7 Chapter 7
A lie?
With an amused smile, I opened the nightstand
Alexander.
and tossed a crisp Dean & DeLuca gift bag to
“Even though you were far away in Paris and couldn’t make it to the wedding yesterday, Nicholas, out of respect for your bond as brothers, specifically asked me to set aside a wedding gift for you.”
Remembering something, I added calmly,
“I remember Madison has quite a sweet tooth. You can take this back for her. Maybe some of Jour happiness will rub off.”
His eyes landed on the gift bag, seeing my name and Nicholas’s printed on it.
Alexander threw the gift aside and sneered in disbelief.
“Just because I postponed the wedding for work, because I didn’t marry you on time, you threw away our fifteen years together and married another man?
Blair, don’t you realize how childish and ridiculous this act of revenge is?”
Hearing the word ‘revenge, I couldn’t help but laugh out loud.
“Alex, you’re giving yourself way too much credit.
I would never treat something as serious as my own marriage like a childish game to get back at
anyone.
The reason I was willing to marry Nicholas is simply because I love him.”
“You love him?”
Alexander pointed a finger back at himself, a look of sheer disbelief on his face:
“Then what were our fifteen years?”
After a moment of silence, I told him honestly,
“Alex, I don’t love you anymore.”
Alex. That was what I first called Alexander.
Alex, can I come over to your house to play? I’ll bring lots of yummy treats for you!
Alex, I’m lost again! Please, hurry and come find me, boo hoo….
Alex, when I grow up, can I marry you? Daddy says that when a boy and a girl get married, they
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7 Chapter 7
can be together forever and ever.
The memories came flooding back like a tidal wave….
At that moment, Alexander finally felt a bone–chilling panic.
“Blair, I know you don’t like Madison, so I already fired her. She’s not my assistant anymore…
Also,
“I bought you a Tiffany necklace, a mille–crêpe cake from Lady M, and so many other things your wanted. They’re all in the car.
“I… I also remembered that you’ve always wanted a pony, so as soon as my plane landed, I ordered a purebred one for you. It’s set to be delivered in two days.”
“Blair, what if we–the two of us and Little Ma–celebrate our tenth anniversary all over again?”
Sighing to myself, I indifferently told him to leave:
“Alexander, I’ve made myself clear. It’s very late, and my husband and I need our privacy. Please see yourself out, or I’ll have security remove you.”
1:42 AM.
Like a walking corpse, Alexander emerged from the bedroom but didn’t leave as he was told.
He stood ramrod straight outside the locked bedroom door, masochistically listening to the irrepressible moans of pleasure that started up once more from within.
His heart, already riddled with wounds, felt like it had been plunged into acid.
The agony was excruciating, a twisting in his gut so profound that for the first time in his life, he had a single, clear thought: I’d rather be dead.
So this was it–the heart–wrenching, a pain worse than death, feeling of being utterly betrayed by the one you love.
No wonder… no wonder she didn’t want him anymore.
The next morning
As the first rays of the morning sun shone on my content, sleeping face,
Alexander, who hadn’t slept all night, was answering a call from a hotel in Paris.
The hotel manager frantically told him that Madison had overdosed on sleeping pills and was at the hospital getting her stomach pumped…
Before the manager could finish, a devastated Alexander hung up indifferently.
Two in the afternoon.
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7 Chapter 7
Before the manager could finish, a devastated Alexander hung up indifferently.
Two in the afternoon.
As I laughed, Nicholas carried me piggyback out of the bedroom while Alexander was in the kitchen, cooking my favorite oatmeal.
Even though I didn’t spare him a single glance, he still forced himself to put on a brave face, ladled a bowl, and said to me in a soft, gentle voice,
“Blair, your stomach… it’s sensitive. Just have a little before you go, please…”
Before he could finish, I ruthlessly slapped the porcelain bowl from his hands.
With a loud crash, the bowl shattered, and the splashing hot oatmeal scalded the man’s hand, blistering his skin.
