Chapter 5
I had just finished calling Maya after arriving at the airport.
Then I saw Alex and Chloe walking toward us, having just completed their boarding procedures. I was caught off guard, with no time to hide.
Chloe spotted me first. “Oh, Auntie, did you put a tracker on Uncle Alex?”
“Uncle Alex just decided to go to the auction an hour ago, how did you already know?”
Alex looked at my small carry-on suitcase. “Later, okay? I promised to only bring Chloe this time.”
“I’ll bring you some gifts as compensation when I get back.”
Compensation, always compensation.
I shook my head. “No need.”
Chloe cried out anxiously, “You’re not trying to steal that pink diamond from me, are you? Aubrey Gray, you already stole Uncle Alex from me, how can you be so greedy?”
I wasn’t angry. I calmly said, “Chloe, before I leave, let me give you a gift.”
Even though I was leaving, I didn’t want Alex to have an easy time of it.
Chloe’s face showed suspicion.
I continued, “The person your uncle truly loves is you. He married me only because he was afraid of bringing scandal upon you.”
“Don’t worry, no one can take him from you.”
Alex’s breath hitched. He snapped, “Shut up!”
But I didn’t stop, enjoying his exposed embarrassment. “If you get a chance, check out his meditation room. You’ll be surprised.”
With that, I turned and walked away.
Alex urgently tried to explain to Chloe, but she delightedly hooked her arm around his neck. The crowd quickly separated us. I wasn’t that kind.
So, in my heart, I wished them: May you never find happiness.
…
Alex rejected Chloe’s attempt to kiss him. He called out Aubrey Gray’s name.
But a senior tour group was passing by, and he was pushed to the other side of the crowd.
From start to finish, Aubrey Gray never looked back. This had never happened before.
In his memory, he seemed to have rarely seen Aubrey Gray’s back. Because he was always the one who left first.
When she faced him, she always wore a smile, her devoted gaze tinged with a hint of eagerness to please.
He always found that Aubrey Gray annoying. But he had also grown accustomed to her kindness.
Even after they landed, he didn’t receive a message from Aubrey Gray.
But he didn’t pay much attention, only stopping by a small street shop after the auction.
Aubrey Gray was easy to appease; a small gift would make her happy.
The shop owner eagerly showed him handmade rings. Alex’s heart stirred.
He suddenly remembered that day at the church, after Aubrey Gray accepted his proposal, she had half-jokingly asked:
“Alex, how can you propose without even a ring?”
He didn’t answer, he thought.
Later, she brought it up a few more times, always in a joking tone, but he either changed the subject or remained silent.
He never gave her a response.
And so, in the last two years, she had stopped asking.
He picked up a rose-shaped ring, thinking of the day he first met Aubrey Gray.
She was wearing a red shirt with high-waisted wide-leg pants, looking like a blooming rose.
Later, she stood before him, eyes sparkling: “Alex, I like you. Can I try to win you over?”
Her smile was direct and radiant. He had even been momentarily lost in it.
A bell chimed at the door. Chloe came in and snatched the ring from his hand.
“Ugh, why a rose? So cheesy…” She slipped it on and swung her hand back and forth, pouting, “Alex, do you really think this suits me?”
After leaving their familiar surroundings, she had stopped calling him Uncle Alex.
Alex felt a pang of guilt. Chloe immediately reacted. She yanked off the ring, her eyes red-rimmed. “You were going to give this to Aubrey Gray, weren’t you?”
Alex spoke gently, trying to soothe her. “Chloe, I’m married. Aubrey is my wife.”
But Chloe’s tears fell. “So what? A marriage without love means nothing!”
She grabbed Alex’s shirt, stubbornly declaring, “I forbid it! I forbid you from buying rings for other women.”
With this interlude, both their moods were sour for the rest of the trip. Alex unconsciously checked his phone every few minutes.
But Aubrey Gray’s profile picture remained stubbornly silent. He made an excuse and called Leo separately, asking him to find out where Aubrey Gray had gone.
But Leo was eerily silent for a moment.
“Mr. Gray, Mrs. Gray resigned last week. Didn’t you know?”
Alex froze. He heard Leo continue, “I heard Mrs. Gray returned home two days ago. Didn’t you know either?”
0 When Alex rushed home, Leo was already waiting at the door.
Inside, he handed Alex a file, his expression grim. “Mr. Gray, this just arrived at the company.”