Every man has a dream and that is to be successful in the business world, and James was no exception. Ever since he was young, he knew that marrying was the best deal in the world.

A business marriage would bring benefit to both parties, so only a fool would miss out on it.

But now that Isabelle had asked him the question, he paused, not understanding his own hesitation. Deep inside, he felt guilty though, since Helen's face floated into his mind. After about five seconds, he shook his head, chasing her face out of his mind.

"Of course, I'll definitely find a girl with a suitable background to marry."

James's words were resolute, as if they were trying to convince him as well.

Just then, his phone rang—it was from his driver. James stood up and looked at Isabelle. "Let's go, the driver is here."

Isabelle grabbed her bag, following behind James out of the area.

Not far from the bench they had sat, in a spot they didn't notice, stood Sophia. Her face was pale, her expression dazed.

She stood stationary for a long while before her senses returned.

The originally crowded park quietened as all the children left for home. When there was barely anyone left, she moved her stiff body, walking towards the bench that they had sat on, the conversation between Isabelle and James floating in her mind.

The James with the bandaged face was actually Alexander, which meant that before James's face recovered, Isabelle had been the wife of Alexander and not James.

It was no wonder Isabelle had a photo of herself and Alexander sleeping together.

Just a moment ago, Isabelle had been discussing her divorce with James... This meant that James never liked Isabelle and she never liked him....

When Sophia was young, in order to escape the marriage with James, she had misled Mrs. Williams into thinking that James liked Isabelle, causing her to choose Isabelle as the marriage candidate. She had been guilty for many years until she saw them happily married...

She thought that Izzy had been confused and so had even given Alexander the voice recorder, even disrupting him several times to leave Isabelle alone.

But she had been wrong all along.

But why didn't Izzy tell her such a big secret?

And if she hadn't harmed Izzy all those years ago, would she have been the one to act as Alexander's wife?

In the end, she had been the one who gave away the opportunity to be with Alexander...

~*~

Alexander's assistant waited outside his office for a long while, but his superior remained inside, so he glanced at the time and knocked on the door. The room remained silent, and after a moment of hesitation, he pushed the door open.

Alexander sat on his chair with a cup of coffee in his hands, seemingly in deep thought. He didn't seem to have noticed his assistant enter the room at all.

The assistant stood for a while before calling out, "Mr. Smith."

After about five seconds, Alexander turned his head slowly. "What's wrong?"

"It's almost ten, are you going to leave?"

Alexander sipped the coffee out of habit, realizing that it had long gone cold. Placing the cup down, he wiped his face with a palm, replying, "Okay."

He stood up to grab his jacket before leaving the office.

His assistant glanced at the computer that was still switched on and the wallet next to it. He reminded, "Mr. Smith, your computer is still on."

Alexander turned. "Oh," he murmured, returning to his desk to hurriedly switch the computer off.

The assistant wondered, what exactly did Miss Sophia say to Mr. Smith? He didn't seem to be in the right state of mind... He pondered it for a bit before picking the wallet, not bothering to remind Alexander.

-

Once they were out of the car park, the assistant looked at Alexander through the rear view mirror. He recalled that they had been going to York Garden for the past few nights, so he asked, "Mr. Smith, are you heading to York Garden?"

Alexander stared out at the window, replying with a faint "Yea",

The lights from the street lamp spilled across his face, blurring his expression.

After a while, the assistant passed the wallet over. "Mr. Smith, you forgot about your wallet."

Alexander paused, reached over, and stuffed it into his pocket before returning to gaze outside.

The car stayed silent. After about ten minutes, Alexander suddenly asked, "If you found out that your wife had a close male friend, what would you do?"

The assistant wanted to reply with 'My wife wouldn't be close to another man' but once he saw Alexander's serious expression, he decided to reconsider his response. After wrecking his brain with the question, he replied with an exaggerated expression, "I would be angry, then upset."

"Then.. would you quarrel with her?"

"Not initially, but I would find her for a talk." The assistant paused before adding, "But if my wife continued to find the man after our talk, I would quarrel and worse, I would divorce her."

"Oh," Alexander replied. He then asked, "If you parents knew about it, how would they react?"

First, he wanted him to think of his wife having an affair and now he wanted him to think of how his parents would react? The assistant was at a loss, but he still replied instantly.

"Well, the older generation would definitely make a fuss about it. If they liked her, it would be easier, but if they didn't like her, the situation would become tense and complicated."

"Oh," Alexander muttered, and then stayed silent.

The assistant was confused by Alexander's questions, why would he suddenly ask about his family matters?

Through the rear mirror, he glanced over and asked, "Mr. Smith, what made you so curious?"

Alexander remained silent.

His assistant spoke again. "Mr. Smith, are you going to invest in a family drama?"

Alexander continued to stay silent.

This time, his assistant remained silent as well, glancing at him through the rear mirror occasionally.

Alexander frowned, his expression not moody but with a hint of dilemma instead... What exactly did Miss Sophia say to Mr. Smith?

The assistant started feeling curious, but just as he was wrecking his brain for an answer, Alexander suddenly asked, "Is there a deal in Hong Kong the day after tomorrow?"

"Yes, Mr. Smith." The topic changed so fast the assistant could barely catch up .After a short pause, he added, "Mr. Wang is going to Hong Kong tonight regarding the contract."

In a faint voice, Alexander said, "Inform him that he doesn't need to go."

"Huh?" the assistant asked.

Just then, Alexander added, "Book two tickets to Hong Kong, we'll go to settle the deal."

Alexander was meant to go for the deal, but yesterday afternoon, he had forced it on Mr. Wang. Now, out of a sudden, when Mr. Wang was already in the airport, he suddenly changed his mind...

The assistant called Mr Wang uncertainly.

After hanging up the call, he booked the flight tickets. "It's at 11 pm, we'll make it if we head to the airport now. I'll get the hotel in Hong Kong to settle our clothes."

Alexander replied with a light "Yea". Just then, his phone rang, and he looked into the screen out of habit, realizing that it was a message from Isabelle. [Still working?]

Alexander unlocked his phone. He was about to reply but then hesitated slightly; he deleted the response and placed the phone face down beside him.

~*~

When Alexander and his assistant were going through the security checks, Alexander emptied his pockets, placing everything necessary in the provided basket.

When Alexander was about to pass the security gates, he heard his phone ring. His steps paused slightly, but in the end, he ignored it, passing through the gates.

After the security checks, Alexander stuffed the items he had emptied back into his pockets, deliberately leaving his phone the last. Originally, he hadn't wanted to look, but in the end, he couldn't keep it in and glanced at the screen. Indeed, there was an unread text, Isabelle had sent him a question mark.

Alexander stared at the screen, his throat tightening. He lowered his lashes, shielding the emotions that flickered past his eyes. Tensing his jaw, he placed the phone back into his pocket.

When they reached the airport, they only had about half an hour before the take off time, so the air stewardess led them towards the VIP path.

When the plane played the safety video, Alexander was already seated with his seat belt fastened.

While his assistant switched off his phone, he turned to look at Alexander who remained stationary. He reminded, "Mr. Smith, you need to switch off your phone."

Silently, Alexander reached for his phone, but just before he switched it off, he once more saw the text that Isabelle had sent over.

The head air stewardess walked over with the menu. Smiling politely, she asked, "Hello sirs, would you like any drinks later?"

The assistant replied, "Two cups of coffee, thank you."

"Sure." The woman recorded the order, but just then, she saw the light from Alexander's phone. "Sir, please switch off your phone, thank you."

Alexander fingers caressed the phone screen slightly before switching it off decisively.

~*~

Isabelle curled up on the sofa, watching the television as she waited for Alexander's phone call.

As time trickled by, she started to feel impatient. She glanced up at the clock—it was about midnight but Alexander hadn't replied to her yet. Frustrated, she dialed his number, wanting to ask how he was doing.

When the call went through, an automated voice answered her. "I'm sorry, the person you have called has switched off his phone."

Switched off?

Isabelle frowned, did Alexander's phone ran out of battery?

She dialed his assistant's number instead.

Both their phones ran out of battery?

What a coincidence...

She called the office number, and yet, no one picked up.

Isabelle drummed her cheeks before tossing her phone on the sofa. She stared at the television while her thoughts ran wild.

After a seemingly long time, she fell asleep on the sofa.

But since she was curled up, she wasn't able to sleep well. Halfway through the night, she woke up to look at the time on her phone. It was already 2 am, but there were still no new notifications on her phone; he hadn't called her or replied to her text.

Isabelle stared at the phone screen in a daze, her heart empty. She rose to head to the toilet.

When she was out, as she was washing her hands, she gazed at the beautiful dress that she had deliberately worn for Alexander. Her mood fell while her fatigue disappeared.

Isabelle pulled a tissue to wipe her hands before heading to the bedroom with her phone in her hands. She laid on the bed, staring intently at the conversation she had had with Alexander. As she read every word, her heart started to ache, tears clouding her vision.

Alexander had treated her coldly in the past, but back then she wasn't as sad as she was right now.. Didn't he just miss out on a dinner? Was it necessary to be so upset?

The more she thought about it, the harder the tears streamed down.