Isabelle was still fully conscious and felt the strength in her body slowly depleting. She grew weaker and weaker, whilst panic loomed over her heart. The only thought in her mind was to send her incomplete message to Alexander.

She thought that this might be the last time she could speak to him.

Isabelle tried her best to lift her hand. She wanted to grab her phone, but the moment she moved her fingers, she was struck by a bone-piercing pain which caused every part of her body to clamor. She endured the pain and used all her strength to finally reach her phone.

However, she didn't even have the strength to lift the phone from the ground. In the end, she dragged it towards her. Just then, it lit up, yet everything before Isabelle's eyes faded to darkness and she completely lost consciousness.

After that, her phone rang with three consecutive messages - ding dong, ding dong, ding dong. The screen lit up with three messages from Alexander.

[Sorry.]

[Izzy, lets have a good talk during dinner tonight.]

[Lily's Pavillion, I will be waiting.]

~*~

There were two servants in the kitchen cooking when there was a shriek from outside. They hurriedly ran over and saw the housekeeper holding her ankle as she sat on the stairs. She gave a heart-wrenching scream, "Miss Davis", and they took notice of Isabelle with a phone in her hand lying in a pool of blood in front of the stairs.

The white floor was covered in bright red. The entire scene looked horrific.

The two servants stood there blanked out for a good three minutes, until one of them snapped back to reality and stumbled out of the house in a hurry. They ran towards James and cried hysterically, "Young master, young master! Miss Davis fell down the stairs..."

James's fingers fiercely trembled for a moment, then he chucked his half-smoked cigarette to the ground. He rushed towards the servant who called for him. The servant stood blocking the door, so he shoved him away and found Isabelle covered in red.

James's face instantly paled, and he roared like crazy at the servants who stood dumbfounded. "Ambulance! Hurry! Call an ambulance!"

Then he practically lunged himself in front of Isabelle. With his trembling fingers, he lifted her up from the ground and thoughtlessly rushed out the door.

~*~

Mrs. Williams glanced at the housekeeper, who immediately knew to raise her hand and push herself up from the ground then limp up the stairs.

Seeing the housekeeper limp up, Mrs. Williams furrowed her brows. When the woman entered the bedroom, she asked, "I never told you to do it like that. You could pretend to be injured, how did you actually go and get yourself injured?"

"When I bumped into Miss Davis, I used a little too much force and accidentally sprained my ankle."

Mrs. Williams nodded. Then, as she was about to open her mouth to speak, a knocking sound suddenly came from the door. "Madam."

Mrs. Williams sat on the bed, pretending to feel unwell and said, "Come in."

The servant handed Mrs. Williams a phone, and said in a quiet voice, "It seems like it could be Miss Davis's phone."

Seeing that the phone was covered in blood, a hint of disgust crossed Mrs. Williams's brows. She pointed at the coffee table, so as to signal for the servant to place it there.

Mrs. Williams waited for the housekeeper and the servant to leave the bedroom before she stopped pretending to look exhausted. She lifted her chin and stared out the window with eyes full of ruthlessness and ridicule.

If she hadn't seen the message on Isabelle's phone whilst she was just chatting to her, she never would have pictured that this girl and Alexander would ever really have dinner together tonight. Or that they would pretend to be husband and wife.

Tonight was Valentines day... so they were a couple?

Since Alexander retaliated so mercilessly over his child, how could she just leave it at that? How could a bastard, who was never meant to exist in this world, ever live a peaceful life?

He didn't let her be happy, nor did he let her son be happy, so he could forget about being happy himself as well!

Didn't he like Isabelle? All right... Then let him experience how it feels to be stood up by the woman he loves on Valentines day...

At that thought, the corner of Mrs. Williams's lips curved into a chilling smile, and her eyes flickered with the intention to vent her anger. She grabbed her home phone, dialed a number, and pretended to be in a state of panic as she spoke into the phone, "Sophie? It's me, your Aunt Williams... Izzy's been in an accident. When she came up the stairs just now, she bumped into Auntie Yun and fell down the stairs... James already took her to the hospital... mm... I'm really worried too. It looked really bad... I'm so sorry, for an accident like that to happen here..."

~*~

The assistant had bought Armani's newest suit in sky blue.

Alexander was quite pale. With his suit on, he looked tall and handsome, like a prince leaving the castle.

It was only half to six. There was still an hour before Alexander and Isabelle were due to meet, but his car had already stopped at the entrance of Lijing Pavilion.

To ensure that his confession was romantic and quiet, Alexander spent a lot of money to book the top floor. When the elevator reached it, the usually bustling Lily Pavilion was particularly quiet.

The manager escorted Alexander towards the private room he had prepared for him in advance. As he pushed open the wooden door, he walked around the room and pulled open the curtains to reveal the shimmering night view through the floor-to-ceiling windows.

The weather on this year's Valentines day was exceptionally good. The stars glistened in the skies, as the moon glowed brightly and the lights from the forbidden city burned splendidly nearby. With the swaying candle lights from the terrace, the scene all around radiated beauty. The aroma from the fresh flowers sent this morning filled the air.

The manager escorted Alexander in, then retreated. As Alexander walked up to the terrace, he obeyed common etiquette of the man being on the left and the woman on the right. He sat in the seat on the left, between the large European marble table, the delicate Chinese bellflowers, and the swaying candlelight. He stared at the empty seat in front of him, and his heart started to pound.

He raised his wrist and glanced at the time. It was already six forty three. There were forty seven minutes until Isabelle was due to arrive.

Alexander shut his eyes and looked calm in his seat as he prepared his lines. He mulled over them once more, his hands intertwined in his lap. Because of the sheer force of his grip, his bulging knuckles revealed the nervousness he felt inside.

Seeing how nervous Alexander was, the assistant, who stood on the side side, wanted to help release some pressure and said, "Mr. Smith, the setting you planned is incredibly romantic."

Alexander ignored the assistant's words.

The assistant then added, "Mr. Smith, in all the time I've known you, I never knew you had such a romantic side!"

Finally, Alexander lifted his head and admired the scene around him. Perhaps to relieve his nerves, he took a deep breath, and replied in a dull tone, "I'm only romantic for Izzy."

"Mr. Smith, have you thought about what you're going to do when Miss Davis arrives?"

"I want to first apologize for this afternoon, then let her listen to the recording pen..." As he said that, Alexander pulled out the recording pen from his pocket and put it within reach on the table.

While going through the process, he actually became less nervous, and his tone of voice sounded a lot smoother and more composed, "After Izzy listens to the contents of the recording pen, she'll probably be really hurt, as she probably never imagined that the elder she had respected for so many years would trat her in such a way. So I'll comfort her for a while.

"Then, I'll call the manager to serve the food. Izzy and I will have drinks to celebrate Valentines day..." When he said that, Alexander secretly envisioned the entire scene playing out.

Once she finished saying her wishes, the multicolored lights that he prepared all around them would light up the words he wanted to tell her.

After she read all his messages, he'll earnestly stare into her eyes and convey how he felt about her.

If she accepted, he'd love her right. If she declined, he'd still love her right, until she was moved by his sentiment and accepted him.

At that thought, the corner of Alexander's lips curved into a gentle smile, which made his handsome complexion grow seemingly softer.

The assistant by his side fantasized, saying, "After Miss Davis accepts Mr. Smith's confession, you'll have to find a good date to propose to her. After the marriage, you could both have a beautiful baby..."

Though Alexander knew that he hadn't even started his confession, when filled with the thought of something so far, his mind couldn't help but imagine what was just mentioned. With just that one thought, the picture had already made him brim over with happiness.

After a long while had passed, Alexander lifted his wrist and glanced over at the time. It was already seven twenty five. He cleared his throat and said, "There's five minutes until Izzy arrives."

As his final syllable dropped, a hint of anticipation surfaced in his heart. Even the assistant standing on the side randomly grew anxious.

Time passed so slowly. It was just five minutes, but Alexander felt like it was as long as a century. Finally, the hand reached the half way point, but Isabelle still hadn't appeared.

It was just about the time they said they'd meet, so perhaps she was a little late. Alexander waited in his seat understandingly.

Tick tock. Tick tock. Time went by.

At seven forty, Alexander told himself, Isabelle was stuck in traffic.

At seven fifty, he told himself, she was stuck in traffic.

At eight, the assistant told him that Miss Davis was probably stuck in traffic, as it was Valentines day after all. There were a lot of people out and about.

The night view grew darker, the stars became clearer, and the lights of the forbidden city turned brighter, while the flames from the burning candles on the table danced higher.

The night view grew darker, the stars became clearer, and the lights of the forbidden city turned brighter, while the flames from the burning candles on the table danced higher.

Time was everlasting while waiting, and Alexander started to throb with anxiety. Eventually, they gradually subsided to nothing, and those feelings were replaced with restlessness and worry.

Alexander sat under the romantically decorated scene with a notably majestic air about him. However, the expression on his face started to grow tense.

A hint of impatience emerged in the assistant's heart, as he incessantly raised his wrist to check the time. At twenty past eight, he finally couldn't help himself but break the tension in the air. "Mr. Smith, do you want to call Miss Davis? Perhaps something has happened to keep her back."

Alexander gave a gentle nod, then pulled out his phone and called Isabelle.

The sound doot-doot-doot rang in his ear over and over again, until the voice of the customer service lady said, "I'm sorry, the person you are trying to reach is currently unavailable."

"What's wrong? Miss Davis didn't pick up?" Following his question, the assistant glanced over at Alexander, whose eyes had become colder, and so he hurriedly changed his tone. "Perhaps Miss Davis didn't hear it."

Alexander forcefully pursed his lips, trying to call Isabelle again. He didn't know how many times he repeated this, but with every call, it would always end with the customer service lady's automated response.

The atmosphere on the terrace grew increasingly more tense.

Under the shimmering multicolored lights, the assistant noticed that Alexander wore no expression on his face whatsoever. There wasn't even the slightest hint of fear in his heart. The assistant, who stood to one side, didn't dare take a deep breath, as he saw Alexander ceaselessly try to call her.

At nine o'clock, a sudden knock was heard from the doors of Lily Pavilion.

Only then did the assistant secretly let out a sigh of relief. With hints of surprise, he first said to Alexander, "Miss Davis has arrived". He followed with a response to the knock, "Come in."

As the doors opened, Alexander abruptly stood up from his seat and stared directly towards the door. But when he saw that it was just the Lijing Pavilion's manager who had entered, his hand subconsciously grabbed the back of the chair.

"Mr. Smith, it's already nine o'clock. Excuse me sir, but shall we start preparing the dinner you ordered?" the manager asked politely.

Alexander lowered his eyelids and turned his head, staring silently off towards the glistening lights of the forbidden city.

The assistant was afraid that the manager would set off Alexander by asking about the dinner, and so he hastily waved at him.

The manager seemingly felt that the energy was off, and so bowed and left the room.

After the manager shut the doors, the assistant distinctly felt that the atmosphere on the terrace had grown more stifling. So much so that he didn't dare take a second glance at Alexander, who stood before the large dining table under the shimmering romantic backdrop.

Alexander stared at the lights nearby with an indescribable feeling.

Ever since the moment he fell in love with Isabelle, he had waited for the day he could be worthy of her.

Later, when he finally managed it, he found out that she was engaged to James, so he continued to wait. When he saw them split up, he allowed himself to love her.

He had waited for so many years that waiting had become a habit he no longer found painful.

However, waiting tonight made him feel a pain he had never felt before.

It was almost half past nine. Two hours had passed since the time they had agreed to meet. Did this mean that she wasn't coming?

Ah, thirteen years... Alexander had waited thirteen years for this day to finally come. He really didn't want to miss his chance before he died. He wasn't willing for them to come to such an end.

After Alexander tried to call again, he received no answer as before.

Why did she hang up the phone after picking it up just now? Was she still mad at him for acquiring Williams Enterprise? Was she still mad at him for how he had acted out in anger and left her in the afternoon?

But she picked the phone up, which meant she could check her phone... As though he suddenly saw a glimmer of hope, he hurriedly released his phone from his ear and sent her a message. [Izzy, I was in a bad mood this afternoon. I shouldn't have thrown you aside and walked off. I'm sorry.]

As he sent that message, Alexander saw the words "Message sent" appear on his screen and knew that Isabelle had already read it. So then, he quickly sent another. [Izzy, I know you can see my messages. I'm still waiting for you at Lily Pavilion. Come and we'll talk, okay?]

In the end, he never received a reply to the messages he sent. Alexander held his phone and waited for a while before trying to call Isabelle again. Still no one answered, so he sent another message. [Izzy, I'll wait here until you come.]

After waiting for an extensive amount of time, Alexander sent another message. [If you don't come, I'll still be waiting.]

With this message sent, Alexander raised his phone and rubbed it against his face. Then he straightened himself up and stood in front of the fence of the terrace, staring at the lights far away.

He didn't know just how long he stood there for, but after some time, the phone in his palms vibrated for a moment. With hints of excitement, he brought the phone in front of him to find that it was just 10086 sending him the weather report.

Somewhat disappointed, Alexander let his arm hang loose.

At eleven o'clock, the manager of Lily Pavilion came over to tell Alexander that it was time to turn off the lights.

The assistant glanced over at Alexander, who stood stubbornly in front of the terrace fence without moving an inch. He made a hand gesture at the manager and walked out of the room with him. Outside, he gave the manager a figure, and requested for them to wait with them a little longer.

Perhaps it was because tonight was Valentines day, but Beijing was still quite lively even at eleven o'clock. Although they were on the top floor of Lily Pavilion, they could still hear the faint sounds of people standing on the Sky Bridge and singing.

"Do you know that I'm waiting for you? If you really care about me,

"How could you leave me to spend these never-ending nights alone..."

Waiting is the most torturous and draining thing to one's patience. After the sound of the clock striking twelve at night, the initially bustling city of Beijing instantly fell silent.

The stillness allowed Alexander to hear the crisp sound of his heart beating in panic, unease, and fear.

He was really afraid to lose her just like that...