Actually, when he heard the answer, his expression was stiff. Perhaps it was because the light was dim, but James didn't notice anything out of the ordinary. He even patted his shoulder and said that he'd be treating the night after. He was going to treat him and friends that he hadn't seen for a long time to play.

Alexander didn't hear what James said, but he nodded awkwardly.

The next day, when Alexander received James's call, he blanked out for a long time before snapping back to reality.

He knew that he might meet Isabelle. His heart was riddled with thoughts for a really long time; thoughts of meeting her but not daring to look at her. In the end, like there were external forces at work, he still went anyway.

After two short months, seeing her again, it was like seeing someone again after a lifetime apart.

Actually, that night, they didn't say anything to each other. She sat next to James. The more he saw them, the more he felt that they looked perfect together. He drank blindly. By the end, he was so drunk he became dizzy. He laid on the sofa, dizzy and groggy, vaguely feeling her appear by his side.

When he was drunk, he often had these kind of illusions, but that time, it was particularly realistic. He could smell the very faint scent of her unique body odor.

As he was drunk, that scent only served to make him even more groggy. So much so that he even heard her say something about who was the person he liked. Then he said something back. All in all, it was a great mess. When he got sober, she wasn't there anymore.

It was around that time that both of them gradually grew apart. From seeing each other once in two to three months to more than half a year later, one year, and then finally, not meeting at all...

Later, he met her again after James's car accident. In fact, he never thought about what kind of attitude he would have when he faced her again. Then, on her wedding night, she made it clear to him that she wouldn't interfere in his life. Nor would she disturb him. She certainly wouldn't let anyone know about his relationship with her.

She clearly drew the line, leaving him speechless. In the end, he could only say "You better remember your words" to save the scene.

At the time, he already began to stop caring about morals. Though he knew that he was nothing but a substitute, he still let her stay in his mansion. But he still didn't touch her.

During then, he kept telling himself that he didn't like her. It was the only way that he could pretend that none of it mattered, and go back to his mansion every now and then. It let him lay beside her in bed, as though they were innocently shooting a film.

He always thought that would be it for them. When James woke up, then he would have done his job and step back.

But one night, she actually made a move on him... He thought he was just dreaming... Every time she drew close to him before, he would have some extreme reaction. So much so, there was one time, where he threw her off the bed.

When he woke up the next day, he knew it wasn't a dream but reality.

In that instant, an infinite amount of emotions flashed through his chest. He rushed into the washroom to grill her.

When he found out that it was her first time, a hint of anticipation surfaced in his heart, but in the end, all that changed with her one request, to get a part in "To the End of Time".

Ever since she entered the entertainment industry, he had already asked Sophia and learned that she was doing it purely for fun.

If she wanted to be the female lead, she could absolutely ask the Williams family and Davis family to invest. She didn't need to use a woman's precious virginity in exchange for a minor role. The price was indeed a little too big.

No matter what her reasons were for jumping into bed with him, from the bottom of his heart, he was certain that it wasn't because she loved him.

Perhaps she had drank too much that night and took him for James's substitute, or perhaps it just was all the liquor... Nevertheless, it had already happened. There was no use in crying over spilled milk. The next day, when he woke up, he casually found an excuse to beat around the bush.

In fact, he clearly knew that their deal wasn't her idea, but he still stubbornly deceived himself to believe it was true, that he never made such a deal with her. Then he could make himself feel good. He never betrayed his own brother, James. It was Isabelle.

His intentions really weren't innocent. He was the worst, but there was no helping it. All he could do was use that to his advantage, and vent his anger at her again and again.

In the end, their relationship started to get better. He carefully cherished that. In the end, he thought that if he and Isabelle let nature take it's course, they would fall in love with each other.

But Sophia's recording pen landed in his hands, and the way she looked at him when he wore James's face...

So it turned out, it was another one of his ludicrous dreams.

He was always like that. He clearly knew he was being foolish, but he couldn't help himself.

~*~

At this point, Alexander felt sharp waves of pain deep inside the left part of his chest. He couldn't help but raise his hand and gently press against it. He then put out the light in the cigarette he was holding. He stood in front of the window for a while, before he strode over to his desk. He pulled out the first drawer and took out two ripped up pieces of paper. He put the two together to form a golden greetings card. On it were washed out words, but you could still make them out - "I love you".

~*~

Madam Mary wasn't in. The whole mansion was pitch-black. Even the lights outside weren't turned on.

Isabelle turned on the lights and glanced at the empty living room. She dragged her heavy body to the second floor, pushed open the bedroom door, and glanced over at the wall. There were multi-colored balloons stacked to form the words 'Happy Birthday'. In that instant, she froze at the door.

Up until now, she still clearly remembered how she felt whilst she spent all afternoon decorating the room. Her mind could only ceaselessly imagine what kind of expression Alexander would have when he saw it.

Even though she was the one giving him a surprise, at the time, she felt excited and happy that she would get a surprise as well.

Isabelle stood blankly at the door for a long time, before she entered the bedroom. She looked all around, at the balloons stuck on the four walls. In the end, her eyes stopped at the balcony where she had arranged the candles into words. Then, as though her whole body had lost it's energy, she slowly crouched down. She hugged her knees and put her head in-between them.

Even if she was stupid, she knew that he was clearly venting his anger out on her.

Yet, no matter how hard she thought about it, she didn't understand just how she had triggered him to make him this angry.

The more Isabelle thought about it, the more she felt wronged. In the end, her shoulders started to tremble slightly, and sobs gently broke out .

After a long while, Isabelle lifted her head from between her knees. The tears on her face had dried up, and the rims of her eyes were red. As she had crouched for quite some time, when she stood up, her legs were numb. She fell back down to the floorboards.

Isabelle bit the corner of her lip and got up from the ground. She glanced at the time on the wall. It was already quarter past twelve; his birthday had passed.

She stood dazed on the spot for a while, then lowered her eyes and walked out of the room.

The mansion was empty. The only sound was her footsteps. As she listened, there was an unspeakable loneliness at the bottom of her heart.

She went to the storage room, took out a cardboard box, and went back to the room. Then she kneeled on the floorboards, picked up the candles one-by-one, and put them into the box. With the box of candles in her arms, she went downstairs and put it in the storage room.

When she walked back into the room, Isabelle rushed over to the wall with a sharp piece of iron wire in her hand and popped all the balloons. The loud popping entered her ears, one-by-one. She wasn't the least bit frightened. Her expression was composed, and her fingers continuously stabbed into the balloons on the wall, shoving them into the rubbish bag.

When she tidied up the room, Isabelle took the rubbish bag downstairs. As she was ready to throw it out, she thought about the cake in the fridge and stopped for a second. She walked over to the dining room, opened the fridge and took the cake out. Her hands slightly clenched into fists. A second later, she chucked the cake in the rubbish bag. She took the bag and walked out of the room, and threw the bag into the public bins in the district outside.

After Isabelle finished up, it was already one in the morning. She removed her make up, showered, and climbed into bed.

Hard to say if it was because Alexander had recently come back home every night, she felt that something was missing by her side. She tossed and turned, but she couldn't sleep no matter what. After much difficulty, she later fell asleep, but not long after, she suddenly woke up and looked out the window. The skies were already bright, and the other side of her bed was empty. Clearly, Alexander hadn't come back.

Isabelle hugged the covers and sat there for a while. Then she heard sounds of something unlocking coming from downstairs. She instinctively removed her covers and jumped out of bed, and ran out of the room bare-footed. Just as she reached the stairs, she saw Madam Mary carrying large and small bags into the kitchen.

Isabelle felt a pang of disappointment from the bottom of her heart. She stood there on the spot for a while, then returned to the room. She wasn't the least bit sleepy, so she quickly cleaned herself up. Thinking about having to go to the set today, she called Camila to pick her up early.

~*~

Alexander didn't sleep all night. At seven in the morning, he heard sounds outside the office and snapped back to reality. Then he got up from his office chair and went to the room in the back, took a shower, and changed into clean clothes.

At nine, there was a morning meeting. When it ended, it was only ten.

Today, he had to be on the set of "Alluring Times". Last night, he left the car with Isabelle, and his other cars weren't at mansion, but at York Garden. And so, after the meeting, Alexander called his assistant to take them to York Garden.

~*~

Though Isabelle asked Camila to come over early to pick her up to go to the set, when she arrived, it was already late. The time was almost eleven in the afternoon.

Camila didn't drive in but stopped the car outside of the mansion's courtyard.

Isabelle bid Madam Mary goodbye and walked over, grabbing her bag. Just then, Camila, who had already turned the car around, stopped by the pavement in front of the gates.

Just when Isabelle was about to cross the road, a Mercedes-Benz stopped right in front of the mansion. She abruptly stopped in her tracks, about to go around the car, when she saw the car open. Alexander's assistant stepped out from the front passenger seat and stepped back to open the car door in the back.

Alexander stepped out of the car and walked forward two steps. He saw Isabelle at the gates of the courtyard and immediately stopped walking.

The two of them stood about a meter apart. Neither of them spoke first.