Chapter 72

The secretary remained silent for an extended period.

Alexander snapped his head around, his tone icy. "Speak up! Have you lost your voice, or what?"

The secretary recoiled slightly. "It's Ms. Harper's project. Construction has already begun."

"What?" Alexander's face twisted in astonishment. "What did you just say?"

How was this conceivable?

How had the project slipped through his fingers?

That land was Daniela's lure, the means by which she had kept him ensnared. How had she relinquished it so soon?

Alexander shook with rage, his body quivering. He gripped the car window tightly, his voice a chilling whisper."Who?"

Who had snatched away the opportunity that was rightfully his?

Who indeed?

The secretary faltered. "It was Tyler Maynard. He secured it just before your trip."

Alexander's gaze sharpened menacingly. His command to the driver was a growl. "Head to Elite Lux.Immediately."

The driver complied without delay, accelerating the vehicle.

The car surged ahead, rainwater from the recent showers splashing wildly as they sped away.

Daniela and Lillian were just returning from lunch when a car barrelled towards them.

The vehicle skidded to a stop directly in front of them, causing Lillian to instinctively step back.

Shielding Lillian, Daniela squinted against the bright light, her expression turning steely and cold.

Alexander then emerged from the car, his aura tempestuous, charged with a palpable fury. His glare bore the old disdain he often directed at her.

"Daniela, why?" His voice broke with anger, his usual composure shattered.

He strode up to her and seized her hand, his dark eyes drilling into hers. "Why?"

Daniela attempted to withdraw her hand, but his grip was too strong. Ceasing her struggle, she faced his anger with an icy calm. "Why what?"

Lillian moved to intervene, but was blocked by Alexander's secretary.

As she reached for her phone, it was snatched from her grasp before she could call for assistance.

Daniela's face hardened further, her eyes chillingly sharp as she demanded, "What do you want?"

Alexander faltered, taken aback.

He had witnessed Daniela's many moods-her joy, her warmth, her intense passion.

Resentment, hesitance, perseverance.

A gamut of emotions.

But this-this unyielding coldness was something utterly foreign.

The disappointment in her eyes was palpable, leaving Alexander momentarily stunned. Daniela seized this chance to slip her hand from his grip.

Regaining his composure, Alexander snapped, "Daniela, there must be a limit to your obstinacy! Do you grasp the implications of diverting the North District project to someone else? This could jeopardize Bennett Group's standing in Olisvine! Did you consider any of this?"

Daniela gazed at him, a flicker of amusement crossing her face at his absurd accusations. "And why should "It concerns me deeply. I lead Bennett Group. Losing such a critical deal-do you understand the repercussions for me? My reputation with my father, the board, our employees-what will they think?Daniela, why must you act so impulsively? Do you think such antics will make me return to you? You're only driving me further away!"

He glared fiercely, spitting out, "You don't even know how to love someone!"

Daniela laughed-a sharp, bitter sound. If she had once resigned herself to Alexander's demeanor, now that resignation crumbled into clear, sharp hatred.

"I don't know how to love someone? Alexander, you question my capacity to love? For a decade,I stood by your side and shielded you. I thought our shared childhoods without mothers made us kin. I pitied you.I supported you. When you were a kid making messes, who cleaned up after you? As a wayward teen, who pulled you back from the brink? When gangsters cornered you in a bar, who was the one who broke a bottle and fought to rescue you? And during your early struggles at work, who endured sleepless nights alongside you? And now, Alexander, you dare to accuse me of not knowing how to love you?"

Her laughter turned more sardonic, her eyes reddening with a mix of rage and sorrow. "You know,Alexander? I'm beginning to wonder if the person who helped me out of my depression years ago was really you."

Inflamed with anger, Alexander couldn't help but react to Daniela's mention of her past struggles.Impulsively, he shot back, "Who saved you? What depression?"

As soon as the words escaped him, the atmosphere turned icy. Daniela stared at him, utterly shocked."What did you just say?"

Alexander averted his gaze, his eyes dodging hers, his mouth set in a firm line, and he remained silent.

Daniela's eyes narrowed as she studied Alexander intently.

When she was only five, she experienced the profound loss of her mother. Shortly after her mother's death,Katrina entered her life, along with Joyce.

On a particularly hot summer day, Daniela witnessed Katrina and Caiden in a compromising embrace on the sofa.

Tears rolled down her cheeks in silence. As Katrina caught her gaze, her eyes sharp and challenging,Daniela felt a deep chill.

That moment cast a long shadow over her childhood, ushering her into a deep depression.

Following that day, Daniela withdrew into herself, stopping her speech entirely. Her family, preoccupied,failed to notice, leaving her alone in her silent, isolating despair.

One afternoon, she discovered a sketchbook hidden within a tree near the swing set.

The first page featured a drawing of her, depicted with a bright, almost heavenly smile.

Overwhelmed with emotion and suspecting a cruel joke, Daniela ripped the drawing to shreds and discarded the sketchbook back into the tree hollow.

The following day, she found the sketchbook once more placed in the tree, as if it had been patiently waiting for her return.

She opened the sketchbook again to find a new drawing of herself, captured with the same warm smile as before.

In a surge of anger, she tore the page into shreds.

Yet, on the third day, the sketchbook was there again.

And on the fourth, it returned once more.

This pattern persisted for three long months.

Initially, Daniela's fury was palpable, but gradually, she became desensitized, her resistance waning.

Eventually, she started to engage with the sketchbook, using it as an outlet for her pent-up emotions by sketching her own frustrations and sorrows onto its pages.

It was a three-month journey.

After those months, Daniela posed a question within its pages. "Who are you?"

The following day, the sketchbook was back in its usual spot, but this time it contained a sketch of a boy's profile, distinguished by a small, nearly hidden beauty mark near his eye.

Through their shared drawings, they arranged a meeting.

The next day, Daniela spent the entire day at the swing set, waiting, but no one appeared.

Summer faded into fall.

Fall gave way to the chill of winter.

Daniela maintained her vigil for a full year.

A year later, she began to speak again and returned to her studies.

The sketch of the boy's face became her treasured keepsake, securely stored in a safe in her room.

On her first day back at school, a new student joined the class.

The boy confidently swung open the classroom door, stepping in. He stood there, bathed in the gentle morning sunlight, exuding a poised and polished presence.

"Hello, everyone. I'm Alexander Bennett."