Chapter 150
Just then, two female employees in business attire passed behind them, chatting away.
"Hey, did you see what was trending this morning? It was absolutely explosive!"
"Of course I saw it! Benjamin spotted on a late-night date with his ex—how could I miss something that juicy?"
The short-haired woman's voice shot up several notches with excitement.
"It's all over the internet now! They're saying the woman in those photos is Ms. Charlotte Johnson! Can you believe it?"
"I'd say it's pretty much confirmed at this point."
The other employee paused thoughtfully, then looked at her colleague with puzzlement.
"I just don't get it though. Why would Ms. Johnson still be getting cozy with her ex when she's already with Mr. Harris?"
"Especially when that ex is about to become her sister's husband!"
"God, what a mess!"
"Shh! Keep it down!" The short-haired employee suddenly spotted Alexander and Charlotte nearby. Her face went pale as she quickly covered her colleague's mouth and pulled her away.
But it was too late—Alexander had already heard every word.
The moment the truth hit him, his expression darkened dramatically.
No wonder Charlotte had suddenly shown up here, treating him with such coldness and hostility. She hadn't come to see him at all!
The realization felt like a massive hand squeezing his heart, suffocating him with pain so intense he couldn't breathe.
His grip on her wrist loosened. All the strength seemed to drain from his body in that instant, leaving only shock and devastation.
"So that's... that's how it is..."
Alexander let out a bitter, self-mocking laugh, his eyes filled with desolation.
For the past two days, he'd been tormented by her lies, yet he couldn't stop himself from wanting to do something—anything—for her, even when she pushed him away.
For two straight days and nights, he hadn't slept a wink, working tirelessly to find Victoria and solve her problems.
And what had she been doing?
While he was exhausting himself for her sake, she'd been entangled with his nephew again—causing this scandal!
She hadn't even come here to see him. She'd come for Benjamin.
All that coldness and anger—it was just her fury at being caught.
The thought chilled him to the bone. Even his voice carried a barely perceptible tremor.
"So, Charlotte, tell me—that news story is true, isn't it?"
He stared into her eyes, searching desperately for answers.
"You came here today to find Benjamin, not me. Isn't that right?"
Charlotte found his sudden accusation utterly absurd.
When she'd seen the news, she'd been frantic with worry, rushing here to explain. And what had she found? Him being intimate with another woman.
She'd tried to leave, but he'd stopped her to interrogate her. And now he had the audacity to accuse her?
A surge of uncontrollable rage and grievance shot through her, destroying what little composure she had left.
"So what if I did? So what if I didn't? How is that any of your business?"
"Charlotte!" Her dismissive attitude completely ignited Alexander's fury. His fists clenched, his eyes bloodshot. "What do you take me for? Do you even—"
He stopped mid-sentence, his eyes brimming with anguish.
The words stuck in his throat, impossible to voice.
"No." Charlotte's tone was exceptionally cold, her voice laden with bitterness. "How would I dare presume anything with someone as important as Mr. Harris?"
"So from the very beginning, I've only seen Mr. Harris as a backer—as a tool to establish myself in Imperial City!"
"Well? Are you satisfied with that answer?"
The moment those words left her mouth, Alexander felt his heart hollow out completely. He stared at her face, desperate to find even a trace of pretense.
But there was nothing. Nothing but cold mockery.
Despair slowly rose from the depths of his heart, freezing the blood in his veins.
He suddenly remembered how she'd trembled in that basement, whispering "I'm begging you." He remembered all those moments when she'd unconsciously shown him dependence and trust.
Had it all been fake? All an act to use him?
The thought made breathing feel impossible.
As if unwilling to accept it, as if still desperately hoping, he finally asked the question that had haunted him all along—the one he'd never dared voice.
"Charlotte, tell me..." Alexander's voice was hoarse, his eyes filled with anguish. "Have you ever had feelings for me? Even once?"
The air froze.
Charlotte looked at the desolate despair in his eyes, and her heart seized violently.
For a moment, she wanted to tell him the truth—that it was all lies, that she'd come here to find him, that she wasn't entirely without feelings for him...
But then Chloe's shrill screaming flashed through her mind. The vicious online attacks. His picture-perfect moment with that other woman. His complete lack of trust in her. Scene after scene flickered through her memory like a film reel, extinguishing that impulse completely.
She was exhausted. Utterly drained.
So she took a deep breath and slowly curved her lips into something cruel.
"Feelings?"
"Alexander, let me be perfectly clear: I have never, not once, had any feelings for you."
"Never."
Those words were like the sharpest ice pick, shattering all of Alexander's remaining hope in an instant.
Time seemed to stretch infinitely. The Harris Group's first-floor lobby bustled with people—hushed conversations and curious glances blurred into mere background noise.
In Alexander's world, only Charlotte's face remained—cold and resolute.
The light in his eyes dimmed bit by bit until nothing remained but emptiness.
So it really had all been a joke.
His clenched fists slowly opened. He straightened his back, his expression gradually smoothing into something blank. Only his ashen complexion betrayed his inner turmoil.
Without another word to Charlotte, he turned and walked away, brushing past her toward the woman he'd abandoned earlier.
Charlotte felt as if a gaping hole had been torn in her heart. Cold wind rushed through it, spreading an endless chill through her entire body.
She stood frozen, watching helplessly as he approached that woman and murmured something to her.
Then, side by side, they walked toward the exit.
Not once did he look back at her. It was as if he'd completely vanished from her world.