Chapter 108 You Are Just an Ex-Husband!
Anthony's gaze was fixed intensely on Alexander's hand around Arabella's waist. It took him a long moment to look away, a flash of coldness in his eyes that he quickly suppressed.
"Just happened to see you, so I came over to say hello." Anthony smiled at Arabella, asking with concern, "Why are you at the hospital? Are you feeling unwell?"
Arabella now kept her distance from him. "I'm feeling fine."
Her indifference made Anthony somewhat displeased. His gaze fell on Becky as he inquired, "You adopted this child?" He seemed to have seen this child at the wedding that day.
Arabella really didn't feel there was anything worth discussing with him and didn't want to answer any of his questions. She said coolly, "That's none of your business."
With that, she actively grabbed Alexander's wrist, saying quietly, "Let's go."
As Alexander turned around, he deliberately glanced at Anthony when she wasn't paying attention. 'You're already history!'
Anger surged in Anthony's heart as he suddenly called out coldly, "Arabella, what can he give you by following him? A small-time salesman—no matter how capable, that's all the salary he gets. How much can he earn? A hundred thousand? A million? You used to spend hundreds of thousands on a single dress. Look at what kind of life you're living now!"
Arabella stopped in her tracks, turned to look at the man behind her, finding it quite amusing. "Mr. Watson, we're divorced. The way we fought during the divorce, and now you're saying this to me—what's that supposed to be? If you want to mock me for not living as well after divorce, I can tell you that compared to the luxurious life I had with you, I prefer my simple, ordinary daily life now."
Anthony sneered dismissively. "No woman in this world doesn't like money."
Arabella didn't know what madness had seized him. When they were still married, she'd tried everything to get him to say even one more word to her. Now that they were divorced and she'd finally moved on, he kept appearing before her like a persistent flea, saying incomprehensible things.
She didn't believe he'd suddenly had a change of heart. His love for Cassidy was stronger than gold—she'd already experienced that and would never dream such dreams again. Besides, even if he really had a change of heart, she'd only find it ridiculous. Late-arriving affection—she wouldn't want it anymore.
At this moment, she felt they had nothing in common to discuss, not even wanting to maintain surface-level peace. She grabbed Alexander to leave.
But unexpectedly, Alexander's hand gently covered hers, not moving. Then he gently removed her hand.
Arabella looked at him in astonishment, only to see Alexander stride toward Anthony. He was half a head taller than Anthony, his sturdy build making Anthony look like a child. Anthony's eyes turned cold, about to speak, when Alexander unexpectedly grabbed his collar.
Anthony's expression immediately turned ugly as he warned darkly, "Let go!"
Alexander ignored his words, looking at him with calm indifference. "You ask what I can give her? I can give her respect and trust. When the world abandons her, I can stand by her side without hesitation, protect her, care for her. I can give everything for her regardless of consequences. Everything I have can be hers. Can you?"
His voice was low, his tone measured, like a dormant beast facing a small animal's tantrum with complete indifference.
But Anthony's eyes turned bloodshot hearing these words, because they were like ten thousand needles piercing the part of himself he found hardest to admit. That he really hadn't been that good to Arabella! Respect, trust, giving her everything—he'd never done any of it.
Resentment and shame filled his heart as he threw a punch at Alexander's face! His movement was swift, but Alexander reacted faster, catching Anthony's arm. Anthony's momentum dissipated mid-air, his eyes turning terrifyingly cold. "Worthy of a salesman indeed—that mouth can really talk, making yourself sound so noble. What the hell are you!"
Alexander smiled slightly, his tone carrying a hint of pride. "I may be nothing special, but I'm her husband, while you're just an ex-husband. Since you're an ex, know your place and stop jumping around making people sick. A good ex-husband should be like he's dead."
"Damn you!" Anthony couldn't hold back anymore, swinging wildly, determined to teach him a lesson! Unfortunately, both his hands were restrained by Alexander, and no matter how angry he got, he couldn't land a punch.
Alexander firmly controlled his hands, leaning down to speak in a voice only he could hear, word by word: "Stay away from her, if you want to be safe."
His voice was light, but the trace of cold dominance in his tone made Anthony pause. Anthony inexplicably felt his spine crawl, but thinking of the other man's identity, he figured it was just bluffing and snorted, "You... you're just a small salesman, and you dare threaten me?"
Alexander smiled faintly. "Seems like when the Watson family was cornered in the business world, you didn't learn your lesson."
Anthony's expression changed dramatically. But Alexander had already released him, lifting his chin as a reminder: "Your newlywed wife is here. Explain this scene yourself, but don't involve Arabella."
He looked up, glanced at Cassidy in the distance, then turned to grab Arabella's wrist and led her away.
Arabella was completely dazed. She wasn't usually slow or dense, but somehow when she was with Alexander, she was always caught off guard by his actions. She asked curiously, "What did you say to Anthony just now?" Their voices had been very low at the end—she hadn't heard anything.
Alexander chuckled softly. "Just told him to stay away from you." After saying this, he glanced at her inconspicuously, and seeing no strange expression on her face, he quietly breathed a sigh of relief.
Arabella said, "That man is very arrogant and doesn't listen to others. Talking to him is a waste of effort." She practically had "Anthony doesn't understand human speech" written on her face.
Alexander felt an indescribable secret joy at her reaction, having worried she'd blame him for meddling. Looking at her, his voice became gentle: "It's okay. If he doesn't listen once, we'll tell him more times. Say it enough, and he'll remember eventually."
Of course, the consequences of saying it too many more times weren't something ordinary people could bear.
Arabella was deeply moved. Alex was just an ordinary person, yet he'd confronted someone of Anthony's status head-on for her sake. This would surely affect his career somewhat, right?
Thinking this, she couldn't help but say emotionally, "Sis, you're really so manly! Way manlier than Philip."
If he were a man, she'd definitely fall in love with him! Wait, that wasn't quite right—she should say if he liked women, she wouldn't mind making their fake relationship real. What a pity.
Alexander's smile froze for a moment. Sis—she called him sis again. What kind of image did he have in her eyes?
Alexander couldn't help but shudder, quickly driving those terrible thoughts from his mind. Just as he was about to change the subject, he saw Arabella looking at him with eager anticipation. That expression suggested she had something to say but was hesitant to speak.
Alexander didn't want her to feel distant with him and hoped she'd say whatever was on her mind. He softened his voice and asked, "What's wrong? You can speak directly."
Encouraged, Arabella cleared her throat softly, moved closer to him, and asked curiously, "Alex, are you a top or bottom?"
Seeing Alexander's instantly changed expression, she quickly waved her hands. "If you don't want to answer, that's fine. I was just curious for a moment. If I offended you, just pretend you didn't hear it."
It was just that he and Philip gave such different impressions—that's why she was curious. She knew Philip was a bottom, but Alexander was hard to guess. Sometimes he was gentle and considerate like a bottom, other times domineering like a top.
She'd been curious for a long time but hadn't dared ask. She was just taking this opportunity to satisfy her curiosity. Besides, she felt that having known Alex for so long, and with them probably living together in the future, asking such questions shouldn't cross any boundaries.
But seeing Alexander's unpredictable expression, she figured she'd probably offended him after all.
"Um, if it's inconvenient to say, that's fine..." Arabella awkwardly touched her nose, trying to make amends. "People can like men or women—it doesn't matter. What's important is finding true love."
Alexander's expression was stiff as he managed a difficult response.
This was what they meant by lifting a rock only to drop it on your own foot. The reason he'd originally used to approach her had become a boomerang aimed straight at his heart.
He should have used a different excuse—being penniless and homeless seeking shelter would have worked! How had he listened to those troublemaker friends' instigation to approach her as gay? This was the most ill-conceived thing he'd ever done in his life, bar none.
Alexander felt incredibly frustrated but didn't dare show it in front of Arabella. After sending Arabella and Becky home, he called out the troublemaker friends who'd given him that terrible idea: "Everyone come out—drinks are on me."
Meanwhile, at the hospital, Anthony watched Arabella and Alexander leave hand in hand, his expression shifting unpredictably. Just then, Cassidy approached. She'd just witnessed the scene of Alexander restraining Anthony and already had her calculations, but her face remained gentle as she asked, "Tony, what happened just now?"
Anthony withdrew his gaze, saying heavily, "Nothing."
Disappointment immediately flashed in Cassidy's eyes. She'd thought Tony would explain to her—after all, Arabella had been standing right there. She didn't want to misunderstand, but such a coincidental situation made it natural for her to overthink, right? He clearly knew she'd seen, yet he wouldn't even give her an explanation?
Cassidy wasn't willing to be brushed off like this and probed tentatively, "I think I saw Arabella just now. I was far away, so I'm not sure if I saw correctly."
She shouldn't have mentioned it, but bringing up Arabella inevitably reminded Anthony of being restrained by Alexander earlier. He'd never been so humiliated, especially in front of Arabella! Plus the content of what Alexander had said...
Anthony's face turned iron-blue as he gritted his teeth. "You saw wrong." After a pause, he turned to look at Cassidy and asked, "How's Molly?"
Such obvious topic deflection—how could Cassidy not understand? But since Anthony didn't want to discuss it further, she could only temporarily suppress her displeasure.
"She's already in surgery." Cassidy explained the situation. "The doctor said her head was injured with bleeding in the back of her skull requiring minor surgery. The rest are external injuries. Oh, and her lower leg is fractured too."
Anthony's expression was dark as he remained silent. Cassidy couldn't guess what he was thinking. After hesitating, she sighed, "Molly is so pitiful—she's only ten years old. I thought bringing her to the Watson family would give her a fresh start... If I'd known Mom would be like this, I wouldn't have brought her over."
Hearing this, Anthony gently embraced her, saying after a long moment, "You're not wrong. You were just being kind-hearted, helping a child in need. You did nothing wrong. I've been too lenient with Mom, letting her become increasingly lawless."
He couldn't forget the scene of Jennifer brutally beating Molly when he'd gone downstairs—it was identical to three years ago. He suddenly realized he'd been too indulgent with his mother all along. No matter what she did, he was always cleaning up after her, making her increasingly reckless.
Bullying Arabella and Cassidy was one thing, and he wouldn't interfere with her throwing her weight around at home, but nearly beating Molly to death—that was a wake-up call. He didn't want a repeat of what happened three years ago. If he hadn't happened to go downstairs and stop her violence today, Molly might not have survived.
The more Anthony thought about it, the more frightened he became. Previously, he'd only planned to talk to Jennifer about Cassidy, but now he felt it might be better to isolate her temporarily. She couldn't continue being lawless.
Thinking this, he asked Cassidy, "How long will Molly's surgery take?"
Cassidy replied, "About three hours."
Anthony nodded. "Stay here with her. I'll go back for a bit."
Cassidy looked worried, holding onto him. "Tony, what's wrong? Did something happen? I'm really worried about you like this."
Anthony's heart softened. He smiled, gave her a gentle kiss on the forehead, and soothed her: "I'm going to handle some things. Wait for me to come back."
Cassidy could only nod, watching him leave.
At a high-end club, Alexander sat in the top-floor private room. Blake arrived first, and as soon as he pushed open the door, a crystal wine glass came flying straight at his face. Blake jumped in fright, quickly dodging aside as the crystal glass crashed to the floor. He couldn't help cursing, "Damn, who did that? Are you sick?"
Looking up to meet Alexander's cold, indifferent blue eyes, he shrank back. "Alex, don't take your sexual frustration out on me."