"Alexander?" Isabelle whispered puzzled. As she checked the top ten headlines, she noticed that six of them were all about Alexander. She instinctively asked, "How is he? Why does he have so many hit threads on the top searched?"

"Izzy, I really didn't want to tell you.. you say you want to mingle in the entertainment circle, right? Yet you don't even check the entertainment news!" said Camila, full of resentment. Then she continued to elaborate on how the whole situation unfolded.

"Just when your scandal reached its peak, suddenly, someone spread rumors about Mr. Smith. They said that he's the illegitimate child of the Williams Enterprise that he just acquired!

"In recent years, Mr. Smith's follower count was undefeated. On top of all this, he recently acquired Williams Enterprise, and so everyone were quick to draw their attention to something like that. As a result, the news instantly and completely killed your scandal, burying it deep away."

"Izzy, honestly speaking, after knowing Mr. Smith for so many years... I mean, he and I are considered classmates from middle high school. I've always thought he was an orphan. I never imagined that he was actually James's step brother!

"But, Izzy, whoever's behind all this against Mr. Smith, they actually went out and started talking about his mother."

After Camila said that, Isabelle had already clicked onto the top searched topics.

It was like the internet had exploded into chaos! Everyone's discussions were far more sensational than what Camila had described. After so many years, Alexander had accumulated quite a lot of fans, but of course, the more popular a person is, the more people there are who hate them.

And so, when the fans, and haters clamored together, their discussions were incredible. It was so chaotic that, in fact, marketeers and meme makers all started to jump on it, stretching out a day old piece of news. The more people talked about it, the more heated it got, and it didn't seem like it was going to simmer down.

"Izzy, I really didn't know that Mr. Smith's mother used to also be a celebrity, who starred in a few pornos, and someone put those videos up on the internet, and... His mom seemed to also be an escort... Mr. Smith is quite pitiful."

Camila was still talking on the video chat, making Isabelle's fingertips gently tremble with her words. She scrolled through the screen non-stop, looking at people trash, support, mock Alexander, and an unspeakable pain crept into her heart.

"Izzy, it's late. I have to get off now, my boyfriend is calling me to go sleep. Oh right, get in touch with Mr. Smith. He couldn't find you before, and came over to my place a few times.

"The first time he came, it looked like he hadn't slept at all. His clothes were dirty and all crumpled up. His eyes were bloodshot, and he looked particularly worse for wear. Honestly speaking, in all the years I've known Alexander, in my heart, he had always represented perfection. I've never seen him like that.

"When he saw me, he grabbed my shoulders and asked where you were, wouldn't I tell him where you were? His voice sounded... Even I felt pity for him. He was like a desperate child."

With that, Camila snorted and said "Bye bye". Just as she was going to end the video call, it seemed like she had just remembered something. She paused for a moment, then said, "Izzy, to be honest, the moment Mr. Smith came to find me, I really thought that he loved you. Like, that really really deep kind of love."

This time, when Camila finished speaking, she didn't pause at all and just hung up the video call.

With the absence of Camila's voice, the room became unusually silent.

Isabelle sat extremely quietly on the sofa. Every now and then, her fingers would swipe the iPad screen. For the most part, people said that besides having a cold personality, Alexander didn't know how to love or socialize with others. Actually, there weren't many negative points said online about him, and so the majority of the hate was drawn from his mother's scandals.

Photographs from old newspapers surfaced of her in a night club drinking with several men, and then there were also... those porn videos. Countless numbers of people shared them. It got so bad, they created memes out of some of his mother's exaggerated expressions.

Some went as far as to post comments and arguments on the topic which were unbearable to read. Even though Alexander had a strong fanbase, who would always shout positive words like "no matter what male idols do, they'll always be our male idols" and "we support you", they seemed to pale against the slander.

She knew that he was Williams family's illegitimate son, but had never known who his mother was. Nor did she know about her dark past.

Isabelle thought back to the moment she went to visit Mrs. Williams at her home. She remembered the insufferably repetitive and scornful things they said about Alexander's mother. Now that so many people online were saying such horrid things, just how awful must he be feeling?

At that thought, Isabelle wished she could hide herself somewhere nobody knew about and take the pain on her own. The pain was so unbearable, it felt like some had ruthlessly thrust a knife into her. She couldn't help but grab the home phone and try to call Alexander again, but she was still unable to connect to him.

Isabelle remembered that she saved her contacts onto a software, so she quickly tapped into the downloaded software on her iPad and looked for Alexander's assistant's number. She tried calling the number but his phone was off. She used to live in York Garden, so she had the number already saved on there. She tried calling but there was no answer.

Isabelle was about to call another number when she glanced at the time on her iPad. It was half past three in the morning. With it being so late at night, everyone was probably asleep.

She put down the phone drearily. Having ran out of the hospital, she felt particularly unwell, yet she still wasn't the least bit sleepy. Every now and then, she'd refresh the app on her iPad. The more she looked, the more stifled her heart felt. The feeling was far more unbearable than when she was harassed.

In the end, Isabelle threw her iPad aside to stop the pain. However, she was so distracted that eventually, she angrily kicked her leg up, causing the iPad to fall off the bed. Then she hugged the pillow, and sat in a daze in a corner of the bed.

The rim of her eyes started to grow red for no reason, and she couldn't help but raise her head and take a deep breath. Her eyes wandered onto the porcelain doll on the shelf that Alexander had gifted her this year on her birthday.

Isabelle threw her pillow, climbed out of bed, and walked towards the shelf. She stretched her arm out and lightly rubbed the red lips and white teeth. The doll was a small, white porcelain doll with a tender smile, which only made her feel even more pained. She couldn't help herself and reached with her hands towards the shelf and grabbed for the doll. She didn't know if it was because her body was weak or if it was because she hadn't gotten a good hold, but the porcelain doll accidentally fell from her fingertips.

"Pa-la-". The porcelain doll shattered onto the hard floor, breaking into tiny sharp pieces that spread far and wide.

Isabelle froze on the spot for half a minute, with her hand suspended in the moment she grabbed for the doll, before she realized what she had done. Her long eyelashes flickered for a moment, and then she crouched on the ground. She stared at the big and small shards in a panic and at a loss.

Her fingertips trembled for a long while, before she hastily reached her hand out to pick the shards up one by one. She tried to piece the doll back to how it looked originally.

However, the shards of porcelain had shattered so bad, Isabelle simply didn't know where the pieces fit. With one careless move, she accidentally cut her finger on a sharp edge of a shard. As the blood gushed out, she didn't feel any pain, nor did she stop picking up the pieces. When she picked up the largest piece, she saw a plastic tube with a roll of paper inside among the shattered pieces.

Isabelle furrowed her brows and without conscious thought picked up the piece of paper.

It was a good quality paper and particularly thick. With one pull, the paper unfolded itself. Then, Isabelle saw that the paper was heavily filled with words.

With just one look, she immediately recognized that it was Alexander's bold and cursive handwriting that looked natural and fluid.

"First year. The first time we met, she wore a school uniform; a white shirt and blue skirt. In the height of autumn, she had a pink bike, and a blushing face.

Second year. Rainy days weren't the most beautiful thing, finding shelter under the roof with her was.

Third year. I left half the maths test blank, so I could be her classmate.

Fourth year. I gave her a birthday present with the words 'Shmily' carved on the back. Who knows if she noticed...

Fifth year. I gave up on my dream of attending a prestigious university. I gave up all plans of living an ordinary life to go to NY for her."

As Isabelle read this part, her hands, which were still holding the paper, started to tremble as she faintly understood what she was reading. The fog beneath her eyes began to coalesce.

"Sixth year. With her single careless step closer, I smelled the soft smell of her hair. It made me stay up all night.

Seventh year. I gave up a monumental, career-changing opportunity for her.

Eighth year. I slept in the same room with her. It was the first time I kissed her and the same year I was awarded my first achievement award. I rushed to her overnight to find that she was engaged to someone else.

Ninth year. I started smoking because of her. I smoked and drank the whole night, alone in my room. I cried for her all night."

A single tear slowly fell onto the paper, smudging the dry, black ink.

"Tenth year. On many occasions, I secretly hid in a corner as I watched her back a few times.

Eleventh year. After having seen thousands of different women, I always subconsciously compare them to her, and she's always the best of them all.

Twelfth year. All alone, I silently feel pain when she hurts, and happy when she is so.

Thirteenth year. I made the best decision of my life... to cross paths with her once again."

Isabelle forcefully bit onto her bottom lip, tears falling hysterically one after the other.

"After we met again...

I secretly made countless confessions and signals that I didn't dare let her know.

You like rainy days too?

Paper, Scissors, Rock.

I am only happy with you.

I actually didn't want to love her... But... I couldn't do it, I couldn't convince myself to let go."

Finally, Isabelle couldn't hold in her cry any longer and wailed with every image stitched back together in her mind.

His assistant went to her room to tell her that he hadn't eaten dinner yet, and suggested she go over and bring him something to eat. That night was the very first time there was a good atmosphere between them. She stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows and said in a cheerful voice that it was raining. He asked her, do you like rainy days too?

At Jake's party, she didn't want to be punished, and so knowing the flaw in his play, she beat him one game after the other in rock, paper, scissors. She never imagined that Paper, Scissors, Rock, 5,2,0, was the world's most beautiful confession with hand signs.

When he shot scenes with her, the way he looked into her eyes when he said, 'I am only happy when I'm with you'... She thought that he was saying 'This year was only happy because it was spent with you'. She had never dared to hope those words were for her to hear.

At his villa, they slept together one night. They'd slept innocently together, as she laid in the bed and he slept on the sofa, in poor health. That night, she was so upset when she asked if he'd continue to love the married woman, to which he replied, 'I actually didn't want to love her... But... I couldn't do it, I couldn't convince myself to let go.'

Isabelle raised her hand and casually wiped away the tears, so she could continue reading.

"She has a beautiful name.

Isabelle."

At the very end, there was another line. "Izzy, I love you. I've loved you for thirteen years."

It was like Isabelle had lost all the strength in her body, falling limp on the ground. With a "waaa", she started wailing like a child.

In her previous dreams, she would wonder what she would do if Alexander fell in love with her one day. In her dreams, she was so sure she'd be in joyful bliss.

But now that her dream came true, she realized that the only way she could release the complicated emotions in her heart was to cry them all out.

She loved him too. She never knew that between the two of them, there were so many misunderstandings.

She liked rainy days, because of him.

She worked hard to go up a class, because of him.

She studied her hardest to get into a prestigious university, also because of him.

She joined the entertainment circle, also because of him.

She agreed to marry James, also because of him...

There were so many missed chances between them. It looked like they weren't fated for each other, but their mutual love was the strongest sign on earth.

They actually tried their best to love one another, but they didn't have the courage to tell each other "I love you".

Isabelle gripped harder onto the paper, as she cried so hard her whole body shivered.

The only thing that could be heard in the silent room was the endless echoes of her cries.

Isabelle didn't know how long she cried for, but she cried and cried until she came to a sudden stop. Then, like an idiot, her crying face started to smile. She suddenly got up from the floor and rushed into the changing rooms. After changing her clothes, she fumbled for a bit and rushed out.

She had to go find him.

She had to go find him now.

She wanted to say to him "Alexander, what a coincidence... I've loved you for thirteen years too".