Chapter 1285 Ambiguity, the First Signs of Dominance

Chapter 1285 Ambiguity, the First Signs of Dominance

They were so in love.

Back then.

Victoria's breath caught. She just stood there, staring at him like a fool.

A man she'd barely met was inviting her to see his room. This was...

She was absolutely interested — of course she was — but still...

Wasn't this moving a little fast?

Victoria studied him for a long moment. She was attracted to him, sure, but that didn't make it appropriate.

"Relax. There's no tiger in my room."

He walked ahead.

One more door down, he stopped and turned to look at her. "Come on."

He opened the door. Victoria stepped to the side of the doorway and stopped. "Can we look at a different room?"

Alexander just smiled at her and said nothing.

She'd already weighed the pros and cons in the span of a few seconds and knew she wasn't in any real danger — but this was still a man's bedroom.

A man she was already dangerously attracted to. She knew she shouldn't go in.

It felt too loaded.

"You used to love running into my room when you were little."

Alexander didn't close the door. He simply turned and walked the other way.

Victoria stared at his back, and from the corner of her eye, she caught a brief glimpse of his room.

It felt like forbidden territory. A girl's forbidden territory.

By the time they'd made the rounds of the whole house, Victoria felt like she'd hit her daily step count.

Alexander's phone buzzed. He glanced at her. "Give me a second."

"Go ahead — I can find my way down on my own."

Victoria felt a little guilty for taking up so much of his time and wanted to give him some space.

"Just wait a minute."

Alexander said.

Victoria stood there watching him take the call. After a few sentences she could tell he was talking with a friend. Not knowing how long they'd be, she started drifting toward the elevator on her own.

Yeah — she was done with stairs for the day.

"Victoria."

She froze. Then slowly turned her head, caught completely off guard.

Victoria?

Why was he calling her by her first name like that?

Alexander ended the call and walked over. "You couldn't wait one minute?"

"No, I just didn't want to interrupt."

"You weren't."

He stood right in front of her and said it plainly. You weren't.

How was she supposed to read that any other way?

A man several years older than her had spent all this time walking her through his family home — and now he didn't want her to leave. Anyone would have read into that.

In that moment, Victoria felt herself fall completely.

She dropped her gaze, a little flustered, but still managed a small, polite smile.

Alexander leaned against the wall beside her. The hand closest to her shifted slightly — then stilled, both hands settling behind his back as he said, easy and unhurried, "Tired?"

"A little."

"Come with me."

Alexander took her up to the rooftop terrace, had one of the staff bring up snacks and drinks, and the two of them just sat there together.

Alexander set a small plate of pastries in front of her. "You had such a sweet tooth when you were little. Still?"

"Still."

Victoria picked one up. "Thank you."

Alexander took one too and bit into it, then let his gaze drift out toward the ocean in the distance.

Too long. That was what he thought, sitting there. This reunion — it had been too long in coming.

He'd almost gone to find her. More than once.

But then what? What would that even have meant, him showing up like that?

That was what Alexander had told himself.

And maybe it was for the best that he hadn't — she didn't even remember him.

Down below, the three women were still deep in conversation, but Victoria's mother had glanced toward the staircase more than once.

Victoria's father, worried his daughter might be getting herself into something, had just heard she was up on the rooftop with Alexander. He quickly cast about for an excuse. "Maximus, what do you say we head up top and take in the view?"

Maximus laughed. "Sure. Let me take you up."

When they got there, this was what they found: Victoria and Alexander, sitting side by side, just talking.

"You really don't remember me at all? Not even a little?"

"I'm sorry."

Maximus listened to his son and Victoria's exchange, and a quiet smile spread across his face. He leaned toward Jasper Kensington and murmured, "On the way to the airport, I asked him if he still remembered Victoria. He told me he had no idea who she was." He shook his head. "Turns out he was putting on an act the whole time."

"Though Victoria really doesn't seem to remember. She was too young back then."

"Jasper, travel's so easy these days. You really haven't considered it?"

"Doesn't matter how easy the flights are — she's still our only daughter."

The two men seemed to understand each other without saying much. Jasper and Maximus stood quietly behind the younger two and watched.

Alexander and Victoria weren't talking a lot either — until Victoria's phone rang.

She picked up, and something shifted in her instantly. Her voice went light and playful, and there was a loose, unguarded brightness in her eyes that hadn't been there before.

"Yeah, we're already in Ankenra City. We'll probably be staying at the Harrington Manor."

As she talked, Alexander slid a glass of juice in front of her. She gave him a small nod of thanks and kept going. "I know, I know — I'll be back before you have to worry. Kai, relax."

Whatever the person on the other end said made her laugh.

Alexander watched her in silence. If she keeps smiling like that, he thought, she's really not thinking about me at all.

Fortunately, she hung up not long after.

Alexander leaned back in his chair, thought it over, and finally asked, keeping his tone light, "Boyfriend?"

"No."

Victoria shook her head right away.

Alexander quietly let out a breath and looked out ahead.

"Fiancé."

He turned immediately. His expression cooled.

Victoria explained, "My parents love him. We have an arrangement."

"Ah."

Alexander's reply was flat.

The sky was getting dark. Victoria stood up, took one last look at the stretch of ocean glittering below, then turned to him. "Should we head down?"

"Sure."

Alexander had no desire to sit there any longer.

She had a fiancé?

And from the way she'd looked during that call — she seemed to genuinely like him?

She'd been so careful with Alexander the whole time.

That's probably how it is, he told himself. Victoria and I — we missed our window.

Before they went downstairs, Victoria instinctively began gathering the things on the table. She stacked the snack plates and picked up what she could — but the glasses were one too many.

She looked up at him. "Can you grab the cups?"

"Someone will come clear it."

Flat. Easy.

"If we bring them down, they won't have to make another trip up."

Growing up abroad, she'd always been taught to pull her own weight. Her parents never let her treat the help like they were invisible.

It wasn't something Alexander usually did — but this time, he picked up both glasses anyway.

He just couldn't explain the dull ache settling somewhere in his chest.

At the top of the stairs, he turned to look at her. "Are you actually going to marry this fiancé of yours?"

"Probably."

Victoria figured anything was possible.

"What if someone said to you, a long time ago, casually — 'when you grow up, you'll be my wife' — would that count as an engagement?"

Alexander turned to face her fully. When he did, his expression had gone completely serious.

"What?" Victoria stared at him, genuinely lost.

"That promise." He held her gaze. "It came from our family first."