Chapter 9

Did Estelle just tell Alex to apologize to Jared? Did she just tell the victim to apologize to the perpetrator? Alex had never felt more heartbroken than then. He shook his head defiantly and said, "I'm not in the wrong. I will never apologize, no matter what!" Alex refused to apologize, and Estelle kept demanding it from him. Neither party would let up. Jared was worried that the truth would eventually get exposed if things went on like this. He looked at Estelle with his tear-streaked face and tugged on her sleeve. "Estelle, it was my fault for getting in the way. Don't argue with your boyfriend anymore, okay? Just cool off for a moment." However, Estelle refused to listen to him. With no other choice left, Jared decided to twist his ankle in a determined yet dramatic way. Estelle's attention was finally back on Jared when she saw that he was hurt. She panicked, feeling sorry for him. Ignoring Alex, she immediately helped Jared to his feet and rushed him downstairs. It wasn't until Alex watched Estelle and Jared disappear down the corridor that he finally felt his anger dissipate. It was gradually replaced with disappointment and aggrievement. The tears he had been holding in finally slid down his face. He hurriedly reached up to wipe them away. Then, he went back to the ballroom, grabbed his bag, and left the hotel. He'd just walked out of the hotel when a scooter suddenly crashed right into him, sending him flying into the curb. Blood splattered everywhere. Alex was in so much pain that he was covered in a cold sweat. He started to lose consciousness as he was sent to the hospital. When the nurse saw how badly injured Alex was, she took his phone and used his thumbprint to unlock it. Then, she went into the first chat window on WhatsApp and made a voice call. Ten seconds later, Estelle's angry voice came through. "I'm only letting you off for now because Jared got hurt. But this doesn't mean that you're not in the wrong. You must apologize to him!" The nurse was stunned. She hesitated for a while before telling Estelle about Alex's condition. Since Estelle was still mad, she refused to believe that Alex would be involved in such a conveniently coincidental accident. "I don't care if he got knocked down by a car! If he doesn't apologize, I won't sign anything for him!" Having said her piece, Estelle couldn't care less about the nurse's reply and hung up at once. There was nothing the nurse could do but forcibly wake Alex up to ask him if he could get any of his other family members to sign the surgery consent form for him. Alex didn't want his family to get worried about him. However, since he couldn't think about anyone else, he gritted his teeth and bore with the excruciating pain as he signed his own form with his horribly mangled-up right hand. The surgery was a success. However, Alex would still have to stay at the hospital a few days more for further observation. Alex stayed in the hospital all alone, with no one caring for him or visiting him. He did everything by himself despite feeling unwell. A few nurses were gossiping next to him. They said that Estelle had booked out the entire floor of the hospital just because her boyfriend had gotten hurt. She took great care of him and attended to his daily needs, so everyone thought she was deeply in love with him. Alex just lay in his bed as he listened to the nurses. He then retrieved his phone and deleted all of his tweets and posts. Then, he deleted all of Estelle's contacts across his social media apps as well. On the day he finally got discharged from the hospital, Alex bumped into Estelle and Jared at the elevator doors while he was on his way to sign his documents. Estelle had her arms around Jared, helping him up. Alex glanced at them coldly before looking away and heading toward the emergency stairs instead. Estelle seemed to have caught sight of Alex from the corner of her eye. However, when she finally realized it and turned around, Alex had already disappeared out of sight. She thought that she was perhaps seeing things. After all, Alex was known to be extremely afraid of pain. When he got hit by a soccer ball back then they were in school, Estelle spent a long time comforting him and telling him he'd be alright. If Alex was really involved in a car accident, there was no way he would keep it to himself without telling her. After getting home, Alex told Gary Brosnan, Estelle's butler, to throw out everything he'd packed up previously. Then, he walked into the study and tore out every single page from the diary he'd kept for eight years. He'd started the diary when he fell in love with Estelle at first sight at the age of 15. He had then moved to her hometown when he was 17 years old, and he'd finally achieved his lifelong dream when he was 18 years old. Everything that had happened in the past eight years and kept him tied to the past was finally destroyed today. Alex then put his breakup letter in a place where Estelle would be able to see it immediately when she got home. After that, he packed up what little belongings he owned and left the house to hail a cab. The cab driver saw that Alex was hurt, so he helped the latter load up his suitcase in the trunk of the car. Alex turned around, wanting to have one last look at the city he'd called home for the past six years. However, he was suddenly faced with a pair of familiar eyes staring straight at him. Estelle happened to have just gotten out of the car then. Her expression softened when she saw Alex. "Going out?" Alex looked at Estelle quietly. His eyes were no longer filled with love and adoration for her. "What is it?" Estelle didn't notice, however. She just thought that Alex was still being stubborn with her. A look of frustration appeared in her eyes. "I came back to retrieve something and also have a talk with you." "No—" Before Alex could even talk, Estelle's phone rang loudly. She answered the call and started to frown. After hanging up, she turned back around and opened her car door once more. Before getting in, she told Alex in a hurry, "Since you're still being stubborn, we'll talk again next time. Be careful when you're out and come back earlier." Come back? Alex wasn't coming back anymore. He waited until Estelle's car disappeared out of sight. Then, he finally got into the cab when the driver urged him to hurry up. Alex closed the door and looked at the ominous clouds in the sky. It was going to rain. His eyes were calm and still. "Where to, young man?" "The airport."