Chapter 43: A New Dilemma

Isabella did not know how else she was going to do it, but she knew she had to escape from James no matter what because clearly he was trying to intimidate her and wanted to put her in trouble. She smiled at him in a pretentious way and pushed herself away from him. 

“You can't force me to talk to you. Yes, you snubbed me for weeks and then you traveled, and all of a sudden you're acting like we are best of friends or we are so close. We are not close.”

“You are the one who broke the promise, who broke the deal between the both of us, and yet you're acting like it is my fault. Of course, from the start, even before we started this deal, you already knew that I had someone. So don't act like you're surprised and please don't get me in any problem with him because if you do, then I won't let you go scot-free because I would also drag you with me.” 

Isabella warned and was about to leave, but James was feeling very vengeful as he pulled her back. 

“You can't tell me what to do and you cannot command me on what I want. Yes, you cannot escape me either. And if I wanted Alex to find out, I would have done it a long time ago. Not just finding out or making sure that he won't even implicate me in any way, but instead, you'll be the only one at fault, and I'd continue to live my life. So I only want to warn you for wanting to not try to escape from me and not try to ever end the deal between the both of us. Because I noticed your character recently, and it seems as though you want to end everything. I just wanted to remind you, you cannot end everything. And yes, in case you think maybe I am surprised to see you here, I am not even a little bit surprised because I expected you here. I knew the minute I saw the name that this was Alex's aunt that my uncle was getting married to. So I waited patiently. I knew you'd want to be the diligent girlfriend to Alex and come to the wedding because clearly, you would be invited and then we would get to meet. I waited patiently. If I wanted to let him know, I would have done it even before you found out that I was at this wedding and he is my uncle. Do you understand?” 

James said to Isabella as she clenched her hands in a tight fist, hoping that all this would just end. Because at this moment, she had no way of backing up her words or even going against him. She couldn't even oppose whatever he said. 

All she could do was just nod and fake a smile, hoping she could leave there. Just as she turned around, about to turn the knot of the door, she heard a knock again. 

“What are you still doing inside here? Isabella? We are waiting for you. The car has been waiting for a while. You told me you just wanted to use the bathroom quickly and now it is taking hours. Please come out already or I would leave you and you would have to find your way around in this city.” 

Alex won as Isabella turned back to James, who folded his arms, standing confidently. That was a clear trait to tell her that he was not going to move, and even if she opened the door and Alex ended up seeing him, he would still not change anything. 

“Go ahead,” he muttered to her as she held onto the door tightly. 

“Fine, I would continue the deal with you; we would continue what we have always done. But please do not get me in trouble, not yet because it will be a huge disgrace. Alex's mom must not find out. She trusts me too much to ever find out something like this. So please let all this just end.” 

Isabella said to him as James's frown immediately turned to a smile. That was what he wanted. He wanted to hear those words from her, and he had finally gotten it. 

He smiled and then stepped back as he entered one of the female toilets. Isabella quickly opened the door and looked at Alex, who looked worried as he stared into the toilet and yet did not see anything. 

“What delayed you? I had a runny stomach.” 

Isabella pretended as she walked past him. 

Alex scanned the toilet again to be sure that nobody was there before he finally nodded and just closed the door. Walking behind Isabella, he noticed she was a bit scared and was shaking, and yet again her hands were not wet. 

“You said you had a running stomach, which clearly meant you used the bathroom. Does that mean you have been standing there for minutes to the extent that your hands dried or you just did not wash your hands? Which of them?” 

He asked her. She became speechless, unable to say anything. She had no words to back up what just happened. 

Instead, she just pretended. 

“I-I had a napkin with me.” 

Isabella quickly had an idea. She lied, adding a smile to it so that Alex could believe her. But she did not even need to bother herself because Alex had already thought she had clearly used a napkin since she was the kind of person who always took a napkin around with her. 

“Oh, that is actually good. I already thought so. I just wanted to confirm with you.” 

Alex said as he walked ahead of her to open the car door for her, which she gave a sigh of relief, thanking God that she was not involved or caught in anything, and Alex still trusted her. 

Which was true because Alex would not think at all that she would do anything suspicious again after everything they had talked about and after they had made an agreement that they would stay faithful to each other. 

Just then, as Isabella entered the passenger seat and Alex was about to also enter and drive off, James walked out casually as he walked towards his own family car. He smiled at Isabella and then winked at her as she held onto the hem of her dress in fright, hoping that Alex would not see. 

Meanwhile, Alex was still putting on his seat belt just as he was about to look up, and James was still walking slowly. Isabella quickly disrupted him as she pecked him on the cheek, making Alex surprised. 

“What was that for?” 

He questioned. 

“Can't I just act romantic to you sometimes?” 

Isabella lied as she still held onto both his cheeks firmly, hoping that James would walk away, but yet he still casually took his time as he walked past their car and then got to his before he drove off. 

Then Isabella let go of Alex. 

Alexander arranged her seat belt. 

“You have clearly been acting weird, but that is good.” 

Alex said to her with a cheesy smile as they drove off. 

Isabella thanked God that this had ended. Now she was more than sure that James's family and Alex's family were intertwined, and even Alex was not aware of it. 

She just hoped it would stay a secret for as long as possible, if possible. For as long as she and James would continue up until it would all come to an end and she would finally be free from him. 

She just had to wait a few while. After all, she had just a few more years in the university, and if she could cope with James, then she would be able to escape everything he had in plan for her, she thought as they drove off. 

But Isabella's fate was never going to be that way. The minute she had got herself intertwined with Professor James whilst trying to keep her faithfulness to Alex, everything in her life began to crumble. Mostly now that Alex and James were now connected by being stepfamilies in laws to each other.