No matter how much she wanted to ask him what actually happened, in the end, she didn't have the courage to wake him up and ask.

Even if the truth was laid out unavoidably in front of her, she still wasn't willing to face it. Or, perhaps, she was unwilling to accept it.

~*~

Isabelle didn't sleep all night. The next day, when it was light out, she climbed out of bed. Alexander was still fast asleep. She didn't wake him but stared at this sleeping face for a while, before quietly going into the bathroom. She cleaned herself up and got changed into a simple yet classy light yellow dress. She carried her bag and walked out of the bedroom.

Madam Mary wasn't awake yet. The enormous living room was particularly quiet. The wall lamps were on, emitting a faint yellow light. Against the gradually increasing light from outside the window, they were a little dim.

Isabelle grabbed her phone and called for a ride. Then she put on her shoes and walked out.

The morning air was extremely crisp. The flowers in the courtyard had bloomed quite a lot overnight. There was a single rose tilted and crushed by a wooden stick. Isabelle walked over, picked up the stick, and supported the flower upright. Then she walked out of the courtyard. The taxi she had called was already waiting at the door. She got into the car, and told the driver to go to the hospital.

Before the morning rush hour, the streets were empty and quiet. The neon lights from the stores on both sides of the street were out, and after a certain distance, she saw cleaners in orange clothing.

The car stopped at the entrance of the City's Hospital. Isabelle paid the driver, and got out of the car. She walked straight into the department of gynecology and obstetrics. She got a number and waited in line for about half an hour before she saw a doctor. She immediately requested for a B-scan, and then she waited for another half an hour until she could enter the operation room.

After the check up, Isabelle fixed her clothes and sat on a chair in the hall, as she waited for her results. That's when her phone rang.

Isabelle thought it'd be Madam Mary asking where she was. Because she didn't want them to know that she was at the hospital, she wasn't in a rush to pick it up. Instead, she walked to a quiet restroom at the end of the hospital before pulling out her phone. In the end, the name of the phone screen turned out to be Aunt.

Isabelle let out a deep breath, tapped to take the call, brought the phone to her ear, and said in polite and soft voice, "Auntie."

"Izzy, you're awake?" Mrs. Williams's voice was extremely energetic.

She paused for a moment, and asked, "Have you been busy recently?"

"It's been all right..." Isabelle paused for a moment, and asked, "How is James recently?"

"James is great. He can now get out of bed and walk, and his speaking is more coherent. It won't be long before he can come home to rest." When she mentioned her son's recovery, Mrs. Williams sounded incredibly happy.

Isabelle wanted to be happy for James, but in that precise moment, she couldn't be happy no matter what. All she could do was force herself to summon her enthusiasm, and say, "I'm really happy that James is awake."

"Izzy.." Mrs. Williams called out Isabelle's name, as though she had suddenly thought of something. She paused for a moment, and said in a very serious tone, "Izzy, thank you so much during for being here. If it weren't for your help in upholding the Williams family and Davis family's marriage, the family's assets, who knows what would have been left of the Williams family."

"It's nothing, really..." That's right. How could she forget? The whole reason her and Alexander were able to be together was all for an act... The corners of Isabelle's eyes were a little dry. She raised her head to push back the tears, and said, "Auntie, this was something I had to do. James has always treated me well. I can't not care about him."

"Izzy, you're a good girl. Aunt and uncle really like you." When she said those words, a hint of guilt surfaced in her heart, as Isabelle had no clue that it was her who killed her child. Yet, there was no other way.

Who allowed for the child in her to be Alexander's child? What's more, the baby was under James's name, that's why the kid couldn't come to this world!

Mrs. Williams closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Then she said in a particularly relaxed tone, "But Izzy, don't worry. The doctor said that after one week, James will be able to come home to rest. By then, you won't have to act with Alexander any longer.

"He even called me a few days ago to ask when would be the earliest time James would be discharged. He'd had enough of living a double life. Perhaps he'd like to get out of it as soon as possible. I believe you and him must be tired from acting as husband and wife, right? But, that's all right. You'll be free real soon."

Isabelle didn't hear a single word of what Mrs. Williams said after. Her mind whirled over the words: Alexander called me a few days ago to ask when would be the earliest time James would be discharged. He'd had enough of living a double life. Perhaps he'd like to get out of it as soon as possible....

It was like there was something stuck in Isabelle's throat. After using a lot of energy, she said in a gentle tone, "Auntie, if there's nothing else, let's leave it here for now. I have some matters to attend to. I'm hanging up now."

"Alright, Izzy. Take care of yourself."

"Mm, I will. Thanks and goodbye, Auntie." Isabelle hung up the phone. She stood in the restroom for quite a long time before she washed her face and wiped it clean. She then walked out into the hall, refreshed.

The check up results she'd just done were out. Isabelle carefully flipped through the results one by one to look for hers. On the second to last sheet, she pulled out her results, and went to see the doctor in their office.

Isabelle followed the doctor's signal and took a seat. She handed the results to the doctor, who took a quick glance, and asked "You've had an abortion?"

With one question, Isabelle's fingers tightly grasped onto the bag, and she gently nodded.

The doctor pointed at the scan on her results, and said to Isabelle, "The abortion was very successful. The uterus doesn't have any blood clots anymore, nor are the walls of the uterus any longer thin, but you must rest. Within the next six months, don't get pregnant."

Isabelle wore a smile, as she nodded to the doctor's orders. Then she got up, collected her check-up results, and said goodbye.

When she left the doctor's office, a young woman happened to walk past her. The young woman was on the phone, probably calling her husband. She said that she was over two months pregnant. The pregnant woman was probably quite pampered, as the tone of her voice sounded spoiled.

Isabelle glanced at the woman's belly. It was still quite flat. She instinctively rubbed her own belly. When her child was aborted, she was also two months pregnant. Her belly was the same as that woman's. You couldn't see that there were any signs.

Wait... If she had no idea that she was pregnant, how would Alexander know?

That night, she was just sleeping in York Garden. The next day, when she woke up, she was still in York Garden. There was only ten hours in that time period. And within those hours, she lost her child...

Alexander signed the abortion papers, the bank transfer logs were on that nurse's phone, the follow-up report in Alexander's wallet, and now the B-scan in her hands... If one was a coincidence, the second could also be a coincidence, then what of the third and fourth? Were they all coincidences?

Alexander clearly knew that she was pregnant, yet she had had the abortion. The next day, Madam Mary told her that her period came... Alexander sure is something! Everyone knew the truth, besides her - the mother!

Isabelle's eyes filled with tears again. She hurriedly walked out of the hospital block, around the back, and continued into an ally. She walked until there was practically no one around. Then, like the burst of a balloon, she crouched down and wailed.

Since yesterday morning, when she saw his signature on the abortion papers, until now, when she changed hospitals to confirm her abortion... In these twenty four hours, she had been fighting back her own emotions. Now, she could finally let herself go.

She was full of hatred. She hated how ruthless Alexander actually was. She also hated herself for not immediately realizing that she was pregnant... But if she had immediately realized it, would Alexander still want the baby?

Just now, Auntie even said it... Alexander called her to ask when was the soonest James would be discharged... soonest...

How could she forget? It was just an agreement between the two of them. It wasn't like they were a real married couple... At first, they agreed that neither of them was allowed to disturb the other, and for a life to suddenly grow in her belly, let alone the fact that the child would be under James's name, that was definitely a lot of trouble.

His first thought of not wanting the baby was normal... She was just too in character. She actually forgot that everything was fake. With James now awake, they were destined to break up. If he didn't want anything to do with her, then why would he allow for her to give birth to his child? Isabelle didn't know how long she cried for, but it felt like no more tears could fall any longer. She calmed herself down and slowly got up off of the floor. She looked all around her to realize that she had actually ran off to the entrance of the hospital's morgue. No wonder no one had walked by for quite some time.

Isabelle pulled out some wipes from her bag, and also grabbed her phone to use as a mirror. She wiped the tears from her face, and was ready to put her phone back into her bag when a call came through...

~*~

Just when Alexander was rather deep asleep, he woke up to the unusually bright sunshine from the windows. He raised his arm to shield himself from the light. As he turned his head, he saw that there wasn't anyone on the other side of the bed.

He furrowed his brows, but didn't mind too much. He assumed Isabelle just went downstairs when she woke up, and so he pulled his covers off and walked into the bathroom. He got a quick shower and put on some random clean clothes when he came out.

Out of habit, when he walked out of the changing room, he patted his trouser pocket, and realized it was empty. Then he remembered that his wallet was still in his clothes pocket from yesterday, so he picked up his trousers from the dirty laundry basket. He felt around for his wallet and strode out of the door.

Suddenly, he remembered that he had shoved the follow-up results into his wallet yesterday, so he walked into the bathroom and pulled the paper out from his wallet. He ripped it up and chucked it into the bin, before he relaxed and walked down the stairs.

Madam Mary had already made breakfast. Seeing Alexander come downstairs, she was unusually happy when she said, "Good morning, Mr. Smith."

"Morning," replied Alexander lazily. He walked into the dining room, and saw that the room was empty. He then asked, "Where's Missus?" Madam Mary stared at him oddly. "Missus hasn't woken up yet?"

Alexander furrowed his brows. "When I woke up, Missus had already gotten up."

Madam Mary made an "Ah" sound, then searched the entire mansion up and down, but in the end, she still couldn't find Isabelle. She also ran to the floor-to-ceiling window to look at the garden outside for her. Before she could say "It seems like Missus isn't home" to Alexander, he had already pulled out his phone and dialed her number.

~*~

When Isabelle saw who the call was from, her emotions were all over the place. After a while, she picked up the call. Before she could speak, Alexander asked, "Isabelle, where did you go?"

Isabelle lowered her eyes, and lied in her usual gentle voice, "I went to see James."

Alexander's lips pursed tightly when he heard those words. After a while, he said "How's James?"

"Much better." Isabelle thought about Mrs. Williams's words, and added, "After another week he can be discharged."

Alexander didn't linger on the topic of James for long, giving a light "mm". He naturally changed the topic. "Will you come home soon?"

"No, Camila will come pick me up to the set."

"Mm." Alexander then said, "Then both of you take care."

"I will," replied Isabelle obediently, as she usually would to his care. Her voice was so gentle, it made people soften up. "I'm hanging up. Bye."

"Bye," replied Alexander. Just as he was ready to hang up, he heard her say, "Alexander..."

He didn't say a word but put the phone back to his ear. After a few seconds of silence, she added, "There's a new movie out on Friday. How about we go watch it together?"