For the first ti, Angela began to understand sothing she had completely overlooked.
Alexander wasn’t only grieving Rosalind.
He was grieving Alicia.
Suddenly, Alexander reached into his pocket and pulled out a pack of cigarettes.
Angela froze.
He placed one between his lips and lit it.
The fla flickered briefly before dying away.
Her eyes widened.
In all the years she had known him, she had never once seen Alexander smoke.
Not when his mother died.
Not when he beca CEO.
Not during the company’s darkest crises.
Yet now he sat there smoking as though it had beco second nature.
"When did you start smoking?" she asked quietly still in a daze.
"Recently."
His indifferent response only made her chest tighten further.
As if he was unaware of how much he had changed.
Or perhaps he simply didn’t care anymore.
Angela’s thoughts imdiately drifted to her confrontation with Alicia at the mansion.
The cruel words she had thrown at her.
The accusations.
The insults.
Then she rembered Alicia’s final words.
"If my child is going to grow up around people like you, then I’d rather raise him without a father."
Angela’s face paled.
A possibility she had been refusing to consider suddenly surfaced.
Had she pushed Alicia away?
Had her words beco the final straw?
Her gaze shifted back to Alexander.
The guilt nearly suffocated her.
What had she done?
"You don’t need to worry about , Aunt," Alexander said, tapping ash into the tray. "Just focus on your self. I’ll handle my life."
Angela swallowed hard.
For once, she didn’t know what to say.
After a long silence, she picked up her handbag.
"I’ll be returning to Washington tomorrow," she said softly. "I can’t leave Bella alone for too long."
Alexander simply nodded.
Angela stepped closer and squeezed his shoulder.
"Please don’t destroy yourself."
Her voice trembled slightly.
Because she knew there was very little she could do.
She walked toward the door before stopping.
For several seconds, she simply stood there.
Then she turned around.
"Alicia and your child will be fine wherever they are," she said quietly.
Alexander looked up.
"And you should take care of yourself too."
A faint sadness appeared in her eyes.
"I’m sure Alicia wouldn’t want to see you like this."
With that, Angela left.
The door clicked shut behind her.
Silence returned to the villa.
Alexander remained seated on the couch, staring at the cigarette burning slowly between his fingers.
He leaned back and closed his eyes.
But the loneliness remained.
And for the first ti in years, Alexander truly understood what it felt like to lose the person who had quietly beco his entire world.
After a while the door opened again.
It was Jane.
Earlier that day, he had instructed her to look into Alicia’s personal records—not just recent information, but everything she could find. Her high school, university, old friends, forr teachers, favorite places, hobbies, anything.
Anything that might give him a clue.
Perhaps there was sowhere she had always wanted to visit.
So dream destination she had once ntioned.
So place connected to a cherished mory.
The truth was that Alexander didn’t know.
And that realization filled him with guilt.
After two years of marriage, he knew Alicia’s work habits, her schedule, and her responsibilities.
But he didn’t know her dreams.
He didn’t know the places she longed to see.
He didn’t know what she wanted her future to look like.
The more he thought about it, the worse he felt.
Jane had compiled everything she could gather and brought it over for him to review.
Jane was taken aback by her boss’s dishevelled state, but didn’t say anything and left quietly.
Alexander headed straight to the study after she left.
The rest of the afternoon passed in silence.
Stacks of files and reports covered his desk.
School records.
University records.
Awards.
Academic achievents.
Recomndations from teachers.
Old photographs.
The deeper he dug into Alicia’s life, the more he realized how little he truly knew about her.
Several tis he caught himself staring blankly at the sa page for minutes.
His eyes burned from exhaustion.
His shoulders ached.
Whenever his thoughts beca too overwhelming, he would step onto the balcony, light a cigarette, and smoke in silence before forcing himself back to work.
Maria had brought him lunch.
And she practically stood beside him until he finished enough food to satisfy her.
By six in the evening, another knock sounded at the study door.
Alexander didn’t bother looking up.
"Co in."
He assud it was Maria again.
The door opened.
Footsteps entered.
Yet no one spoke.
Alexander frowned and finally lifted his gaze.
Raphael stood across the desk watching him quietly.
His friend looked as though he had been standing there for several monts.
"Raphael?"
Raphael’s lips curved into a faint smile.
"Still working."
His eyes swept across the mountain of files.
"Just as I thought."
Alexander leaned back in his chair.
"What are you doing here at this hour?"
He glanced at the clock on the wall.
"It’s been weeks since you’ve joined us for a drink." Raphael said calmly
He crossed his arms.
"Michael, Ethan, and the others are eting tonight. They wanted to drag you there if necessary."
Alexander imdiately shook his head.
"I can’t."
His attention returned to the docunts.
"I need to finish this."
Raphael looked thoroughly unimpressed.
"Alexander."
"I’m serious."
"I know."
Raphael rounded the desk and stopped beside him.
"But you’ve been doing this for three days straight."
Alexander remained silent.
Raphael picked up one of the files.
"Have you even slept properly?"
No answer.
"Have you left this villa for anything other than searching for Alicia?"
Still no answer.
Raphael sighed heavily.
"Alexander, you’re exhausting yourself."
"I’m fine."
The response ca automatically.
Raphael laughed humorlessly.
"You look terrible."
Alexander’s hand tightened around the docunt he was holding.
"I’m alright, Raphael."
"No."
Raphael’s voice softened.
"No, you’re not."
Silence settled between them.
Alexander lowered his gaze.
For a mont neither man spoke.
Then Raphael quietly asked,
"You think Alicia would want to see you like this?"
Alexander froze.
That was the second ti soone had asked him that question today.
First Angela.
Now Raphael.
His jaw tightened.
Would Alicia want this?
No.
If Alicia wanted him to find her, she wouldn’t have disappeared without a word.
She wouldn’t have hidden her tracks so carefully.
She wouldn’t have planned everything weeks in advance.
She had left because she wanted to.
And yet...
He couldn’t stop searching.
The thought of never seeing her again felt unbearable.
Raphael seed to understand exactly what was going through his mind.
"You can continue tomorrow."
Alexander remained silent.
"You don’t have to give up."
Still silent.
"You just need a break."
Raphael placed a hand on his shoulder.
"One evening."
Another long silence followed.
Finally, Alexander closed the file in front of him.
His exhausted eyes drifted toward the window.
Then he let out a quiet sigh.
"I’m only having a few drinks."
Relief flashed across Raphael’s face.
"That’s fine."
Alexander pointed a warning finger at him.
"A few."
Raphael laughed.
"Whatever helps you get out of this room."
For the first ti that day, the corner of Alexander’s mouth twitched slightly.
It wasn’t quite a smile.
But it was close enough.
A few minutes later, the two n left the study together.
Totally unaware of how things might end up that night.
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