Chapter 123: Unexpected Encounters

Isabella walked out of the room without saying another word to Alex, her heart heavy with frustration. Alex, on the other hand, felt a surge of anger at her reaction. He wanted to confront her, to demand answers, but he remained silent, letting her leave for Trisha's place. Still, a nagging feeling lingered in his mind about Trisha. He had never trusted her, and the thought of Isabella spending time with her only fueled his anxiety.

Once outside, Isabella quickly hailed a taxi and provided the driver with Trisha's address. The ride was filled with silence, her thoughts racing as she contemplated everything that had been said and done. She needed this break, a chance to clear her mind and escape the tension that had built up around her.

When she arrived at Trisha's place, she stepped out of the taxi and walked up to the door, her heart pounding with a mix of excitement and trepidation. She rang the doorbell, and within moments, Trisha swung the door open, her face lighting up with joy.

“Isabella!” Trisha exclaimed, pulling her into a tight hug. “What are you doing here?”

Isabella sighed in relief, grateful for Trisha's warm welcome. “I needed to cool my head and unwind a bit. Things have been... intense at Alex's place,” she admitted, trying to suppress the feelings of guilt that washed over her.

Just as she finished speaking, she caught sight of someone stepping into the doorway behind Trisha. Her heart dropped as she recognized James, standing there with a surprised expression on his face.

“What are you doing here?” Isabella blurted out, her shock evident. She hadn't expected to see him at Trisha's, and the sudden appearance of her past made her feel a rush of conflicting emotions.

James smiled, but there was a hint of tension in the air. “I came to hang out with Trisha. I didn’t know you were coming over,” he replied, his tone casual, but Isabella could sense the underlying complexity of their situation.

Trisha glanced between them, sensing the awkwardness. “Well, this is a surprise! Now we can all hang out together!” she said, trying to lighten the mood, but Isabella felt anything but at ease.

“Yeah, a surprise,” Isabella echoed, her mind racing with thoughts about how this sudden turn of events might affect everything. She felt trapped between her desire to escape her reality and the looming presence of her past.

As the three of them stood in the doorway, the air thick with unspoken words, Isabella couldn't shake the feeling that this weekend might not be the escape she had hoped for. The unresolved tension between her, Alex, and James seemed to follow her, even here.

Isabella’s POV

Isabella was surprised to see James in Tricia's place, something that amazed her because she never thought that of all people, James would be close to Trisha at all. Even though she had no memories of the past, she still knew for sure that James and Trisha were not the kind of people who would be close. She folded her arms across her chest and looked at them suspiciously.

“Really? So you two decided to talk to each other? From what I have seen so far, you two are not close at all. Even when I had my memories, you were not close at all. So what exactly is going on?” Isabella questioned as James hissed, walked in, brought out his suitcase, and walked right past her.

Of course, Isabella wanted to even things out between them and let James know that she was not going to tell Alex anything for the time being. But she still wanted to talk to Tricia, who was already looking angry from their earlier conversation.

“What are you trying to say? James came here to talk about your matter, to tell me how we are going to solve everything and how we are going to keep your mouth shut, to keep his own career safe, to keep his own job safe. Don't you even know the kind of risks you are putting him at? I warned you, but you didn't listen. He came here to plead with me to find a way for everything to be settled. That's it. Nothing else.” Tricia said and slammed her door.

Of course, Isabella wanted to plead with Tricia, but at the same time, James was already far gone up the stairs. She followed immediately behind him and called out his name, but he did not answer. He got in front of his car as she was already breathing heavily, feeling all tired.

“James, please wait. We have to talk, we have to even things out,” she said to him as he turned around, feeling so angry. He opened his car door and threw his suitcase inside before looking at her, ready to clearly talk.

“What do you want to say to me that I have not heard before? What other insults do you want to give me that you have not given me before? Or do you want Alex to fly here yelling at me that he does not want to see me around you? I am keeping myself away from you as far as I can, and you know the kind of danger that comes with being around you. Why else would you want to put me in even more trouble? Please stay away from me, Isabella,” he said as he was about to enter.

She rushed and placed her hands between the door so he wouldn’t have the chance to slam it. “What do you want? Isabella, if you have something to say, spit it out and stop disturbing me!” he yelled at her, and she suddenly became emotional.

“Isabella, stop it. Just stop it. You don’t have to cry about every little thing. What exactly is bringing tears to your eyes? I just don’t want to be around you. You heard what Alex said. You saw the way he treated me, like I was a fool, despite the fact that we are not together because I cared about you,” he yelled as Isabella wiped her tears.

“I am not here because of Alex. I am here to talk to you as you. Because I believe that you are someone who would listen to me. At least listen to what I have to say. I am just trying to make things okay. I thought if I told Alex the truth, then everything would be okay for you. I never knew I was making things even more complicated. At least forgive me. I am really sorry that I did something like that. I am really sorry that I did not think about your job before trying to tell him the truth. I did not know that Alex was a cruel person who would want to tell everyone what happened and cause trouble for you. I never knew he was like that. You do know that I have no memories of us at all,” Isabella said, trying to make James understand.

Even though James had already made up his mind to stay as far away from Isabella as he could, he just could not do it now. He could not drive off and leave her there crying and pleading with him to give her a chance to talk. He gripped tightly to his will, feeling so angry at himself for being so in love with Isabella that he could not leave her helpless the way she had left him when she was with Alex.