Chapter 285 I Do Not Hate You
Courtney turned to leave after speaking her mind.
Where are you going?”
“That’s none of your business,” she sounded livid. With that, she held onto her skirt to walk down the stairs—she was preparing to leave the cocktail party and the hotel straight away.
Just as she was about to enter the elevator, Alexander caught up with her. However, she was quick to close the elevator doors and he was left standing outside. He had no choice, but to stare helplessly as the elevator descended swiftly. Soon, it stopped on the first floor.
By the time he descended to the hotel entrance via another elevator to chase after her, she had already entered the car. Through the car window, he could vaguely make out a man’s side profile before he clenched his fists tightly in anger and he took out his phone to call her.
The car drove away from the downtown area, which was crowded with people, when Courtney’s phone would not stop ringing in the car.
“Aren’t you going to answer that?” the man sitting beside her asked.
She immediately declined the call while turning sideways to look at Isaac. “No worries. Just drop me at the intersection in front. I’ll grab a cab to head home.”
“I’ll send you home.” He looked uneasy. “It’s late and it is not safe out here.”
“No need.” Courtney flatly refused. “You know why I entered your car earlier. We do not have to be polite with each other.”
“I am not being polite.”
She shot him a look and he could see the invisible barrier between them.
Isaac was trying to explain himself, but the words disappeared from the tip of his tongue when he saw her gaze. “Courtney, I need to tell you something.”
She frowned at him. “If it’s about the past, I don’t want to talk about it anymore. It is already in the past, so there’s nothing to talk about.”
“I know.” Isaac looked up and he stared at Courtney. “I know that I deserve it. Previously, I was blinded when I hooked up with Vanessa. However, in the years that you have left me, I realized that you are the one whom I truly love all long. I can’t be faithful to any woman apart from you.”
“What are you trying to say?”
“I know that this sounds out of the blue, but if it’s possible, I just hope that you won’t hate me.”
He has been beating around the bush for so long and I was wondering what he was planning to say. In the end, he’s humbly asking me not to hate him. Courtney regarded Isaac and she realized that time and life had caused the once warm and confident boy from school to fade away. In fact, she could not sense the high spirits that he used to have. I suddenly can’t even recall why I fell for him all those years ago.
“I do not hate you.” She broke the silence after a long pause. “I have never resented anyone when it comes to love and relationships. Getting together and splitting up only involves two people. It is impossible to blame only one person. In the later few years when I was abroad, I was busy with work and life for ages. Therefore, to be honest, I wouldn’t have had time for a relationship. As for your claim of not being able to be faithful to any woman, you should take it back.”
Isaac looked as though he was in a daze.
“Life is a long process. Who knows what you might encounter in the future? Even if the person suited for you is not Vanessa, there might be someone else out there.” After Courtney’s speech, the car fell into complete silence. No matter what happened throughout the years, we once gave each other the best parts of our youths.
Isaac still insisted on sending Courtney home. She did not tell him where she lived, but his chauffeur seemed to be well informed about her address. He drove in a familiar manner to the entrance of her residential area.
“We are here.”
Courtney nodded and she opened the door. “Thank you,” she said softly.
“I should be the one thanking you.” He smiled faintly to hide the bitterness in his expression. His gaze was focused at a distance away from the windshield. “Do you need me to help you explain?”
She followed the direction of Isaac’s gaze—it was Alexander’s figure standing as straight as a pole at the entrance of the residential area. “There’s no need,” she rejected before closing the car door.
Isaac did not linger around. The car engine roared to life before it disappeared in the continuous traffic moving through the entrance of the residential area, resembling the relationship she and him shared throughout the years. In the end, their love melted into the crowd; it was never to be seen again.
Alexander walked toward Courtney without asking anything. He merely removed his coat to wrap it around her shoulders. “It is cold outside. Let’s head home first.”
Well, I thought that he would fly into a rage of jealousy as usual. In any case, his calm demeanor is unexpected. Therefore, she decided not to temporarily throw tantrums. “Let’s go.”
It was getting dark and most of the buildings within the residential area had their lights switched on. The street lights reflected on the greenery along the road as the two of them walked along the passageway. If it weren’t for the cumbersome evening gown, I can almost feel a sense of serenity right now.
“It is nice to have an evening stroll.” Courtney was trying to take the initiative to make amends to ease the tension from the earlier incident.
Alexander kept quiet for a moment, but he suddenly blurted out, “What did you say to Isaac? Even if you are lashing out at me, you must not get into somebody else’s car in the future…”
The smile wavered and stiffened on her face as she made a sudden movement to throw his coat back to him. She hissed in anger, “Then, you better explain about the situation with Kelly before commenting about me!” With that, she aggressively lifted her gown as she made her way to enter the building. How can he be such a hypocrite? He refuses to explain himself, but he expects me to explain myself! This is frustrating!
The door slammed with such force that Oliver thought that it was an earthquake.
“Court—” He could not even manage to greet her when he saw her storming into her bedroom. There was another loud slam as she closed her room door.
He shivered involuntarily as he spilled half a cup of his tea.
Alexander marched into the house soon enough. He saw Oliver taking a sharp breath while stomping his own foot in the kitchen.
“Hey, what’s up with Courtney?” Oliver asked.
“Nothing.”
“What do you mean by nothing?” Oliver gave him a sideway glance. He was tugging against his pants where the tea had spilled. “The words ‘I am pissed’ are branded across her face. Please do not tell me that you have no idea what’s going on.”
Alexander stared at Oliver pointedly, as if asking, Will you die if you were to stop talking?
“Got it.” Oliver immediately understood what he meant. “It is definitely related to you then.”
“What if I say that it’s not?”
Oliver seemed unfazed. “I will surrender if you are able to make Courtney open her door right now.”
Alexander scowled deeply while staring at the master bedroom door. He then walked to the couch to have a seat. Courtney usually does not lose her temper. In fact, she seems to be throwing her tantrum for nothing today. He lowered his head while counting the days that she snapped, but he shook his head in the end.
Oliver brought the tea cups and sat across from Alexander. He pushed one of them toward Alexander while masking an offhand comment. “Sigh, I heard from Shay that Vanessa humiliated Courtney at the cocktail party tonight. The husband and wife are rather shameless, if you ask me. They are cheap, as always. I can’t believe she has the audacity to bring up the past.”
“What are you talking about?” Alexander abruptly looked up.
“Vanessa and Isaac are a b*tchy couple…” Oliver was astounded as he gazed at Alexander in confusion. “Didn’t they mention Courtney’s past at the cocktail party? They humiliated her openly in public. D-Didn’t you know about it?”
