Chapter 8

After going back home, Alex got a call from his editor, Emily Tuscan. "Alex, your comic went viral as soon as it got published! The readers are asking for an epilogue. What do you think?" Alex had been busy at the hospital for the past few days and had only just learned about the situation. Emily meant that Alex should think about striking while the iron was still hot and publishing an epilogue for his comic. However, he rejected her very gently. The entire comic was based on the true story of his relationship with Estelle. He had ended the comic before he found out about the truth. If he were to come up with an epilogue, it would do nothing but disappoint his fans instead. Alex opened up his Twitter account and read the comments that kept coming in every other second. His eyes lit up with a smile. Seeing that Alex was finally looking a little happier, Estelle inched closer and teased him. "Oh, the webcomic seems to be doing quite well. What do you think about me throwing a celebratory party for all the authors?" Before Alex could stop her, Estelle had sent out a number of messages to the other authors, inviting them to the party. Alex wanted to refuse the party, but since she'd already sent out the invitations, he decided to say nothing. Instead, he changed the topic. "Have you read the webcomic?" "No. I can't stand reading romance. What's the comic about? Tell me about it." Why would Estelle even bother throwing the party if she hadn't even read the comic? It was probably just an excuse for her to see Jared again. Alex saw that Estelle was typing away on her keyboard nonchalantly. He didn't bother wasting his breath on her and got up to return to his own room. … The celebratory party was held in the ballroom of a hotel. Jared had turned up as expected, but he didn't come alone. He'd brought a female guest with him too, and they seemed quite close with how intimately he interacted with her while they chatted. Estelle nearly crushed the glass in her hand when she saw them. Alex didn't care about Estelle's feelings. He just got up and went into the washroom. When he came out again, he saw that a sign saying "Under Maintenance" had been hung up at the door. Just as he was wondering if something bad had happened, a shadow suddenly appeared from around the corner. It was the lady who had been with Jared, Lisa Zimmerman. She stood in his way and looked at Alex provocatively. Alex frowned and tried to walk around her. However, she immediately grabbed him by the arm and tried to kiss him. This spooked Alex so much that he turned pale immediately. He raised his hands on instinct to defend himself. "What are you doing?" Lisa cocked her eyebrow as she gave him a greasy and perverted grin. "Don't play innocent with me. Jared told me you needed someone to fuck. Why don't you just stop fighting with him and fuck me instead?" With that, Lisa started tugging on Alex's clothes, trying to tear them off. Just as Lisa was about to yank off his shirt from the collar, Alex gritted his teeth and shoved her away with all of his might. After managing to save himself, he left the washroom without daring to look back. As soon as he came out, however, he caught sight of Jared waiting for him outside. Alex had grown up in a sheltered family, so he was usually very soft-spoken and easily swayed. But however weak or soft-spoken he was, he still couldn't hold his temper anymore after very nearly getting taken advantage of. He recalled Lisa's words. Without thinking, Alex raised his balled-up fist and punched Jared in the face. "You did this on purpose, didn't you, Jared Leek?" Jared didn't seem mad even after getting punched in the face. He stared at Alex's furious face and started to laugh. "You mean that plus one of mine? So what if I brought her here on purpose? I was just feeling sorry for you. "See, ever since I came back, you've always been lonely at nights because you're nothing but my replacement. Lisa is very well-experienced in this field. She'll be able to satisfy you for sure—" Alex couldn't hold back anymore when Jared continued humiliating him like this. He raised his fist in the air again. This time, before he could sock Jared once more, someone stopped him. Alex looked to the side and saw Estelle looking darkly at him. Jared had been waiting for her to appear. He immediately put on an aggrieved expression and spoke in a frightened, choked-up voice. "Estelle, I think your boyfriend hates me. He beat me up just because I was in his way!" Estelle's face turned even darker. "Alex Foster! How could you punch other people for no reason? Is this what Clara taught you? Is this what I taught you?" Alex was mad too. His eyes turned red as he shakily said, "For no reason? There are cameras in the corridor. Take a look at the footage yourself. You'll find out why I hit him after what he did to me!" Alex wanted to show Estelle solid proof and tell her the truth. However, Estelle refused to believe that Jared could ever do anything wrong. She refused to even consider looking at the footage. "It doesn't matter what happened. You should never have hit anyone! Besides, you've only recently met him. What could he even do to you? Apologize to him now!"