Chapter 182: A False Alarm
Anthony's steps halted. His good mood evaporated. He frowned at Rachel. "You went to see Evelyn? What did she say?"
Rachel's voice was hollow. "The FitzRoy Group. Fushenlia's holding company. Alexander is from there."
Anthony understood each word individually, but strung together they somehow didn't make sense.
"This is what you can find publicly online about the FitzRoy Group." Rachel handed over the tablet, her smile uglier than tears. "Old money families value privacy more than their reputation. Information is locked down tight. Our circles can't access it. But I asked around through contacts. The current head of the FitzRoy Group is a young man. From the description... he sounds a lot like Alexander."
She looked up at Anthony with something close to despair. "We've messed with the wrong people. The Watson Group's current crisis—nine times out of ten, Alexander's behind it. If we don't figure something out, we might not make it to next year."
Only then did Anthony finally react. He found it both laughable and unbelievable. "You're saying the guy Arabella married for her second marriage is the head of the FitzRoy Group? How is that possible? Someone of that status—why would he look twice at her?"
Rachel fell silent.
She couldn't figure it out either. That woman had nothing going for her. She was even divorced, not even young anymore. How did she end up with a man that distinguished?
How had she even come into contact with him, let alone seduced him?
Rachel couldn't wrap her head around it.
But right now, that wasn't the point.
"Anthony, we need to beg Arabella for mercy." Rachel gritted her teeth, swallowing her humiliation. "Alexander going after the Watson family—Arabella must be pulling strings behind the scenes. Otherwise, why would someone of his stature personally bother with us? We've had too many conflicts with Arabella before. She wants us dead."
Anthony pressed his lips together, his expression cold and harsh. "I'll find a chance to talk to her."
If the man Arabella married really was the head of the FitzRoy Group—no, even if he wasn't the head, as long as he was from the FitzRoy family, Anthony would never have another chance to win her back.
After trying so hard for so long, he was deeply unwilling to accept this.
Thinking about how the woman he'd looked down on and dismissed had remarried someone a hundred times better than him made Anthony feel violent.
Rachel felt exactly the same way. The bitch she'd once trampled underfoot had somehow transformed into someone she now had to crane her neck to even see. It made her want to vomit.
She just had more time to process the news than Anthony, which was why she seemed calmer now.
At least she'd been smart enough to agree to the Green family's marriage proposal. Once she married into the Greens, the Watson family could take another huge step up.
Maybe in another ten years, the Watsons could rise with the tide and become something comparable to the FitzRoy Group.
Anthony said nothing more. He turned and headed upstairs, tossing back, "Don't worry about this anymore. Focus on the Green family. I'll talk to Mother tomorrow."
In other words, even if they had to apologize and beg Arabella, Rachel didn't need to be involved.
Rachel couldn't have asked for a better outcome. Making her bow her head to Arabella? Might as well kill her.
Arabella knew nothing about any of this. She slept well at Daisy's place. When she woke up the next morning, she felt completely refreshed.
Daisy had just finished filming and wanted to live in bed forever. When Arabella got ready for work, she was still sprawled out, rolling around. "Arabella, are you coming back tonight? Let's go out for a big dinner."
Arabella laughed as she changed her shoes. "No, I've avoided this long enough. Any longer would be ridiculous. I'm going back tonight to pack up and move out with Becky first."
Luckily, when she'd planned to move out before, she couldn't get her deposit back on that apartment. She'd paid three months upfront, and only half a month had passed.
Since she'd made the decision, she shouldn't drag it out. Hesitation only made things worse.
She was grateful for Alexander's help. For someone of his status to humble himself and accommodate her—she was touched. That he liked her made her happy. But incompatible was incompatible.
She couldn't handle the problems that came with their status gap, couldn't deal with complicated family dynamics. She just wanted to live a simple, stable life.
Throwing herself recklessly into love—once was enough.
Arabella kept telling herself this. Then she stepped outside Daisy's door and found Alexander waiting.
Her heart jumped. She stumbled backwards reflexively, nearly twisting her ankle in her heels. Alexander immediately reached out to steady her. Once she was stable, he stepped back like a gentleman.
Arabella clutched her purse, completely bewildered. "When did you get here?"
Alexander glanced at his watch. "Fifteen minutes ago."
Arabella blinked. "Why didn't you knock? You've just been standing out here waiting?"
Alexander smiled slightly. "Didn't want to disturb your rest."
Arabella had no response to that. She stared down at her toes for a moment before saying, "Why are you here? I still have to go to work. If it's not urgent, let's talk tonight."
Alexander couldn't see her face, only the crown of her head. Her soft brown hair fell loose, with a cute little cowlick in the middle.
A smile tugged at his lips despite himself.
"I can't wait until tonight."
Arabella felt inexplicably nervous.
Alexander kept staring at the top of her head, shaking his head helplessly. "Arabella, I've been so careful before, afraid of scaring you. I didn't even dare love you openly, terrified you'd run like a startled rabbit if you knew the truth."
His eyes deepened, his lips curving with determination. "Now that I don't have to worry about that anymore, I'm starting over. I'm going to pursue you properly this time."
Arabella's head snapped up in shock.
Alexander smiled at her, certainty flashing in his eyes. "You're planning to give up on me no matter what I do anyway, right? Might as well let me struggle a bit before I go down."
His voice wasn't loud, but it carried a decisive weight, like he was making a vow. It left Arabella feeling flustered.
She'd thought the hardest thing tonight would be Becky begging her not to divorce. She never expected this usually restrained man to have such a shameless side.
The Alexander in her memory was a gentleman who never forced anyone's hand or made things difficult.
"Don't panic. I'm just pursuing you, not demanding an immediate answer." Alexander looked at her, blinking. "After all, you have the right to reject me. But I also have the right to pursue you, don't I?"
Arabella didn't know how to respond. Alexander said, "How about you get in the car and we can talk on the way? You're going to be late if we keep this up."
Seeing her hesitate about getting in his car, he couldn't help laughing. "Arabella, setting everything else aside, we still have a cooperative friendship. Getting in my car shouldn't make you this defensive, right?"
Arabella realized he had a point. Hesitating would just make her look petty. She'd already made her decision—what was she afraid of, that he'd trick her?
After getting in the car, she was about to speak when Alexander handed her a bag. She opened it to find hot breakfast and milk.
Her hand froze. She was about to hand it back when Alexander said, "I picked it up on the way after dropping Becky at school. She kept worrying you wouldn't have breakfast, insisted I get you some too."
Arabella suspected he was making that up, but since he'd pulled Becky into it, she couldn't really say anything. She pulled her hand back, opened the food, and took a bite. "Becky really knows my taste."
Alexander's hand on the steering wheel paused briefly. Then he smiled.
He wasn't smiling because she'd caught him lying about Becky. He smiled because even though she'd called him out, she hadn't coldly thrown the food back at him.
What did that mean? It meant he had a chance. Daisy hadn't lied to him. Arabella did like him. As long as she liked him, he had a chance.
Having eaten his breakfast, Arabella felt a bit guilty about it—like she'd lost some moral high ground.
She'd planned to tell him in the car that two incompatible people shouldn't waste each other's time, but she couldn't bring herself to say it. She kept putting it off until they reached the office. As she got out of the car, she gave herself a pep talk: It's fine. I'm moving out tonight anyway. I'll tell him then.
Alexander rolled down the window and handed her a thermos. Arabella blinked. "What's this?"
"Chicken soup."
Arabella silently accepted it. "Thank you."
She had mild anemia—she'd forgotten how Alexander found out. After that, he'd started making her chicken soup every night for nutrition.
She hadn't gone home last night, but he'd still remembered to bring the soup for her.
Arabella felt another pang of regret that he wasn't an ordinary person. What a shame.
Love was the most beautiful and most cruel thing in the world. When you were head over heels, you'd do anything for the other person. But over time, everything changed.
When she and Anthony were dating, hadn't their relationship been good too? Look how that turned out.
She wouldn't make the same mistake again.
Her briefly wavering heart hardened in an instant. Arabella smiled at Alexander and thanked him. "Thank you."
Then she turned and entered the building.
Alexander watched her retreating figure. He didn't know why she'd suddenly grown distant. Everything had seemed fine in the car just moments ago.
He let out a soft sigh.
He'd used up all his sighs for a lifetime just trying to win over his wife.
Just then, a car that had been driving normally behind him suddenly accelerated crazily and slammed into him.
Alexander reacted immediately, but there was only so much a person could do in a split second. His car was hit so hard it flipped over. The airbag deployed. He lost consciousness.
At that moment, Arabella had just reached her floor. She heard the massive crash too. At first she didn't think much of it, but somehow her heart felt panicked. Instinctively, she ran to the window, squeezing in with coworkers to look outside.
"Holy crap, that's a serious crash. The car completely flipped. Think the person inside survived?"
"How did that car even hit them? Did you guys see? It just came out of nowhere."
"Doesn't look like a normal traffic accident."
Arabella listened to the scattered discussion around her, her eyes taking in the scene below. Her pupils constricted sharply.
Even from this height—over a dozen floors up—she recognized it instantly. The flipped car was Alexander's.
Her heart seized. She rushed to the elevators, but it was rush hour—they took forever. She pivoted and ran for the stairs instead, racing down in a panic.
All she could hear in her head was her coworker's voice: "Think the person inside survived?"
Alexander would be fine. Someone as capable as him—what was a little car accident? Even if he was injured, he could get the best doctors in the world to treat him. He'd be fine.
Arabella's heart pounded with anxiety. Her hands trembled from fear and tension. By the time she reached the ground floor, ambulances and police cars had already arrived.
The person had been pulled from the car and loaded onto a stretcher. Arabella heard someone nearby say, "Such a shame. So young, gone just like that."
Her heart lurched. Cold sweat broke out across her skin. Her face went pale as she looked over.
When she realized they were talking about the person in the other car, she exhaled sharply in relief. Her body went weak. She nearly collapsed.
The ambulance took off with its patient. Arabella hadn't gotten a good look at Alexander's injuries. She didn't dare delay the ambulance, so she frantically ran to the curb and hailed a taxi to follow it to the hospital.
At the hospital, she grabbed an ER nurse. "Where's the car accident victim they just brought in? How badly is he hurt?"
The nurse said, "You mean that young, handsome guy? He's fine. Just knocked unconscious, some minor scrapes. He's on a bed right over there. You can go see him."
Only then did Arabella feel a sense of reality returning. She stumbled toward where the nurse had pointed. When she saw the man lying on the bed—completely intact, a bit disheveled but very much awake and conscious—she couldn't hold it together anymore. She crouched on the floor and broke down sobbing.
Alexander had been pleasantly surprised to see her arrive. Then she just started crying without a word, which threw him into a panic. He tried to sit up to comfort her. "Arabella, I'm fine. Don't cry."
He wanted to get down and hold her, because she was crying so helplessly, like a little dog abandoned by the world. It broke his heart.
But before he could get out of bed, a passing nurse pushed him back down.
"Stay still! You're on an IV. Don't move around."
Arabella crouched on the floor, looking up at Alexander's helpless expression. She laughed through her tears.
Seeing her smile, Alexander's anxiety eased considerably. He looked at her helplessly. "Is it that funny?"
He beckoned to her. "Come here."
Maybe his tone was too weak. Arabella instinctively obeyed and moved closer.
But then he reached out and brushed her cheek, wiping away her tears. He sighed. "Don't worry. I'm okay."
In that moment, Arabella felt like everything else froze. The bustling ER, the passing patients and medical staff—it all became background noise.