smiled graciously. She asked with care, "Izzy, how have you been recently? Has filming been tiring?"

"No." Isabelle pursed her lips, and thanked her again, politely.

"That's good. If you're tired, stop filming. Say you don't want to work for the Davis family, I can arrange for you to join the Williams family..." Midway through Mrs. Williams's words, the housekeeper brought a tray over. On it were three steaming cups of tea.

The housekeeper firstly placed a cup in front of Mrs. Williams, then another cup in front of Isabelle. The final cup was left on the table, but they didn't bother to offer Alexander a drink. It was as though the final cup was just for show.

Isabelle thanked the housekeeper in a low voice, before replying to what Mrs. Williams had just said. "I like filming, so please, you don't have worry about me."

"Since you like it, then do as you please." Mrs. Williams's red lips curled into a smile, and she took the cup in front of her.

Isabelle gave her a warm smile. From the corner of her eye, she saw Alexander standing in front of the floor-to-ceiling window. His demeanor was neutral as he stared out the window. Who would know what he was thinking about.

Isabelle gently creased her brows, then remembered that ever since they walked in till now, Mrs. Williams was fixated on her. She didn't care at all for Alexander. Even the servants of this house didn't bother to offer him a seat.

There were no outsiders in the house, so everyone knew it was Alexander impersonating James. Isabelle didn't bother playing along, and directly called his name, "Alexander?"

Alexander, who was staring out the window, heard Isabelle's voice but only slightly turned his head. His eyes fell on her. He didn't say a word, but looked over, puzzled.

Isabelle waved at him and patted the empty seat next to her. In a soft voice, she said, "Why are you standing over there? Come sit."

With a cup in hand, when Mrs. Williams heard Isabelle's words, her expression froze. For just a second, a hint of avoidance and disgust flashed across her eyes. Then she smiled with her eyes and took a sip of her tea with a relaxed posture.

Despite Mrs. Williams's expression, for an instant, her eyes clearly met Alexander's. 

Back when he was young, he'd seen the same expression on Mrs. Williams's face the first time she met him - hatred and disdain.

After all these years, she hadn't changed.

Alexander's expression didn't change at all, as though he was long used to it by now. His composed eyes jumped off of Mrs. Williams's face and into Isabelle's pitch-black pupils. He blinked gently and said in low voice, "There's no need for that."

He didn't wait for Isabelle to say anything more and turned around and continued to look out the window.

Mrs. Williams curved the corner of her lips into a grin when she heard Alexander's words. She then took a few more sips of tea and turned her head. With a sincere smile, she continued to chat with Isabelle about everyday life.

Out of respect and good manners, Isabelle chatted with Mrs. Williams, but every now and then, she would look over at Alexander from the corner of her eyes.

He was very quiet. So quiet in fact, if he wasn't sneaking a glance at her from time to time, you wouldn't know that there was a person standing in front of the floor-to-ceiling window.

Mid-conversation, a servant came over to quietly ask Mrs. Williams a few questions about the party. Mrs. Williams smiled apologetically to Isabelle. She turned her head and gave some instructions.

Isabelle hesitated for a moment, before she put her cup down and turned around to walk over to Alexander. She was just two meters away from him when Mr. Williams walked down the stairs. When he saw Isabelle, he called out, "Izzy."

Isabelle stopped in her tracks to greet Mr. Williams. "Uncle."

Mr. Williams smiled brightly and nodded. As he fixed up his tie, he walked over in front of her. The words from his mouth were directed towards Mrs. Williams, though. "Honey, it's been a while since I last saw Izzy. She's gotten so much prettier."

Mrs. Williams had already prepared everything. Hearing Mr. Williams's words, she elegantly and calmly stood up and walked over to him. She reached her arms out and naturally helped Mr. Williams fix his tie. "Izzy has always been pretty, ever since she was a baby."

Mr. Williams chuckled a little. When he turned his head, his eyes met Alexander's, who had also coincidentally just turned his head when he heard Mr. Williams's voice.

Mr. Williams's smile froze, and he flatly turned away to embrace Mrs. Williams's shoulders on his way to the sofa.

Alexander stared at his back, tightly pursing his lips. His eyes fell, masking the hurt in his eyes.

Mr. Williams hugged Mrs. Williams as he sat down. Then he asked how James's birthday preparations were coming along, to which Mrs. Williams answered in a warm tone of voice. The two of them looked like a married couple who have been in love for many years.

Seeing this, Alexander felt a sharp pain, as he remembered that because of his birth, his own mother lived miserable and adrift. The two arms by his side silently balled into fists.

Although Mr. Williams's series of reactions just now seemed quite natural, Isabelle could still clearly see the annoyance in his eyes when he saw Alexander.

It wasn't like Isabelle and Alexander had never pretended that Alexander was James when they met Mr. Williams and Mrs. Williams. But back then, it was mostly during parties, where everyone had worked hard to keep up the act. They'd never met privately, and so she never realized the reality before.

In actuality, Isabelle could understand why Mrs. Williams ignored Alexander and was cold towards him. For the most part, no woman would be able to speak nicely and treat their own husband's illegitimate son warmly.

However, Mr. Williams was unexpectedly just as cold towards Alexander, which left Isabelle a little puzzled. Even if he didn't like this son, Alexander, he wouldn't be so lazy as to not bother to talk to him, right?

An unspeakable pain surfaced in Isabelle's heart. She instinctively looked over at Alexander, about to speak, when suddenly he said in a deeply cold voice, "I'm going out to smoke."

He didn't wait for Isabelle to respond, just turned around and strode out of the house.

"Izzy, come..." Isabelle, who secretly wanted to follow Alexander out, suddenly heard Mrs. Williams's call.

She replied with an "Oh". Through the floor-to-ceiling windows, she glanced over at Alexander, who stood by his own car, as he lit up his cigarette. He took a deep one and let out a mouthful of smoke. She turned around and walked towards the sofa.

When it was almost seven forty, the guests arriving one after the other.

No one knew where Alexander had gone. All Mrs. Williams, Mr. Williams, and Isabelle could do was to stand by the door, wearing beaming smiles as they welcomed guests. 

On her way, Mrs. Williams called the housekeeper over and whispered for him to go and find Alexander.

At seven fifty, Alexander still hadn't turned up. Annoyance surfaced in Mrs. Williams's eyes, but she still kept her smile up as she greeted Williams family's business investors into the banquet hall. Then she silently left, walking over to the housekeeper who had just walked through the mansion's doors. Mrs. Williams immediately asked in a cold voice, "Where is he?"

Before the housekeeper could speak, Alexander followed in closely behind, stepping into the house.

Mrs. Williams shot the housekeeper a look, from which the housekeeper instinctively knew to walk over and take care of the guests in the hall.

Mrs. Williams gracefully walked over to Alexander on her high heels. Before she could make a sound, two guests walked in. She smiled immediately, holding onto Alexander's arm. Smiling from ear-to-ear, she greeted both guests, "Chief Carter, Madame Carter."

She looked at Alexander warmly, and urged him, "James, quickly. Come say hello to uncle and aunt."

Alexander completely pulled back his cold and estranged self. He never spoke much, but to be more like James, he played along with Mrs. Williams and kindly welcomed them.

When he finished speaking, Alexander headed for the hall with a hand gesture.

Only after waiting for the Carter's to stride over to the hall, did Mrs. Williams chase after Alexander, pulling on his arm. Yet, she also maintained a good distance between the Carter's in front of them.

Seeing that no one was paying attention to them, Mrs. Williams slightly turned her head and said to Alexander in an abnormality low, frigid tone, "Tonight is James's birthday. I implore you to focus. Don't make any slip-ups."

As Mrs. Williams said this, a guest unexpectedly came over to her. She immediately stopped her words and flashed a bright smile. Once the guest greeted her as they walked past, she then continued to warn Alexander in a cruel voice, "Nobody asked you to help from the very beginning. You willingly agreed to do this. Furthermore, don't you forget, your life belongs to James!"

The words clearly reached Alexander's ears, yet his eyes were composed, as though Mrs. Williams's words were meant for someone else. His line of sight circled the hall. Not too far away, he saw Isabelle. He turned his head to Mrs. Williams and smiled. The two of them looked like a loving pair of mother and son. Then he pulled his arm away and walked over to Isabelle.

Mrs. Williams was right. The Williams family certainly didn't force him to do this favor.

Mr. Williams and Mrs. Williams didn't even tell him about it—it was the Williams family's housekeeper who went to find him.

The housekeeper didn't offer him any benefits, nor did he beg him. He only simply said that the Williams family was in trouble, and they needed him to pretend to be married to Isabelle to overcome those problems.

Even though those words only numbered to a brief dozen, he only paid attention to the word: Isabelle.

Even if he had to endure any grievances and hate, it was worth it.

As no one knew about it. Back then, he had been so excited. He felt like it was the heavens finally giving him such a wonderful opportunity; a reason to appear by her side again.

~*~

"James!" Sophia saw Alexander first. She waved and smiled at him.

Isabelle, who had her back to Alexander, immediately turned around. She walked closer to Alexander, before smiling sweetly and calling out, "James."

James... the woman's voice was soft and gentle. Those two words coming from between her teeth, it sounded like there were hints of real emotion there.

It wasn't like how she called him. She would always sound distant and polite with "Mr. Smith". But recently, she had made him extraordinary satisfied, for she'd called him by his name twice.

Alexander pushed down the sour feeling in his heart and stared at Isabelle with a little warmth. He naturally pulled her over and hugged her soft hips.

Even though Alexander was dressed up as James, his body odor didn't change. When Isabelle hugged his waist, her heart raced like crazy when she smelt the light scent of him. There were hints of shyness in her eyes.

The new married couple didn't hold back with their love for each other, as the two of them acted so sweet and affectionate towards one another.

A person's appearance could change, but not the voice, and so when Alexander approached someone both he and Isabelle knew, he would do his best not to talk.

As time passed, everyone believed it was James's disfigurement by the car accident, which caused him to change in personality and not talk as much.

And so, Alexander only pursed his lips and nodded at Sophia who had just greeted him enthusiastically.

After the car accident, Sophia was very accepting of the silent "James", and so she pointed at Jake next to herself. She introduced him, "James, this is my boyfriend, Jake."

Jake kindly pulled out his arm. "Hello."

As usual, Alexander didn't say a word, just shook hands with Jake.

Isabelle was afraid that if they lingered for too long, they'd be caught out by Sophia, so she immediately found an excuse to leave. "James and I are going to greet other guests."

After waiting for Sophia and Jake to nod, she held onto Alexander and left.

James's birthday party started at eight on the dot. Mr. Williams and Mrs. Williams were also afraid to be caught out, and so they started the party off by giving their birthday wishes. Mrs. Williams went up on the podium and spoke.

Alexander could only stand on the podium and wait for her to finish speaking. He raised a glass and drank with everyone.

Isabelle grabbed onto Alexander's elbow when they walked down the stage. Facing the crowd, they raised their glass to toast before walking silently to a corner, leaving the guests to Mrs. Williams and Mr. Williams.

Even though there weren't many people in the corner, there were still some walking around. In order to prevent suspicion, they stood silently, careful not to make conversation, exposing themselves.

When they were greeting the audience, Alexander had drank a lot in place of Isabelle. Before the dinner, he hadn't eaten. He slouched against the sofa as his stomach started to hurt.

The mood in the main hall was boisterous, with laughter erupting again and again.

As she listened on to the continuous chatter and laughter, Isabelle recalled the scene before the celebration had began. Alexander had walked to the side of the car to smoke in silence after Mrs. Williams and Mr. Williams had ignored him. Her heart clenched, and she turned to look at him.

Alexander was currently leaning against the sofa with his eyes shut. Even though his face was filled with scars and had been touched up slightly to look like James, she could still see past all the facade, seemingly able to make out at his perfect visual.

Isabelle's eyes turned tender as she stared at him.

As she looked, her mind started to show the image of Alexander. As his face formed in her mind, her lips curled into a tiny smile.

In the end, Isabelle sunk into a daze, her expression tender and loving.

When Alexander's stomach was feeling better, he opened his eyes and collided right with Isabelle's deep gaze: her stare was intense and slightly intoxicated.

Alexander's heart skipped a beat, he was unable to look away. Her eyes were clear and beautiful, and reflected in them, he could see James.

He frowned, freezing for a few seconds before remembering that he was in James's disguise.

Was that why she was looking at him with such an expression? Had she mistaken him for James?