Chapter 8

With two bodyguards behind her, Louise stood at the doorway, her expression dark and her eyes blazing with barely restrained fury. "Why didn't you tell me you left? Do you know how long I've been looking for you?"

Alexander gradually raised his head with a vacant expression on his face. "Why are you here, Ms. Lawrence?"

Louise was stunned.

Alexander was right. Why was she there?

Even though he had already been auctioned off and she was dating Charles now, she still felt an inexplicable sense of restlessness when she saw someone drag him away.

After she made sure Charles was settled, she immediately got someone to track down Alexander's whereabouts. She even went to the hotel personally.

When she ordered someone to kick open the hotel room door, all she found was a man inside, clutching his bloodied head and groaning in pain. For a moment, she was so furious that she almost killed him.

"I… I wasn't worried about you." Louise paused before adding, "You're working for me, after all, so I won't let anything happen to you. What would people think of me if something happened to you under my watch?"

Alexander's lips twitched slightly, but he said nothing.

Louise took a deep breath and held back the frustration in her heart. "Charles and I are officially together now. I'm holding a celebration party tomorrow. Make sure you attend."

Alexander's lack of response caused her to frown and ask, "Did you hear me?"

"I can't be there," he said as he gazed out the window. "Tomorrow is my last day… I'm going to go look for Isabelle."

Louise's phone suddenly rang, so she didn't catch the rest of what he said. It was Charles calling, asking her to come home to try on her dress for the party.

She answered the call with obvious irritation, exchanged a few curt words with him, and hung up. Casting Alexander a cold glance, she warned, "You'd better be there tomorrow. Don't make me repeat myself."

With that, she turned around to leave, slamming the door behind her.

The next day, Alexander did not attend Louise's party. Instead, he went to the cemetery and bought the plot next to Isabelle's grave.

"Isabelle," he murmured softly as he caressed the picture on the grave. "Just wait a little longer. We'll be able to see each other again very soon."

After leaving the cemetery, he hailed a taxi to Kingsboro Bridge.

They had been there five years ago when Isabelle was bringing him to meet her parents. They had been brimming with excitement as they talked about their future together. However, their happiness was cut short when they got into a car accident while crossing the bridge.

After the car nose-dived into the river, Isabelle summoned every ounce of her strength to drag him to safety. She managed to get him ashore, but tragically, she lost her own life in the process.

"Alex… Live on…"

Those were her last words to him.

Alexander stood by the edge of the bridge with the wind tugging the edge of his shirt. Suddenly, he felt his phone vibrate.

It was Louise asking, "The party has already started. Where are you?"

He paused for a while before he slowly replied, "I can't make it. I'm going to find the woman I love."

On his lock screen was a picture of him and Isabelle. In it, she was gently kissing his forehead, her eyes brimming with tenderness.

"It's my turn to come looking for you, Isabelle."

The phone slipped from his grip and into the river. Then, with his arms wide open like a bird finally free from its cage, Alexander let himself fall.

As he sunk deeper into the water, he thought he saw Isabelle standing in a distant glow, reaching out her hand to him.

"Alex, I've been waiting for you for so long."