Before dawn arrived upon the empty streets, humidity levels were high and the weather was cool. There were long intervals between cars driving past. Isabelle stood by the side of the road for an awfully long time before she could hail a taxi. Eventually, she hailed one, got in, and requested to be taken to York Garden.

When the car reached it, she paid the driver and ran out before even collecting her change.

The passcode to York Gardens hadn't changed.

The place looked as if nobody had visited it in a long time. The fallen flowers on the courtyard floor had become muddy and tattered. As Isabelle stepped on top of them, the leaves produced a crisp, crunching sound.

Isabelle opened the doors and noticed two pairs of slippers placed silently on the shoe closet; one for men, the other for women. The women one was hers, from when she had used to live here, pretending to be husband and wife with Alexander. After she left, she had left them in a bag and asked him to throw it out, but now the pair was here, back in their original spot. It looked as though the two of them were still living in the house.

The villa was completely empty, no a soul in sight. Just like before, there was a layer of dust on the grandfather clock.

Isabelle ran up the stairs and pushed open the bedroom doors. It was pitch-black inside, and she turned on the lights in disappointment. The first thing she saw was the adult-sized teddy bear she had bought at the center of the tidy bed. She had taken all of her cosmetics with her when she left, but there, in front of the dressing table, were brand new ones of the exact same brands. Even the eyeliner was the same.

That man... though he always had a cold expression on his face, as though he didn't care about anything, when did he memorize everything she used so clearly?

Isabelle had never known that something like this could make tears suddenly fall.

As though she had an inkling of something, she walked into the changing room. She saw half of the wardrobe filled with his clothes, and the other half with the clothes she'd asked him to throw out for her. Perhaps because the wardrobe wasn't entirely filled up, or perhaps it was because he wanted to buy her clothes but had no excuse for it, there was a wall full of the latest collections from her favorite brands. The newly bought clothes still had the tags on them.

Isabelle forcefully pursed her lips and moved away to step into the bathroom. The toothpaste, toothbrush, shower gel, cleansing lotion... The things she had used for over half a year whilst living there were all back in their original places.

With her gone, he couldn't open his mouth to ask her to stay, and so like this, he stubbornly pretended that she was still here.

So it turned out that the person she loved, loved her this much as well. He was so foolish, to love her so foolishly.

~*~

When Isabelle stepped out of York Garden, the skies were already a little bright. This time, she hailed a taxi to go directly to Global Entertainment.

On her arrival, nobody had come for work just yet. There was only the night shift's security guard, who yawned and said "Good morning" to her.

Isabelle sat waiting incredibly patiently in the lobby outside of Alexander's office on the top floor.

Having been with him for over half a year, she knew that his lifestyle was very simple. He always spent long hours at the office.

From before seven in the morning to ten, everyone had come to work. All but Alexander.

Isabelle asked Alexander's secretary, but she could only tell her that he hadn't been in the office for a few days now.

Isabelle blanked out for a moment, then suddenly remembered the other villa. She thanked the secretary and rushed downstairs to catch a taxi.

When she arrived, it was already twelve in the afternoon.

Even though it was the middle of the day, the villa looked like an utopia from another world. The tranquility made you feel at peace.

Since nobody answered the door when Isabelle knocked on it, she entered the passcode that Alexander had once given her and entered the villa.

All four walls were made of floor-to-ceiling windows, which allowed for the natural sunlight to illuminate the villa with dots of light due to going through the surrounding forest.

Isabelle went up the spiral staircase, straight for the bedroom door.

As before, when no one could find Alexander, she would always be able to find him here.

This time...

Isabelle stood at the door with an indescribable sense of nervousness in her heart. She took a deep breath, then pushed open the door with trembling hands.

The bedroom was bright and clean. The bed was well made, without any signs of anyone having lain in it.

Surprisingly, Alexander wasn't their either.

Isabelle furrowed her brows as she rushed into the bedroom, scanning every detail in the changing room and bathroom. Eventually, she walked out in disappointment.

Isabelle was afraid that Alexander might be in one of those rooms, so she scanned through every one of them on the second floor.

Apart from the bedroom, other rooms only had decorated walls. There weren't even any cabinets or beds. However, the room on the far west side had a piano with a piano book on it, and a side table, which had a bunch of papers sprawled on top of it. Isabelle randomly picked one up to find that it was a pencil drawing. Though there weren't any colors, Isabelle could clearly tell that it was a drawing of her.

A flash of astonishment crossed her eyes as she flipped through all of the sheets of paper. They looked quite old and as though someone had looked through them quite a few times, as they were rough around the edges.

From the clothes in the picture, you could tell they were of her in her middle school uniform. The drawings themselves were of her doing various stuff.

There were drawings of her back, of her side profile, of her immersed in a book, of her sprawled out on the table, asleep, of her dazing outside the classroom window, and there was also one of her smiling in front of her bike...

On the bottom right corner of all the sketches, there was a small line of words that was difficult to spot if one didn't take a closer look at it. That line contained the date, the words, 'Alexander Smith', and the title: "The Woman I Love".

When did Alexander learn to draw? These drawings were all drawn whilst he was in middle school...

Isabelle suddenly remembered that when she used to often pass by his classroom, she would see him with a pencil in hand, drawing something at an alarming speed. At the time, she thought that he was just like her, randomly doodling whilst bored in class. Now that she thought about it, was he drawing her back then?

In those fleeting years of their youth, his efforts had far exceeded her expectations.

Just how much exactly did he do without her knowing about it?

The rims of Isabelle's eyes started to burn as she stared at those drawings. After a long time had passed, she neatly placed each piece of paper back onto the table, and quietly left the room.

She stepped out of the villa and stopped at the doorway. She lifted her head towards the sunshine and took a deep breath.

Alexander, just where the hell are you?

Since Isabelle had ran out of the hospital yesterday, she practically hadn't had any rest or food in her. She was already weak from her severe injury, but now, her face was pale and her entire body was drenched in sweat. She slowly sat down on the stairs in front of the villa, her head buried in her knees as she sat hugging them. Her breathing was unstable.

It was sunny in the midst of autumn. Though the sun wasn't as blazing as it was in the summer, when it shined on the body, it still felt uncomfortably warm.

Not long after, Isabelle's white delicate skin tanned till her skin tinged with light red. She wanted to stand up, but her legs hadn't the strength.

All Isabelle could do was quietly sit on the stairs with her eyes shut, and stabilize her breathing. After a long while had passed, her breathing finally went back to normal. The sun had fallen in the east by that time.

Isabelle pushed herself up with one hand on the stairs, then sluggishly walked out of Alexander's villa.

The only thing on her mind right now was where Alexander could be. She was so lost in thought that when the bus stopped in front of her, she was in such a trance, she didn't even react when the bus driver called her a few times. Then, as though Isabelle had suddenly realized something, she waved over at the bus, but it had already slowly driven further and further away.

Isabelle gloomily lowered her hand and patiently waited for another bus. At that time, she suddenly heard the sound of a car breaking in front of her. The person lowered the car window and cried out to her, "Miss Davis!"

Isabelle shot her head up to see Alexander's assistant. A hint of surprised came across her eyes, and she power walked over to the front of the car.

"Alexander, where is he?" she asked as she stuck her face through the car window and looked inside. Her head dropped in disappointment when she saw that he wasn't inside.

The assistant didn't reply to her question about Alexander's whereabouts, but got out of the car, and opened the passenger car door. "Miss Davis, get in the car first. I'll take you back to the city."

Isabelle gave a gentle nod and got into the car.

Seeing the rear view mirror that Isabelle's complexion looked like she'd been drained of blood, the assistant asked apprehensively, "Miss Davis, are you not feeling well? You don't look so well."

"It's fine." Isabelle forced a smile, shook her head, and asked, "Do you know where Alexander is? Take me to him, okay?"

The assistant ignored Isabelle's request again and handed her a bottle. "Drink some water."

Isabelle hesitated for a moment before taking the water, and then said in a low voice, "Thank you."

The assistant first drove Isabelle back to Alexander's villa and closed all of the doors and windows. He even covered all the furniture in white sheets of fabric, and put the bamboo stool and table in the courtyard into the storage room in the villa.

The assistant's actions indicated that no one was going to visit here ever again... Isabelle's heart suddenly jumped, and she couldn't help but ask the assistant whilst he was closing the doors, "Alexander won't he be living here anymore?"

The assistant pushed the door to the villa, and when he was sure it was locked, he turned his head and glanced over at Isabelle. He moved his lips, but looked as though he was hesitant to say something. In the end, he just pulled open the car's door, and said to Isabelle, respectfully as always, "Miss Davis, please get in."

A terrible feeling shrouded Isabelle's heart as she stood there staring at the assistant with her shivering, colorless lips and pitch-black pupils.

The assistant turned his head and looked towards the lush trees in the distance with a distressed look on his face. After a while, he took a deep breath, and then looked over at Isabelle once again and said, "Miss Davis, it's almost dinner time right now. If you don't mind and you aren't busy, can I treat you to dinner?"

"Why do you keep avoiding my questions?" Isabelle's intuition grew stronger. Panic surfaced in her eyes and her lips trembled. She asked, "Is Alexander mad at me? He doesn't want to see me, am I right?"

Streams of tears fell from Isabelle's eyes. Not caring about the etiquette between men and women, she grabbed the assistant's arm and pleaded, "Tell me, where is he, please? You definitely know where he is. Tell me, please?"

The assistant still felt resentful at heart for Isabelle not turning up at 'Lily Pavilion' and leaving Alexander to wait so long for her. Though he was always polite, the tone of his voice revealed a hint of ridicule that was difficult to detect. "It'd be great if Mr. Smith could really get angry at you."

After the assistant said that, he saw Isabelle's crying face and instantly became softhearted. Eventually, he gave a deep sigh and said, "Miss Davis, get in the car first. I'll tell you everything over dinner, okay?"

Isabelle gave a light nod, then lowered her head and got inside.

The assistant also got into the car and started it up.

Once there was some distance between the car and villa, the assistant pulled out two tissues and handed them to Isabelle next to him.

~*~

When the assistant turned the car into the road where 'Lily Pavilion' was, he asked, "Miss Davis, do you mind if we go to Lily Pavilion?"

Isabelle shook her head.

After passing through the traffic lights ahead, the assistant didn't say a word, just turned into the parking lot.

Because they hadn't made a reservation, all the private rooms were booked. In the end, the assistant and Isabelle sat in a secluded area of the lobby.

The waiter came over with the menu, and the assistant handed the it over to Isabelle straight away. "Miss. Davis, take a look. What would you like to order?"

Isabelle didn't flip through the menu. She simply told the assistant, "I'm fine with whatever."

The assistant didn't press her any further and brought menu back in front of himself and ordered a few light dishes.

They were all dishes Isabelle liked to eat, and so she raised her head in astonishment and glanced over at him. He looked back at her, but pretended it was nothing. He handed the menu back to the waiter with a smile of his face, and added two bottles of beer and a pot of tea.

The tea and beer arrived quickly. The assistant personally poured a cup of tea and pushed it towards Isabelle, then opened a bottle of beer for himself.

Isabelle quietly said "Thank you" and lifted the cup and took a sip of tea.

The assistant didn't reply, but took a hard gulp of beer.

The dishes arrived quickly on the table. The exquisite cutlery accompanied with the light dishes looked like it would give anyone an appetite.

The assistant personally pulled off the paper packaging from the chopsticks and passed them to Isabelle. "These are all your favorite dishes. Finish up and we'll talk."

Isabelle didn't pick up the chopsticks. Her lips moved as though she was going to ask something but before she could, the assistant helped did it for her. "You must wonder how I know that these are your favorite dishes right?"

She pulled the corner of her lips, and swallowed the questions she wanted to ask him.

"Mr. Smith told me." The assistant wore a gentle smile, and took another gulp of beer. He turned his head then and stared at Isabelle. "Eat first, let's talk after."

When the assistant said this, he picked up his chopsticks and started to eat.

Isabelle stared at the assistant for quite some time before also picking up the chopsticks, and silently starting to eat something.

These were the dishes she liked to eat, but she didn't have an appetite. She practically had to force herself to eat.

After about half an hour passed, she finally couldn't eat anymore and put her chopsticks down. She lifted her head and looked over at the assistant, who had put his chopsticks down earlier and stared out the window, thinking about who knows what. He had finished the two bottles of beer in front of him.

At the sound of Isabelle putting her chopsticks down, he turned his head and asked, "Finished?"

Isabelle gave a gentle nod.

The assistant raised his hand and called the waiter over. He asked for two more bottles of beer. After waiting for the beer to arrive, he poured a cup for himself and downed it. He then pulled out a phone from his pocket and handed it to Isabelle.

A hint of confusion crossed her eyes.

"Didn't you ask about where Mr. Smith was? You'll know once you see what's on the phone." When the assistant finished speaking, he lowered his head, and poured himself another cup of beer. He took a big gulp.

The assistant's phone screen lit up with Isabelle's single tap. She then saw that he meant for her to read an email.

Alexander had sent him that email.

The email started off by telling him who would be in charge of certain jobs at Global Entertainment. After that, Alexander told him vice president Wang would be temporarily in charge of business operations.

The email didn't end at that. Below, there was a long section where Alexander wrote personal stuff to his assistant.

"Here are the foods Izzy likes to eat. When she's back on set, please tell the crew to cook more of these dishes if they have time.

Her dream is to become the best female actress, so please make preparations for this during the year-end nominations.

The entertainment industry is a little chaotic. It's not safe for a woman on her own, so please take care of her and don't let her suffer.

I have a villa in the outskirts. When you have time, please close the windows, especially the one in the room on the far west, just in case the rain falls through the window and onto the drawings of her on the table. Oh, right. Don't close the floor-to-ceiling window by the back door of the first floor - Izzy likes to climb in from there."

Alexander had written a lot to the assistant. Isabelle flipped through quite a few pages until she finally reached the end.

Her mind was blank. She couldn't quite understand what Alexander meant by sending his assistant this email. Or perhaps, she actually did understand but wasn't willing to.

The assistant studied Isabelle. When she finished reading, he chucked down another mouthful of beer. "Miss Davis, finished reading? Of the forty eight lines, all of them were about you."

Isabelle's hands clenched into fists. Staring straight at him, she asked in a low voice, "Where is he?"

A tear dropped down her face, splashing onto the phone screen.