Loving The Heartless Man

Chapter 27

Elara Pov

As my mother-in-law said, we rested first after eating. And after we had enough rest, we prepared to go snorkeling. We were supposed to go island hopping, but our tour guide suddenly had an emergency, so instead of island hopping, we just went snorkeling for now. We'll continue island hopping tomorrow. But it's okay because we still enjoyed snorkeling.

After dinner, I immediately went into the room I shared with Alexander. My mother-in-law and Sam also went to their own room while Edzel and Alexander decided to go to the nearest bar from our hotel, and of course, Hannah wouldn't allow herself to be left out and come with them.

I took a bath, and after getting dressed, I went out to the terrace. I let my wet hair dry naturally in the breeze.

As I stared into the darkness of the night, I couldn't help but think about my situation. Until now, I still can't believe that I married the man I despise and who is the reason why I developed social anxiety disorder.

At first, I was so angry with him and vowed to take revenge on him someday. But now that we are living under the same roof, my hatred for him suddenly disappeared. Although my anger towards him hasn't completely vanished, it can no longer be categorized as hatred. Liam will surely scold me if he learn about this.

I had been standing on the terrace for almost an hour, and my hair was nearly dry from the strong wind when, out of nowhere, a blanket suddenly wrapped around my body.

"Why are you still outside and not sleeping? It's cold here. You might get sick," said Alexander as he placed a blanket on me. I was deep in thought, so I didn't notice him entering our room.

"I'm just drying my hair," I replied briefly. It's a miracle that he's treating me well today.

"How's the planning of your presentation for your design?" he asked while looking down at the hotel. He was referring to the design I will present for the bidding of his company's new uniform.

"When I return to work, we'll start brainstorming to create a good design and comfortable uniform for your company's employees."

"Well, good luck! Do your best to win the bidding."

I just nodded at him in response. I didn't expect us to speak casually and not throwing insults at each other, especially him towards me. It feels like the old Alexander Reed, who was close to me before, has returned.

A few minutes of silence prevailed between the two of us. I was starting to feel a bit uneasy. I glanced at him and discovered that he was staring at me intently.

"Why? Is there something you want to say?" I pretended to furrow my brow to hide the unease I was feeling. Why is he staring at me so intently? I'm not used to it. I'm more accustomed to his sharp looks at me.

"Uhm," Alexander slightly cleared his throat before speaking again. "What did you do after that night," he asked hesitantly.

The topic he suddenly opened was sensitive, which is probably why he was hesitant to ask.

"What do you mean that night?" Even though I knew what he was referring to, I pretended not to understand his question. Why did he start that topic when I was trying to avoid remembering what happened, even though it was hard to do so?

"You know. The last time we saw each other."

I laughed slightly to ease the pain in my chest that was slowly rising.

"Oh. Well, what else can I do but go home while crying? You humiliated me that night, right?" I couldn't help but let bitterness seep into my tone. I took a deep breath to ease the tightness in my chest. Until now, I still feel the shame I experienced that night.

"That night—"

"Why did you do that back then? Until now, that question still lingers in my mind." Maybe it's time for me to know the reason why he did that thing. "I mean, we used to be close to each other. And then suddenly, you accused me of things I didn't do. You could have rejected me in a nice way and not like that if you don't really like me."

I tightly clenched my fist that Alexander couldn't see. I forced myself to keep my voice casual as if I was just talking to him about something normal.

"The truth is, that day, a schoolmate of ours showed me your picture together with him. You were both lying in bed and your naked bodies were covered with a blanket. He said you had been in a relationship for a long time and that you planned to get close to me because of my money. I was very furious at that time. I was still young and impulsive, so I managed to embarrass you in front of many people," Alexander explained at length. "I'm sorry. It was Dario who showed the picture to me," he added in a soft voice.

I laughed weakly and bitterly. "At least now I know the reason why you did that."

The photo that Dario showed him was not true. And even what he told him was not true either. But he immediately believed it without confronting me if what he saw and heard from that man was true. He ignored the years of our close friendship.

Dario is my persistent suitor. But I have rejected him several times, yet he still refuses to stop courting me. He probably noticed that I had feelings for Alexander back then, so he did something that would ruin me in Alexander's eyes, which indeed happened. After that night, Dario never showed himself to me again. It turns out he was one of the reasons why I was so humiliated that night.

"I want to know if what I saw and what Dario told me is true, Elara."

"For what? Whether you find out or not, and whether it's true or not, it won't change what happened. You already humiliated me, and I suffered from it," I quickly replied to him. If only he tried to find out the truth whether it was true or not before he took action, I wouldn't have developed social phobia. I wouldn't have grown distant from my mother, and I could have been with them as I grew up. "But don't worry because it was from the past. Let's just bury them all. And our contract agreement will still continue. After six months, we will divorce and go our separate ways.

I heard Alexander's deep sigh beside me. It seemed like he wanted to say something but couldn't bring himself to do so.

"It's already late. It's too dewy, so let's go inside," he said after several deep sighs.

Without a word, I followed what he said. I went into the room and lay down on the bed. I won between the two of us because I got to lie on the bed while he would lie on the sofa. For sure his back would hurt because he's a big guy and his whole body won't fit on the sofa.

I've been lying in bed for a few minutes but sleep still hasn't come to me. I listened to see if Alexander was already asleep or still awake. Based on the sound of the sofa, I could tell he was still awake.

I couldn't help but be startled when someone suddenly knocked on our room door.

"Alex? Elara? Are you two still awake?" It was Alexander's mother who was knocking on the door.

Alexander panicked and quickly got up from the sofa and ran towards me. He jumped onto the side of the bed and hugged me tightly. My eyes widened at what he did and my whole body suddenly felt goosebumps when I felt his warm body. I cursed softly in my mind because of my unexpected reaction to our body contact.