Chapter 4

After two seconds of silence, Alexander spoke cautiously,

"Maddie developed severe complications after the car accident. She has aplastic anemia... The doctor said she needs a bone marrow transplant immediately to survive. Blair, you're the only one who's a match."

Hearing this, I closed my eyes tightly, enunciating each word with chilling clarity as I spoke,

"Alexander, let's break up. From this moment on, I never want to see you again."

Alexander sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose in exasperation.

"Blair, you're thirty years old. Can you stop throwing these childish tantrums?”

“Weren't you the one always nagging me about going to Europe for our honeymoon? I promise I'll make time to take you when work isn't so busy. That should satisfy you, shouldn't it?"

Just as he finished speaking, Alexander's phone vibrated.

It was a flirtatious voice message from Madison:

[Alex, my passport came in! Are you really going to take me to Paris? I heard that's where Blair's parents met and fell in love~]

"Of course. Pack your bags. We're leaving tonight."

Alexander replied with a voice message, his tone brooking no argument as he rushed for the door:

“Blair, I have to go on a last-minute business trip. Our wedding in seven days will have to be postponed. We’ll discuss a new date when I get back.”

There were no arguments, no pleas for him to stay.

The moment his back disappeared from view, I silently opened my hand, my palm stinging where my own nails had pierced the skin.

Late at night, at JFK International Airport.

Standing in the waiting area, I received a message from Alexander:

“The weather’s gotten cold in New York City, so I ordered you a new cashmere scarf. I’ll have my assistant deliver it to the house tomorrow.”

I thought of the haute couture dress Madison had posted on Instagram half an hour ago. A scarf was the only thing missing.

I let my phone screen go dark and didn't reply.

Just then, someone gently hugged me from behind.

“Blair, I’m back.”

I turned, about to speak, only to see Alexander and Madison not far away, walking hand in hand toward the VIP lounge.

I withdrew my gaze, serenely accepting my new fiancé's kiss upon my forehead.

I allowed him to lead me out of the airport.

Alexander, I wish you a safe journey and a happy ending with your true love.

And I wish myself a happy marriage and a lifetime of growing old together.

...

Paris, George V Hotel, Presidential Suite.

"Alex, are you still feeling dizzy? Maybe we should go to the hospital and get it checked out?"

Faced with Madison's genuine concern, Alexander gently squeezed her palm and said softly,

"It's nothing, I just haven't been resting much lately. Don't worry, wherever you want to go these next few days, I'll be right there with you."

A pleased look crossed Madison’s face as she pouted,

"I'm going to sing you a lullaby to help you fall asleep and rest."

Hearing the word "lullaby," Alexander couldn't help but think of a childhood nursery rhyme.

He couldn't quite remember how the nursery rhyme went anymore.

All he remembered were the little girl’s doe-like, trusting eyes just before he lulled her to sleep.

As the memory surfaced, the dizziness and unease that had been plaguing Alexander all this time inexplicably intensified.

In truth, he knew perfectly well that all of this discomfort stemmed from the slender figure he had glimpsed at the airport.

If not for the fact that the silhouette was being held tightly in the arms of a tall man.

He really would have thought that person was me.

While Madison was in the shower, he opened WhatsApp.

Alexander discovered I hadn't replied to his message about the scarf.

What was this supposed to be?

Giving him the silent treatment?

He curled his thin lips into a cold sneer, scoffing as he tossed his phone aside and walked into the bathroom to playfully join Madison in the bubble-filled tub.

For the next three solid days.

Alexander put all his work aside, wholeheartedly accompanying Madison all over most of Paris.

On the evening of their fourth day abroad.

Madison, having bought postcards, nestled blissfully in Alexander's arms, writing a boastful letter to her best friend in New York.

After Madison fell asleep, an idle Alexander pulled out a blank postcard. As if possessed, he wrote a single name:

Blair…

His pen froze. His face cold, he crumpled the postcard into a ball and tossed it into the trash.

Day five of the trip.

Madison, dressed in sexy lace lingerie, stood before Alexander, her cheeks prettily flushed.

"Alex, I know you're afraid of hurting me, so you've been holding back from going all the way…

But… I really want to be your woman."

Faced with Madison's sincere confession, he kissed her, a familiar gesture, and spent hours caressing her tenderly.

Yet, he never crossed that final line—a line he held for someone he couldn't name—until she finally cried herself to sleep.

Dawn on the sixth day of his trip.

Alexander called his subordinate in New York City and asked casually,

"Has Blair been acting like her old self, showing up at the office to cry and make a scene when she can't find me?"

His subordinate hesitated for a good while before finally saying,

"Mr. Knight, the future Mrs. Knight hasn't been to the company at all recently."

His grip on the phone tightening imperceptibly, Alexander scoffed,

"Is that so?" he snapped. "Good. She's finally learned some sense."

After hanging up, Alexander dove straight into the infinity pool and swam until he was utterly exhausted, only then climbing out to return to his room.

Day seven of the trip.

With his arm around Madison, Alexander strolled through the winding streets of a foreign city.

The sweet sight of them talking and laughing led every vendor to mistake them for newlyweds.

Until a woman in an apricot-colored long dress appeared on the opposite side of the street.

"Blair, I was wondering why you've been so quiet lately. So you bought a plane ticket to follow..."

With a look of utter contempt, Alexander rushed behind the woman and spun her around without a shred of courtesy—

Only to realize with a shock that he had the wrong person.

The woman looked nothing like me.

But because of a dress of the same style—one he utterly despised, yet I always loved to wear.

He had actually ignored the dangerous flow of traffic, recklessly rushing across.

After the strange woman left, Alexander, who had been standing there stunned for a long while, finally noticed his phone had been vibrating continuously.

It was his group chat with his buddies on WhatsApp, and they were blowing it up.

Annoyed, he tapped into the chat, on the verge of leaving the group.

But then he saw a photo that made his eyes widen in a blind rage.