When Alexander's assistant came back with his phone and voice recorder, he realized that the office was empty, and there were two porcelain cups on the table. The milk tea and coffee had already gone cold, so he went to ask the secretary to find out what had happened. When he found out who had come over, realization started to dawn on him. He hurriedly returned to his own office to get Alexander's clothes before leaving.

The assistant has been following Alexander for many years, he knew all about his habits that Isabelle wasn't aware of.

Whenever he was upset, he would run, so he drove straight to the gym that Alexander frequented.

The gym instructor recognized him when he saw him coming and immediately led him to the private room that Alexander was in.

The instructor might have been able to tell that Alexander was in a bad state, for he left after leading the assistant to the room.

He knocked on the door but there wasn't a sound. When he entered, he saw Alexander running on a track with his headphones on.

The assistant didn't disrupt him. He placed the things that he had brought along at the side before sitting down silently.

Alexander counted every step he took inwardly. When he reached ten thousand, he finally stopped.

His entire body was soaked with sweat. His assistant stood up instantly to pass him a bottle of water.

Alexander tossed his head back, sweat dripping down his hair, and downed almost the entire bottle.

When he stopped, his assistant pulled out his phone and a voice recorder. "Mr. Smith, here's the things you wanted."

Alexander tossed the bottle in the bin, then used a towel to dry the sweat before reaching over to take the things.

"Mr. Smith, did you fight with Miss Davis?"

Alexander ignored his question, silently raising the voice recorder to his ear to listen to the contents. When he made sure that there wasn't a problem, he placed it beside his phone and entered the shower.

As the hot water drizzled down his body, Alexander shut his eyes, replaying the events that had happened in the afternoon.

The scene in the afternoon was not what he had expected.

In his worst scenario, he had expected Isabelle to scold him furiously, and because of that, he had prepared the recording of him and Mrs. Williams.

But the mishap was in that he had gotten angry at her...

He took over Williams Enterprise only because Mrs. Williams had killed their baby and hurt her, but the moment she had compared him to James, he was infuriated.

But as he ran, using up all his energy, venting all his emotions, he clearly understood that his anger probably arose because of James's words. James was his brother after all, and he wasn't able to disregard the emotions his words brought out, even though he knew that he was speaking out of fury. He just couldn't help feeling... angry. And Isabelle's words just made his anger erupt.

After he showered, he wrapped a towel around his waist. His assistant carried his clothes to him. "Mr. Smith, here's the clothes you got me to order for tonight's dinner."

The assistant emphasized on "tonight" and "dinner", and just then, Alexander saw a faint glimmer of dilemma in his eyes.

His assistant had reminded him beforehand that Isabelle would be unhappy if she found out about the takeover, and at that time, he had reassured him... Look what happened... He just left in frustration...

Alexander moved his lips, and before he took the clothes, he reached for the phone on the chair. After finding Isabelle's number, he was about to call her, but after a short while, he decided to text her instead. [I'm sorry.]

I'm sorry for getting mad. I'm sorry for being impatient.

Just like that, his dampened spirits seemed to have lifted, his logic returning. All these years, he had always been calm and collected, but whenever Isabelle was involved, he would become emotional and sensitive.

He tightened his grip on the phone, and after a long moment, he sent another message.[Izzy, lets have a good talk during dinner tonight.]

Alexander glanced at the phone screen. When it indicated that the text was successfully sent over, he placed it back down and stood up. Just before he entered the changing room, he suddenly remembered that he hadn't sent her the address, so he reached for the phone again to send one last text. [Lily's Pavillion, I will be waiting.]

After sending that six words, he exhaled, his dampened spirits brightening a little, and entered the changing room.

~*~

Isabelle received a call from Sophia when she was in the elevator. Her sister told her that Mrs. Williams was left bed-ridden from the shock.

Even though Isabelle didn't have any blood relations with the Williams family, they had always been close to the Davis family, and all these years, Mrs. Williams had always treated her well. Now that she was ill, it was only fair for Isabelle to visit. When she finally reached the Williams family mansion, she started to feel anxious, the guilt she felt when she stood outside Alexander's office arising.

Even though Alexander was the culprit, because of her ambiguous relationship with him, she already considered herself to be his... Now that he had done such a thing, she felt as though it was partially her fault.

Isabelle stood outside the Williams family house for a long while before taking a deep breath and pressing the doorbell.

One of the maids came to open the door. She seemed to have expected her as she came with a pair of slippers. Pointing upstairs, she said, "Mrs. Williams is upstairs."

Isabelle nodded her head, carrying the bag of tonic she had bought upstairs.

The bedroom door was half open. When she entered, she saw the Williams family housekeeper inside with a tray filled with tonics. Someone must have visited before her.

Mrs. Williams lay on the bed with her face pale. The trauma must have been too much for her, for she seemed to have aged in just one day. James sat beside her, massaging her temples.

The Williams family's housekeeper was the first to see Isabelle enter. "Miss Davis, you're here?"

Isabelle managed a smile and gently nodded. She placed some nutritional products that she had bought on the way over by the housekeeper's well-organized array of them.

Mrs. Williams pushed James's hand away from her forehead, as he was massaging it for her. She sat up and patted the seat by her bedside and said, "Come sit."

"Aunt Williams, James." Isabelle obediently walked over, greeted them, and sat down.

Mrs. Williams looked over at the nutritional products Isabelle had bought for her, and said in a weak but extremely charitable voice, "Izzy, if you're coming over, just come. Why did you bring gifts?"

James attentively grabbed a pillow and put it behind Mrs. Williams. "Isn't it all because Izzy cares about you..."

The housekeeper, who was organizing the products, then added, "Madam watched Miss Davis grow up, and has always loved Miss Davis. Ever since her parents passed away, Madam has treated her as her own daughter, so of course Miss Davis has Madam in her heart and cares about her."

After Isabelle heard the housekeeper's words, her heart grew heavy with guilt. She lowered her eyes and forced out a hint of a smile. Then she thoughtfully asked, "Aunt Williams, how's your condition?"

Mrs. Williams wore a smile. Perhaps it was because she was ill, her usual swift and strict demeanor was faint. She spoke in a warm voice. "It's nothing serious. At the time, I was a little agitated, and for some reason, I fainted."

The housekeeper bitterly said, "What do you mean 'nothing serious'? Anger kills the heart. Thank goodness Madam is blessed, otherwise you'd have died from the rage..."

"Don't talk nonsense in front of the children!" Mrs. Williams suddenly sharply cut the housekeeper's words short. Perhaps it was because she was agitated, she suddenly started to cough.

"Mom!"

"Aunt Williams!"

At the same time, Isabelle and James reached out with their hands to pat Mrs. Williams on the back. She covered her chest with her hand, which soothed her breathing for a moment. With her gentle tone of voice, she said, "I'm fine. When you get older, it's inevitable that you'll get sick. Today was just a coincidence."

The housekeeper said with a pained heart, "Madam, at a time like this, what is there for you to hide? That bastard called to clearly piss you off. He has his eye on the young master's inheritance. That ungrateful dog... Our young master should never have saved that bastard's life!"

Isabelle tightly creased her brows at the housekeeper's use of the word 'bastard', and asked a little astonished, "Save what life?"

"Miss Davis, you probably didn't know, but the year that little bastard turned three, he fell ill with leukemia. It was our young master who donated his bone marrow to save him. If it weren't for our young master, he'd be dead! At the time, they agreed that he would never inherit the Williams family's wealth and assets. Nor could he show respect to his ancestors, or step foot into the Williams family house. In the end, now that bastard actually stole it all!"

The year Alexander turned three, he had leukemia? It was James who donated his bone marrow to save his life?

No wonder, after so many years, Alexander never came back to the Williams family. When Isabelle was in school, she racked her brains over why Alexander looked like he was quite poor when the Williams family business was so big. Though she was close with James, she had never asked him about private family matters, and so she had had no idea.

Isabelle had never known Alexander had such a past.

Her heart started to tremble slightly with an unspeakable pain.

The housekeeper seemed enraged, for she was still lashing out at Alexander over and over again. "It's true how cheap whores give birth to cheap..."

Even though those scornful words were directed at Alexander, Isabelle's heart felt incredibly downcast. A bone-piercing pain had emerged within her, as though countless needles had stabbed into her heart.

Isabelle walked into the restroom. At the time, she felt all sorts of complicated emotions; unease, excitement, anticipation, anxiousness mixed with a hint of sweetness...

Isabelle's mind wandered as she washed her hands. When she went back upstairs, before she pushed open the door, she could hear Mrs. Williams's voice from within the bedroom. "From the very beginning, I told you not to get close to him, but you had to go and get closer. Now, look. You have nothing.

"The only reason he acted like a real brother to you was to hit you when you were down. He has always waited for the day to laugh at you... This was definitely something his whore mother taught him. That bitch couldn't steal what was mine, and so she taught her son to steal my son's things..."

"Enough!" James, who had remained quiet until now, suddenly violently erupted. "Are the two of you done talking? Alexander's mother passed away almost twenty years ago. How could she suddenly jump out of nowhere and teach him these things? What's more, he's never gone that far, has he? I still work there at Williams Enterprise!"

With James's words, the bedroom door suddenly flung open.

Isabelle felt a gust of wind towards her, then saw James walking towards her with a dark look on his face.

"James..."

James continued to stride without a waver in his step down the stairs and out, without any response.

Isabelle called his name again and instinctively wanted to follow him. He stopped in his tracks then and leaned on the railings, turning his head toward her to say bleakly, "Izzy, I'm feeling on edge right now. I want to go out for a smoke on my own for a little while."

Regarding Alexander, James had some conflicting feelings about him.

To some extent, men are impulsive and have their guards up. When he found out Williams Enterprise was acquired, he went over to ask him why he'd done it. However, when he reached Global Entertainment's lobby, he received a call and found out Alexander was the one behind his mother's failed investment and the fall of Williams Enterprise's stocks.

On top of all this, his mother fainted out of anger. At the time, his blood boiled and he spoke incoherently out of rage. But even so and even if his and Alexander's brotherly relationship had ended, he still felt angry when his mother and the housekeeper went back and forth saying such horrible things about him.

James's heart suddenly was overcome with sadness. Though Alexander treated him this way, he still hated to part with his half-brother... James raised his hand and rubbed his face, then gulped. With hints of powerlessness, he said, "Izzy, go in and accompany my mom. What I just said was harsh, she's definitely hurt right now."

Isabelle gently nodded her head.

James took large strides down the stairs and out of the house. He walked over to the tree in the courtyard and leaned against it, then lit a cigarette. With clouds of smoke surrounding him, he thought back to when he was young and mischievous.

Under this same tree, he had let off fireworks which just about missed his eyes. It was his ever silent brother, who suddenly reached his arm out to grab the firework stick.

At the time, James was the Williams family's little king. With a single cry, everyone surrounded him. Even after so many years had passed, he still remembered how everyone escorted him back into the house. When he turned his head, the image he saw was branded into his mind - Alexander stood all alone under the tree with his usual apathetic look. Perhaps because of the pain, the hand he had just used to hold the firework kept shivering uncontrollably.

At that thought, the corner of James's eyes started to water, and then he took the hardest drag of his cigarette.

~*~

Back in the bedroom, the housekeeper was consoling Mrs. Williams. Isabelle, who sat by her bedside, added a few words in a gentle and quiet voice, but every now and then, her mind would wander towards Alexander.

He got leukemia at three years old, and James saved him... James saved his life. Why would he treat the person who saved him like this? Furthermore, if he really wanted to go after the Williams family, why would he let James stay in the company?

Honestly speaking, when she asked him those three questions about what happened, he very openly admitted it. It was far more hard-hitting than hearing about it from the news, as it gave her no room to think it through or respond. Now that Isabelle had calmed down, and thought about what the housekeeper and James had said, a slither of doubt took form within her and she felt more and more as though something wasn't quite right.

In the afternoon, because one of the two people was someone who she grew up with, and the other was the man she was in love with for some many years, she subconsciously refused to face the scene. Because of this, her emotions were uncontrollable.

She was so emotional, she didn't pay close attention to what she was saying. Nor did she pay attention to what he said at the time... Now that she thought about it, when she said "James would never do something like that", what did he say to her? Was he trying to explain it to her?

At that thought, Isabelle couldn't help but pull her phone out. Seeing that she received no incoming calls or messages, her heart couldn't help but grow dejected.

She really did unintentionally make a mistake, but he was so angry. She chased him all the way to the parking lot, but he wouldn't listen to her explanation. Even until now, he hadn't contacted her... was he still mad?

After thirteen years of being in love with him, it was so difficult to spend a Valentines day together. With one fit of anger, was tonight's dinner plans thrown out the window?

At that though, Isabelle suddenly became panic-stricken.

He may have been really angry in the afternoon, but she was the one who said the wrong thing. What if she was the first to apologize and clear the air... She would wait till dinner before she would calmly ask him why he did it. If it was really for revenge, she could try to persuade him to apologize to James, then reconcile his relationship with his brother...

Otherwise, that'd really be a shame, and just like that, the dinner she had hoped for would no longer going to happen.

Isabelle thought about it and instinctively turned her phone on. She found Alexander's number and wrote a message. She firstly typed [Hey], then felt like it wasn't sincere enough. She was afraid Alexander would ignore her message, so she deleted it. With a tilt of the head, she thought about it seriously and completely forgot about Mrs. Williams beside her.

For about a good minute, Isabelle collected her words together. When she lowered her head, she started to tap away at her phone. [I was too emotional this afternoon. I'm sorry, you said you'd meet up for dinner tonight. Can we talk about it then? I'm going home to wait for you...]

"Izzy."

Before she could type "All right?", Mrs. Williams suddenly called her name.

Isabelle replied absentmindedly. She tapped her phone screen twice, then came back to her senses when the housekeeper patted her on the arm. She looked over at Mrs. Williams. "Aunt Williams, what's wrong?"

"It's nothing. I'm just thirsty. Could you please pour me a cup of water?" Mrs. Williams smiled with a warm expression on her face.

"I'll get it." Isabelle hurriedly locked her phone and shoved it back into her pocket. She grabbed the glass cup and quickly walked down the stairs.

She poured a cup of warm water. On her way back up to the room, her mind wandered to the incomplete message she hadn't sent and if there were any problems with it.

There was a turning on the stairs at the Williams family house, which was blocked by a wall. As Isabelle carried the cup of water up the stairs, she didn't hold onto the railing. At the turn around that corner, the housekeeper suddenly popped out from behind the wall with large and small bags, squarely crashing into Isabelle.

It all happened very suddenly. As Isabelle held onto her cup, her mind preoccupied, she didn't notice that there was someone around the wall. The housekeeper bumped into her quite forcefully, and at an alarming speed. As her foot was ready to take a step up, the push made her miss that step. Without any warning whatsoever, she rolled down the stairs.

Isabelle shrieked in fear. She heard the faint voice of housekeeper crying "Miss Davis!", as her head hit the floorboards. The phone in her pocket fell out and dropped by her hands.

Isabelle didn't feel the pain. Her face was stuck to the floorboards , but she just felt a little light-headed and had fresh, sticky blood oozing out.