After the meal, it was 3 pm in the afternoon, Isabelle left in James's car.

James turned and pointed to his lips that were still bruised. "Izzy, I've done so much for you this time. My brother even punched me thinking that I had an affair, and now I have to bear the title of an unfaithful man..."

James suddenly paused. He lifted his head to look into the mirror before turning to face Isabelle. "Izzy, do you think i look good with the scar?"

Yesterday, when he came out of the washroom, he had bumped into Helen. At that time, he was tending to his wound, so when he caught sight of her, he turned, facing her with the unscarred side of his face. He thought that she would brush past him, acting as a stranger, but she suddenly stopped, before walking in front of him.

Lifting her hands, she straightened his face to study the side that was bruised before chuckling. "Pssh! Hahaha! You look so much better like that!" Releasing his face, she entered the washroom.

Isabelle replied simply, "No."

"Not good?" James asked persistently before staring into the mirror once more. "I think I look good though..."

"..." Isabelle lifted her eyes, ignoring James, before adding shortly after, "James, thank you."

James, who was still examining his scar, suddenly turned serious. "Izzy, whatever I said just now was just a joke, I never took it to heart..."

"I know." Curling her lips into a smile, she continued, "But still, thank you."

~*~

Alexander sat in his chair, finally able to calm down after the frantic day. Reaching for his phone out of habit, he scrolled through the long list of notifications, realizing that there weren't any news from Isabelle.

After visiting the Williams family she didn't say anything?

Just when he was about to send her a text, an incoming call came in.

Isabelle was calling.

Without hesitation, Alexander received the call. "Hello."

Before the call could even ring, Alexander had already picked up. There was a moment of silence before Isabelle asked, "Are you done with your work?"

Without even glancing at the documents that had piled into a mini hill on his desk, Alexander replied, "I'm done."

Without even glancing at the documents that had piled into a mini hill on his desk, Alexander replied, "I'm done."

Not pausing, he asked, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing..." Isabelle seemed to have something to say but held it in. She hesitated before replying, "Alexander, if you aren't busy, you can come to the restaurant on the top floor of Hyatt hotel. I'll treat you to dinner."

"Sure, I'll come right now."

After he hung up, he grabbed his jacket and rushed out the door, not even bothering to turn off his computer.

Just then, Alexander's assistant came to look for him. Before he could knock on the door, it was yanked open violently, scaring him backwards. He hurriedly greeted, "Mr. Smith."

Alexander ignore him, taking large strides to the elevator.

His assistant trailed behind. "Mr. Smith, you have a dinner today..."

Alexander entered the elevator. Lifting his head, he interrupted, "I haven't switched off my computer, help me do that and remember to close the windows, it might rain."

Before giving his assistant any opportunity to speak, he closed the elevator door, descending.

-

Since it was knock off time, the streets were littered with cars. In the end, Alexander gave up, using the public bus lane.

Even so, it was 7 pm when he finally reached Hyatt hotel.

Alexander hurriedly parked his car before rushing to the main hall. He took the elevator all the way to the top floor. Without waiting for the waitress to ask, he reported the details, "Table 116, Miss Davis."

Hyatt hotel's top floor restaurant was a rotating restaurant. In the middle of the room was a stage and a girl dressed in a ball gown sat there in front of a piano, playing a melodious tune. The surrounding tables were all facing the window.

After Alexander walked around the stage, he saw Isabelle sitting alone in a two people table, her head titled sideways as she looked out the window. He bypassed the waitress and headed straight to her. When he was about five meters away, he paused.

He had spotted two large suitcases beside her.

The waitress who was left behind walked to Isabelle's table. She turned to look at Alexander who was three meters away before speaking politely, "Mister, this is your seat."

Isabelle turned in the direction of the waitress's voice. When she saw Alexander, she waved at him. "Alexander."

Alexander's gaze moved from the suitcases, and he walked towards her with uncertainty and confusion. He turned to look at her, trying to decipher her mood.

Why did she bring two suitcase when she asked him out for dinner? Was she in shock because of James's affair? Was she preparing to leave? Was this meal her farewell to him?

When Isabelle saw Alexander's dazed expression, she raised her hand, waving it in front of him. "Hey, Alexander, stop dreaming! Sit down!"

Alexander came back to his senses. He nodded lightly, his glance still focused on Isabelle. After about two seconds, he pulled his chair to sit down.

"I waited for half an hour! I'm starving, hurry and order something." Isabelle rested her jaw on one hand and pushed the menu to Alexander with the other.

Alexander continued to stare at Isabelle, not touching the menu.

Isabelle waited a while longer before grabbing the menu back out of hunger. She turned to the waitress at the side, ordering four dishes and one soup.

The waitress repeated her order before asking, "Would you like anything to drink?"

In the past, Isabelle would either drink tea or freshly squeezed orange juice, but this time, she tilted her head to the side to ponder. Without asking Alexander, she said, "One bottle of red wine, Château Lafite Rothschild."

"Sure, give me a minute." The waitress left politely after recording their order.

She was actually drinking.... Her mood must be worse than it seemed...

Alexander licked his lips. Just when he was about to call her, the conversation from the table behind them flitted over. "Have you heard? Isabelle was dumped by James."

Alexander's heart fell. He scanned the surroundings, not daring to look at Isabelle, afraid to see tears or sorrow on her face.

Isabelle heard the conversation as well. She turned to look at the table behind, there were three ladies who were from the business circle. Even though Isabelle wasn't close to them, they had spoken several times.

Alexander kicked the chair behind him abruptly, walking over to the table ferociously. He glared at the three of them, then snarled, "Before discussing about others, you should make sure the person isn't around."

The three ladies who were engrossed in their conversation froze in shock before looking around. When they caught sight of Isabelle behind them, they paled instantly, embarrassment clouding their faces.

Isabelle remained calm in her seat. She smiled faintly, greeting them.

The three ladies' face changed instantly, from white to green. They hurriedly greeted Isabelle and stood up to foot the bill. Without even having their meal, they left.

Alexander returned back to his seat, his entire face black. After a while, he raised his head to look at Isabelle, saying carefully, "Izzy, don't listen to their..."

Isabelle knew that her divorce would definitely bring gossip, but her conscience was clear and she didn't care what others thought.

Even when they were gossiping, she just listened with interest. She was especially entertained when their faces changed upon hearing Alexander's warning.

And in that instance, her lips were curled upwards into a smile.

She remembered the night before, when he had grabbed James by the collar, she recalled the conversation he had with his assistant that she had overheard, in that moment, tears clouded her eyes.

Alexander started to panic, but luckily the server came over with the dishes. Alexander clumsily pulled the chopsticks from the tissue, passing them over to her. "Aren't you hungry? Have some food. What do you want to eat?"

Right after he asked, Isabelle's gaze coincidentally stopped at the roast chicken. Alexander immediately placed a piece in her bowl.

The tears in her eyes flooded, streaming down into the bowl.

Alexander's hand trembled, dropping the chopsticks onto the floor. He hurriedly bent to pick them up, but the moment he touched the chopsticks, he seemed to have remembered something. He tossed them back to the ground and straightened, passing a tissue over to her.

Isabelle, who was observing him, saw his hurried and messy actions. She chuckled, reaching over to take the tissue. As she wiped her tears, she spoke with a hint of a smile. "Alexander, why did you toss the chopsticks after picking them up?"

It was only then that Alexander realized what he had done. His lips curled upwards, breaking into a faint smile as he continued to focus his gaze on Isabelle worriedly.

Isabelle took a deep breath, calming her overwhelming emotions. She picked up the wine bottle and poured into both their glasses. Passing a glass over to Alexander, she raised her own glass. "Cheers!"

Throwing her head back, she downed the glass.

Alexander swallowed his saliva before raising his glass to down the contents.

Isabelle lifted the wine bottle to refill the glasses. This time, she didn't down hers immediately. She gazed at Alexander before saying seriously, "Alexander, that glass was to thank you for what you have done recently."

"This glass, is to celebrate my return to being single." With a bright smile on her face, she gently touched her wine glass against the side of Alexander's and threw her head back to down the contents.

The second glass was to celebrate her being single... What did she mean? Alexander frowned, staring at her motionlessly.

Isabelle placed the glass down and wiped her lips. When she saw that Alexander hadn't drunk, she nudged her jaw towards his glass. "Why aren't you drinking?"

Alexander blinked, ignoring her question. "What did your words mean?"

Isabelle looked into his eyes for a few seconds before explaining, "It's as I said, James and I divorced today."

Alexander froze, disbelief clouding his eyes.

When she said that she was single again, the thought had crossed his mind, but he wasn't sure, so he had asked her. Yet he never expected her to be so open about it.

Alexander fell into a daze, seemingly shocked by her revelation. After staying motionless for about half a minute, he revealed worry with a hint of heartache on his face. Carefully, he said, "Izzy, don't be too sad...."

Recently, Alexander had been wondering, if the affair was exposed, how would he console her. In the middle of the night, he had even secretly searched online on what to say, memorizing the words. But now that he was faced with the scenario, his mind went blank. He would rather be the one experiencing her pain.

"I'm not sad.." Isabelle was indeed not sad. She was even relieved and ecstatic to be able to finally end the marriage, having only accepted the marriage to approach him, not that she would ever dare to tell him that.

To clear the misunderstanding between him and James, she paused and explained, "I was actually the one who wanted a divorce. In order to help me, he went to find Ms. Wilson...."

Isabelle was the one who initiated the divorce... Alexander froze once more, trying to process what she had just said. When he finally understood her words, a hard-to-explain happiness and excitement filled his heart.

She was the one that initiated the divorce, did that mean she didn't like James anymore?

"Basically, James and I will still be good friends in the future... What I'm trying to say is that I'm really not upset..." Isabelle emphasized once more before looking at Alexander seriously. "But Alexander, even if I'm not upset, I still want to thank you for all your care and concern."

Alexander wanted to ask why she initiated the divorce when she had spent her entire youth loving him, but he was afraid that it might stir up unhappy memories.

He concluded that his worry was unfounded as not all couples have happy endings. After spending a long time together, they might have found each other unsuitable.

Why bother to ask so much?

The most important thing was that they were divorced. Now he was allowed to love her, wasn't that the happiest part?

An unexplained happiness erupted, filling up his entire soul. He couldn't contain the excitement any longer. Trembling, and with bright eyes, he said with an undetectable trace of joy, "You're welcome."

"Hey, Alexander, shouldn't you down that second glass?" Isabelle nudged her jaw towards his glass forcefully again since Alexander remained motionless.

"Yes, yes," Alexander replied in agitation before downing the entire glass without flinching.

When he placed the glass down, he pinched himself violently in a spot she couldn't see. Sharp burning pain ran through his body, and it brightened his mood.

Alexander poured himself another glass, downing the contents to calm his excitement. Glancing over at Isabelle, he asked, "Now that you're single again, do you have any plans?"

"Plans, hmm, not yet..." Isabelle shook her head, reaching for a sweet vinegar pork rib, but before she could reach the plate, Alexander had already placed the biggest piece in her bowl.

Isabelle bent her head to munch on the pork rib. Later, lifting her head, she added, "But as for now, the most important thing would be to complete the filming for "Heaven's sword"

Alexander seemed to be reminded then that when they acted as a couple, she had climbed into his bed. Till today, he still wasn't clear about her reasons. She didn't lack money, so why did she enter the industry?

He asked, "Izzy, I never asked you before, but why did you enter the entertainment industry?"

"Because..."

Of you... Those words almost came out, but Isabelle managed to stop them in time. She munched on the pork rib a bit more before replying, "...I want to be the best screen actress."

Best screen actress would definitely be part of the best screen couple.

Back when she couldn't get close to him and could never be a real couple with him, her deepest wish was to settle for being a fake, on-screen couple.

Isabelle bit on her chopsticks while lifting her eyes to glance at Alexander. "Oh, right, didn't you ask me what I intend to do in the future? "Heaven's Sword" is just a short term goal, in the future, I want to settle down with a good man."

Hope flashed passed Alexander's eyes. He held onto her words, asking sincerely, "What do you consider good?"

'Just like you...' Isabelle thought inwardly. She continued to bite on her chopsticks. After a short while, she spoke with a bright smile on her face. "Someone who treats me well is considered good."

~*~

Even though Isabelle wanted to treat him, Alexander still managed to pay in the end.

They both pulled one suitcase when exiting Hyatt hotel. Alexander placed both suitcases in his car boot, then opened the passenger seat for Isabelle. Only after making sure she was well seated did he move to the driver seat.

After starting the car, Isabelle said, "Alexander, you can drop me off at Four Seasons hotel."

Alexander glanced at her doubtfully. She understood instantly, explaining, "I moved out from James's mansion, but I didn't want to return to Davis Mansion, and since everything had happened in such a rush, I didn't have time to find accommodation yet."

"It's not safe for a girl to stay in a hotel." Alexander paused before suggesting, "If you don't mind, do you want to stay with me?"

He was afraid that she would reject, so he added, "I have to work in the morning and I have to go out for dinners sometimes, so I don't spend much time there..."

Isabelle thought that she would probably be the one disrupting him if she stayed... She turned, and Alexander paused, his palms soaked in sweat from anxiety. This was the first time he was so proactive towards a girl.

Their gazes collided, and after a moment, Isabelle said, "If you don't mind, I won't mind either."

Alexander went blank momentarily, before joy coated his eyes. "Do you want to stay in the mansion or apartment?"

"They're both fine," she replied, reaching for her phone to cancel the hotel reservation.

The mansion out of the city was a little far and the mansion in the city was beside James's mansion... After a moment's thought, he suggested, "How about Lotus Garden? It's quite high and in the heart of the city, it'll be convenient if you need anything, and the view is pretty..."

Before he could finish his sentence, she interrupted. "Sure."