If it was in the past and Isabelle was a far away dream, Alexander might not be as anxious as he was feeling, but now that she was in reach and there was hope, the sudden despair... was too much. Alexander had no idea how to accept that reality.

In the end, she still forsook him for James and the Williams family?

That's right, he knew that since young, they were far more important to her than him, and now that they were in trouble, she would choose to stand by them without hesitation. She wasn't even willing to hear his explanation...

Even if she didn't trust him, he still kept convincing himself not to give up.

His entire life, from his humble beginnings to now, he had never requested anything from anyone, but at this moment, the fear of losing her allowed him to throw his pride and arrogance. He started to beg. [Izzy, I beg you, can you come?]

After sending the text, he seemingly quietened, returning back to his seat and placing both hands on the table as he waited silently.

As the night fell, the street lamps started to brighten and flicker, but just like a statue, Alexander sat motionlessly.

His assistant never once interrupted him, allowing him to sit silently by himself.

When it was 2 am, the originally clear skies suddenly started to darken more, and gradually, big fat droplets started falling down.

The assistant cleared his throat. "Mr. Smith, it's raining, why don't you wait inside."

Alexander ignored him, sitting with his back straight, not leaving the seat at all.

Often, the late rain was brief and abrupt, but two minutes after the assistant had spoken, the amount of dark clouds started to increase and the rain got increasingly heavier.

The assistant hurriedly ran forward, trying to forcefully pull Alexander into the shelter.

Alexander reached out to yank his assistant away before replying forcefully, "I said that I would wait here. I'm not leaving, I will wait for her here."

The rain grew so heavy that their vision was blurred, and the both of them became drenched instantly. Regardless of how hard the assistant tried, Alexander remained firm, and in the end, the assistant couldn't hold back anymore. "Mr. Smith, it's already 2 am, Miss Davis might not come!"

Alexander clenched his lips together as sorrow clouded his eyes. Stubbornly, he clenched his teeth and forced out, "I will wait for her here."

Giving up, the assistant sighed and ran indoors to get an umbrella to shelter Alexander.

After an hour of pouring, they were both drenched, even with the umbrella.

Alexander remained on the balcony all this while. Gradually, the skies began to brighten. When the sun was finally up in the skies, the quiet city was bustling once again, the forbidden palace was crowded with tourists, Alexander's drenched clothes were already dry, and he continued to sit in his place without a moving.

Only at 10.30 am did the silent Alexander finally stand up.

After accompanying Alexander for the entire night, the assistant started to doze off while standing against the wall. When he saw Alexander suddenly leave the balcony, he woke up instantly. "Mr. Smith, where are you going?"

Alexander ignored him, taking large strides towards the door to the staircase.

The assistant followed closely behind, asking once more, "Mr. Smith, what are you going to do?"

Alexander had waited sixteen hours for her, but she didn't turn up, so now, he was going to find her.

If she wasn't willing to forgive him, that was the end and they would become strangers again, but he wanted to fight one more time. If the outcome was disastrous, he would accept it.

His assistant hesitated slightly before asking, "But, Mr. Smith, do you know where Miss Davis is right now?"

Alexander moved his lips but nothing came out. When the elevator reached the first floor, he walked out swiftly.

One he was out of Lily Pavilion, Alexander walked to his car. His assistant reached for the back seat's door out of habit, but Alexander said faintly, "I'll drive." Turning to the other side, he pulled open the car door to sit in the drivers seat.

The moment his assistant sat down, he slammed onto the accelerator, flying forward.

Alexander sped the entire ride, but just as his assistant had said, he had no idea where she was. It was a big city filled with people, so how was he supposed to find her...

But even if he couldn't find her, he was still bent on doing so. He first went back to Lotus Garden then Global Entertainment, but Isabelle was nowhere in sight. He then drove to the mall that she frequented, the coffee shop, the supermarket, the restaurant...

Ever since yesterday, Alexander hadn't eaten or slept, but he couldn't seem to feel his exhaustion as he went around the city, trying to finding her. In the end, he went to Camila's house before going to a few other of Isabelle's friends houses. In an urgent and pleading tone, he had continuously nagged at them, to please inform him if they learned of where she was. After making them save his name, he had even given them his namecard.

In the end, he headed to Davis Enterprise helplessly.

~*~

Isabelle was in a critical condition after hitting her head. The Davis parents, Sophia, and James didn't sleep the entire night, waiting anxiously outside the operating room.

Only at 1 pm in the afternoon did her condition finally stabilize, but she was still in a coma.

Sophia had a meeting at 3 pm, but since she didn't sleep the entire night, her skin looked pale and sickly and she piled on a thick layer of makeup. Grabbing her documents, she was about to enter the meeting room when her office phone suddenly rang.

It was a call from the front desk. "Miss Davis, there's a Mr Smith here that wants to see you."

Mr. Smith?

Sophia didn't know many people with the "Smith" surname, the only one seemed to be Alexander.

But then moment she thought of him, she laughed self-deprecatingly, why would Alexander look for her?

Decisively, she replied, "I'm having a meeting now, get him to leave his contacts."

When Sophia finished speaking, she wanted to hang up, but then she heard a familiar voice from the other side, "Miss Davis..."

Sophia suddenly paused what she was doing.

Alexander's assistant? Could it be that Alexander was looking for her? Why was he looking for her?

An array of skeptic thoughts instantly flashed across Sophia's mind. She paused for just ten seconds, then brought the phone back to her ear. "I'm on my way down."

With that, she hung up. Isabelle then threw the documents for the meeting onto the desk and turned to leave the office. She didn't even wait for the secretary in the meeting room to speak before she throwing at her, "Push back the meeting by an hour". Then she stomped over, swiftly and decisively, towards the elevators in her high heels.

As she stepped out of the elevator, Sophia glanced over at Alexander's assistant, who stood at the entrance of the lobby.

At the sound of Sophia's high heels striding over toward him, the assistant turned his head and immediately said, "Miss Davis, Mr. Smith is looking for you."

Sophia lifted her chin up slightly and scanned all around her. With Alexander nowhere to be seen, she furrowed her brows. "Where is he?"

"Mr. Smith is waiting for you in the car outside," the assistant said.

Sophia gave a quick nod, then strode through the doors. After taking just two steps, she suddenly pointed at a nearby cafe. "If there's something he has to say, let's talk there."

"All right, I'll inform Mr. Smith."

Sophia didn't say a word, walking straight towards the cafe.

She found a quiet corner in the cafe and took a seat. Just as she ordered two cups of coffee with the baristas, she saw Alexander walk through the doors. A trace of shock instantly rose from her furrowed brows when her eyes fell on his body.

His clothes were creased up, and there were water stains from what seemed like the rain. There were circles of mud marks, his hair was a mess, and his face was pale white. He looked rather worse for wear.

In all the years Sophia had known Alexander, this was the first time she'd ever seen him like this.

From what she remembered, even during middle high, though the poor Alexander always wore his school uniform, he'd always looked clean and tidy.

What got into him? How did he end up looking so depressed?

Alexander pulled the chair opposite Sophia and sat down. He gave her a slight nod of greeting.

Sophia put away the skepticism in her heart and simply asked, "I ordered coffee, hope that's alright?"

Alexander nodded once again, paused for a moment and added, "Thank you."

"You're welcome." Sophia raised her hand and flicked her hair. Then stared at Alexander and asked, "You wanted to see me?"

"Izzy?" said Alexander the moment Sophia popped the question. With an unusually rushed voice, he then asked, "Where is Izzy? Tell me, I want to see her."

So he was looking for her because of Izzy... That's about right. She should have known... Alexander always had Isabelle in his heart. In the past, he'd used to make the effort to talk to her only to find out more about Isabelle.

If it weren't for Isabelle, why would he have made an effort to come see her?

Sophia pushed down the precarious feeling in her heart. "Why are you looking for Izzy?"

"I have something I want to talk to her about." Alexander paused for a moment and asked, "Do you know where she is right now?"

Being quick-witted, Sophia guessed that some kind of misunderstanding must have happened between Alexander and Isabelle, based on the impatient look on Alexander's face. Not only that but, he looked like he hadn't slept all night. He also looked like he was caught up in the rain last night. He couldn't have been looking for or waiting for Isabelle all that time, could he?

And yet, he didn't know that Isabelle had fallen down the stairs, that she had only come out of a critical condition just two hours ago, or that she was under heavy watch after slipping into a coma...

With that, a thought flashed across Sophia's mind. If she opened her mouth, Alexander would be able to find Isabelle.

She didn't directly answer his question, asking in a speculative way, "Did Izzy and you get into an argument because of what happened with Williams Enterprise?"

Alexander didn't answer, but the tight pursing of his lips suggested that she had guessed right.

Sophia remained quiet for about half a minute. This time, when she opened her mouth to ask him something, her tone of voice had a certain conviction to it. "You don't want to lose Izzy, so you came to find me and ask where she is. Am I right?"

Alexander still didn't make a sound.

The waiter came over with two cups of coffee.

Sophia said "Thank you" in a low voice, and waited for the waiter to leave before she stirred the coffee a little and took a gulp. Then she went on her own tangent and said, "Alexander, I can tell you where Izzy is, but you have to answer me one question."

Alexander didn't touch the coffee in front of him. He quickly nodded and agreed without hesitation the very moment Sophia's words were spoken. "Ask."

Sophia took a deep breath and said in a calm and composed voice, "I know that James woke up not too long ago and that the person who Izzy was pretending to be husband and wife with was you. I just want to ask... If I was the person James was engaged to, and you and I pretended to be husband and wife would our relationship be closer right now?"

Just as Alexander was going to answer her question, Sophia beat him to it and said, "Alexander, you know the answer I want to hear. As long as you agree, I'll tell you where Izzy is right now."

Alexander knew exactly what Sophia meant by her words. Without a hint of hesitation on his face and bloodshot eyes, which hadn't rested all night, he stared directly at Sophia, and said, "If you were the person James was going to be married to, I would have never agreed to pretend to be James."

Sophia curved the corner of her lips into a gentle smile and lowered her eyelids. She glanced over at the cup, and after a while, she lifted her head and stared at Alexander. She asked him, "Alexander, if you just say you would, then I'll immediately tell you where Izzy..."

Alexander didn't wait for Sophia to finish before getting up from his chair and saying in a dull voice, "Sorry". Then he placed two notes on the table and got ready to leave.

Seeing Alexander's actions, Sophia jumped up with him. "Alexander, did you forget why you came to find me?"

When he turned to leave, his expression didn't change.

Sophia hurriedly stretched her hand out and grabbed his arm. "All you have to do is lie to me, and you'll know where Izzy is..."

"If I had to say such flirtatious words to another woman to find out where she was, then I'll pretend as though I never looked for you." As usual, Alexander didn't give Sophia the chance to continue speaking, straight up interrupting her. "Because I don't want to become unworthy of her."

With Alexander's words, she raised her hand, and he pulled his own free from her grasp. Then, taking large strides, he walked out of the cafe.

Even if she didn't meet with him because of the Williams Enterprise incident, and even if he couldn't find her, he couldn't sully his love for her.

He hadn't cleared his name yet. If they were to get together, people who criticized him could also go and antagonize her. All he could do now was to continue loving her like before.

Even if that meant that all he could do now was to reject all the other advances in the name of her unconfirmed love.

~*~

Seeing Alexander emerge from the cafe, the assistant immediately opened the car door for him to sit inside. He hastily got in the car as well and asked with anticipation, "Mr. Smith, do you know where's Miss Davis is now?"

Alexander shook his head flatly, not saying a word.

In that instant, the anticipation in the assistant's face turned to disappointment.

The car was silent for quite sometime, until Alexander suddenly said, "Go home first."

"Then, Mr. Smith, you..."

"I'm fine, go on now." Alexander's tone sounded extremely dull, but there was a trace of insistence within it.

The assistant hesitated for a moment, but eventually nodded. He handed Alexander the keys, then got out of the car and left.

Alone in the car, Alexander sat there for a while before ultimately starting the car up and slowly driving off.

If he couldn't find her, then he would choose the silliest way possible - to wait for the rabbit to come out of the hole. Even if she hadn't forgiven him and didn't want to see him for what happened to Williams Enterprise, she still had to go back home to the Davis family, right?

He drove to the entrance of the Davis family estate and waited for her. If she turned up in a day, then he'd wait that whole day. If she turned up in forever, then he'd wait forever.

~*~

This was the second time Sophia woke up in the middle of the night to find Alexander's car outside the window.

That car has been parked at the entrance of the Davis family estate for a day and two nights. It practically never left the spot.

When the car first parked there, the doors never opened, nor did the person inside come out. If you didn't know better, you'd think it was an empty car.

If you stared at the car long enough, you'd realize that the car window would come down every so often, and a hand would stretch out, holding a cigarette.

The person in the car was just as silent as the car itself. He never disturbed anyone.

Sophia knew that the person in the car was waiting for Isabelle, who was still unconscious.

In the middle of the night, Sophia had the urge to go out once or twice, to tell Alexander that Isabelle was in the hospital.

But whenever she walked to the entrance, she would feel a little reluctant.

With him waiting there, her heart also felt just as tormented.

One morning, after the car had been parked outside the Davis family entrance for fifty six hours, it finally left.