Chapter 7: Two Handprints

Alex's lips curled up as he tried his best not to jump out of excitement when Eve finally let him inside the apartment. He followed her into the apartment and silently took a deep breath as he savored the scent of the love nest they had built together before everything came crashing down. 

Fortunately, the apartment was still in perfect condition, so he assumed that Pierre had a conscience to leave without destroying anything. 

He looked around and realized that the apartment's layout had remained exactly the same since he left two years ago; from the long corridor filled with many academic achievements (it was only Eve's now), down to the living room where they arranged the layout and furniture. 

Of course, Eve took out any of the signs that Alex had ever lived here before.

None of his achievements, paintings, and even the furniture he bought was anywhere to be seen inside the apartment, so he assumed that she threw it all into the dumpster. 

Thus, this apartment felt both familiar and unfamiliar to him. 

He continued walking one step slower behind Eve, marveling around the apartment, but mostly marveling at her. 

'You don't know how many times I have dreamt of your silhouette, Eve…' Alex thought as he recalled all of his dreams of Eve. He refused to call them nightmares despite all the screaming and yelling she made in those dreams. For him, it was always better to be yelled at by Eve rather than getting ignored. 'But by far, my favorite dream of you is when you walk away from me, so all I can see is your figure from the back. Because in this position, I wouldn't be able to see your tears.'

Alex wouldn't say any of this out loud, knowing that Eve loathed this sappy side of him, even more so after their messy breakup. 

Eve turned to the kitchen, and before Alex did the same, he noticed a painting hanging on the wall at the corner of his eyes. 

He stopped on his track and stared at the painting for a few seconds before walking towards it. 

Eve noticed that Alex didn't follow her anymore, she turned around and walked back to the living room, "Alex? Alex, where—"

Eve's heart skipped a beat when she saw Alex standing in front of a special painting.

Alex looked over his shoulder and smiled at Eve, "I didn't know that you still keep this painting. It must've been special for you, huh?"

It was a painting of two handprints of different colors overlaid. The smaller pink one was Eve's handprint, and on top of it was Alex's blue handprint. 

Under the handprint, there was a small note—a reminder that Alex had written for his beloved.

This is the start before we build our dreams together in this big city, and I will be by your side no matter what.

From A to E. 

That's right.

This painting was the first project they did in this apartment right after they moved in together. It was the witness of the burning desire that Alex had for Eve.

And he stayed true to those words written in the painting, even now. 

Eve quickly took the painting off the wall and stated, "I forgot to burn this one. It's nothing important anyway."

"You forgot for two years?" 

"I'm always busy with work. Do you think I have time to think about a meaningless painting?" Eve sneered. She opened the storage and put the painting inside. She quickly shut the storage door shut, making sure that Alex wouldn't be able to see what was inside. 

Alex was a bit sad when Eve said that she wanted to burn the painting, "If you don't want it, then can you give it to me? I can pay for it. Would a million dollars suffice?"

"That painting is not for sale," Eve insisted. "And that's right. I will burn it once I have time. It's just a remnant of the past from a filthy liar anyway."

Alex's lips thinned. He wanted to refute—no, he wanted to justify his lie back then, but he knew it'd only make her more hostile.

It was already hard just to convince her to let Alex help in this situation, so Alex decided to keep his lips zipped for now. 

"Anyway, I don't have time to squabble with you. Come with me to the kitchen, we can talk about the business deal you proposed just now," Eve said, and Alex followed her to the kitchen. 

She opened the fridge and took a can of iced coffee before tossing it to Alex.

Alex raised his brow as he caught the iced latte. He grinned stupidly, which made Eve frown.

"What? Do you not want that? I thought that was your favorite."

"Yes, I didn't expect you to still stock up this drink inside the fridge," Alex commented with a smile. "And you still remember what I like to drink."

Eve paused for a moment before making an exaggerated eye roll, "Don't flatter yourself. It is also Pierre's favorite drink, so I have to stock them up."

"I see…" Alex smiled, but deep down, he already knew that wasn't the case. Pierre was his cousin, and Alex knew that Pierre hated coffee or anything similar to it. 

Thus, he retained his smile, which made Eve uneasy, because that smile reminded her of the times they had together in this apartment.

Alex always wore that thin smile whenever he was in front of Eve. It gave the feeling that he was genuinely happy with all the time they spent together.

'But it was all a lie, of course,' Eve sneered. 'If he could lie about everything in his life, how am I supposed to believe that his love wasn't a lie?'

Eve could feel the heartache coming back, so she started the conversation as she wanted to get over this talk as soon as possible.

"So, why don't you tell me what kind of business meeting we're having right now? You said that you want to help me tackle this problem about Pierre."

"Right," Alex took a sip of the iced coffee and put it on the kitchen counter. He walked towards Eve as he said, "You and I know that Pierre is not a random man you can just sue. He has a lot of backing, especially from his father. My suggestion is, why don't you use me instead?"

Alex stopped right in front of Eve. He looked down at the petite woman and his smile deepened, "Use me as your weapon against him, Eve."