Chapter 178

Alexander drove in silence, the car enveloped in an oppressive quiet.

Richard didn't say a word either, his frustration palpable.

When they arrived, Richard stepped out, his expression betraying the anger simmering beneath the surface.

He couldn't fathom how everything had gone so disastrously wong.

Joyce, with her foolishness, had even gone so far as to have a child. How could someone like her have the audacity to position herself as a match for Alexander?

It didn't make sense.

He shook his head. How could Daniela-brilliant, capable-be replaced by someone as unremarkable as Joyce?

Regret gnawed at him. He had been too hard on Daniela, too blind to what she had offered in the past.

If only he had intervened when Alexander and Daniela's marriage began to unravel. Perhaps if he had spoken up, he could have kept them together. Back then, Daniela's devotion to Alexander was clear. She would have stayed if she had thought there was still hope.

And if she had stayed? He could only imagine the success they'd be sharing now. Elite Lux, the gaming company,the research institute...

The thought was unbearable. Richard stopped himself from following that train of thought any further.Every time he thought about the immense value of what had been lost, a fresh wave of regret hit him like a blow.

It was like holding a winning lottery ticket, only to realize he'd missed the deadline to claim the prize.

The sting of losing something so priceless, something that had been in his grasp, was almost too much to bear. In the stillness of the night, Richard glanced at Alexander. His voice, low and strained, carried a tinge of desperation."Is there really no way to fix this?"

Alexander didn't respond. He sat motionless, the silence stretching between them.

Was there still a chance?

He honestly didn't know.

Daniela had moved on-Cedric's presence in her life made that clear, whether their relationship was official or not. Cedric's place in her world was undeniable.

Alexander realized that, in the past, he had never truly noticed Daniela.

But he had always seen her. After Brylee's death, she had carried herself with a quiet, unapproachable air,as if she had built a fortress around herself.

There was a detachment about her, a boundary that no one-not even him-was allowed to cross.

Alexander didn't answer Richard's question.

Instead, he started the car and drove away, leaving his father behind. He could hear the faint, weary sigh Richard let out.

The car sped into the night.

When Alexander reached the bar, Keith was already there, waving cheerfully as soon as he spotted him.

"What's this? You actually called me out for drinks? What's going on?" Keith teased, his voice light and playful.

Alexander strode past him, his face devoid of expression. Without saying a word, he grabbed a glass, filled it with wine, and drank deeply.J

Keith's eyes widened in alarm. "Hold on! That's wine worth tens of thousands of dollars, and you're drinking it like it's water."

Alexander didn't acknowledge the comment. His gaze dropped to his glass, watching the wine swirl lazily inside.

Without meaning to, his thoughts drifted back to Daniela.

Her large, expressive eyes. The graceful curve of her nose. She had always been reserved, speaking only when necessary.

When she smiled, faint dimples appeared at the edges of her lips, softening her usually serious demeanor.

Had she truly loved him for a decade?

The world often labeled him as cold, distant, even heartless.

But was that really who he was?

Only he knew the answer to that. He remembered a time when he had tried to take their relationship to a deeper level-both emotionally and physically.

In truth, he had wanted to have sex with her. But he hadn't been direct with her.

Their dynamic had always placed him in the position of being pursued. She was the one who chased, and he was the one who stood untouchable on his pedestal.

When he finally broached the subject, it was laced with pride and an air of superiority.

Her response, however, was not what he had anticipated. She didn't seem to understand himn at first-or perhaps she chose not to. Either way, her face reflected shock and confusion.

It was almost as if the idea of physical intimacy had never even occurred to her. It seemed as though the thought of them being that close had never once crossed her mind.

The next day, she had handed him an expensive watch.

"What's this supposed to mean?" he asked, already knowing the answer.

The gift wasn't just a gift. It was her unspoken attempt at compensation-for turning him down.

Yet Daniela couldn't bring herself to explain. She had stood by the doorway, deliberately keeping her distance. In that moment, Alexander noticed something he hadn't seen before.

She had gone to great lengths for him. Her delicate, piano-trained hands had mastered racing cars just to impress him. But those same hands had never reached for his.

She would drink well past her limits to match his reckless energy. She had risked her life speeding through dangerous tracks at night just to share his world. Yet she never stepped closer. Never gave him even the slightest hint of affection beyond her actions.

She would show up at dawn to drive him home after his nights of heavy drinking when he could barely stand. But she had never once tried to be intimate with him while he was drunk. Never crossed that unspoken boundary between them.

To everyone else, Daniela's love for him seemed undeniable.

It was something people said over and over.

Everyone believed it.

But Alexander felt lost in the middle of it all. Was this really/love?

A love so pure, stripped of emotional or physical closeness, felt out of place between a man and a woman.Could something so distant truly be called love?

The question tormented him. He couldn't make sense of it. He tried dropping hints, subtle and not-so-subtle, hoping she'd notice, hoping she'd finally respond.

But Daniela never did. Instead, she would hand him yet another expensive gift, each more extravagant than the last.

And as others looked on with envy, marveling at what they thought was devotion, Alexander began to see the truth more clearly with each passing day. Daniela didn't love him.

She wasn't looking at him at all. It was as though she were searching for something beyond him, something he couldn't understand. What was it? He couldn't say.

Not until the day he stumbled across the sketchbook in her closet. That was when everything made sense.

And so, he molded himself into the person he saw in that sketchbook.

Outwardly, nothing seemed to change. He maintained his pride, his poise, and his carefully crafted demeanor. But behind the facade, hestarted spending more time with Joyce, curious to see how Daniela would react.

Yet when she caught sight of him with Joyce, her expression was calm. In fact, it seemed more at ease than when he had once tried to hold her hand.

Now,seated at the bar, Alexander poured himself another drink. The bitterness of his thoughts ran deeper than the wine's burn as it slid down his throat.

Daniela had deceived everyone. But most painfully, she had deceived him. And the worst part was that he had known it all along.

He took another long sip before suddenly turning to Keith. "Have you ever loved someone? The kind of love where you'd give up everything-maybe even your life-for her?"

Keith's eyes widened in surprise.

Alexander, the man known for his cold indifference, was asking about love?

Though startled, Keith assumed Alexander must be drunk. He decided to humor him. With a faint smile, he said, "Not to that extent. But yeah, I've loved someone before. Someone | thought I'd be with for the rest of my life."

There was a wistful undertone to his words. It was clear Keith, still unmarried, was speaking of a love that had long since ended.

Alexander leaned forward, pressing surther. "And after it ended, did you two become strangers? Like none of it ever happened?"

Just like how Daniela acted now.

As though she had never loved him. For reasons even Alexander couldn't fully grasp, this question consumed him tonight. He needed an answer.

Desperately.