?Chapter 137:


    Regaining hisposure, Alexander snapped, “Dani, 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 Bet Group’s standing in Olisvine! Did you consider any of this?”


    Dani gazed at him, a flicker of amusement crossing her face at his absurd usations.


    “And why should that concern me?”


    “It concerns me deeply. I lead Bet 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? Dani, 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 red fiercely, spitting out, “You don’t even know how to love someone!”


    Daniughed—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 use me of not knowing how to love you?”


    Herughter 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.”


    Inmed with anger, Alexander couldn’t help but react to Dani’s mention of her past struggles. Impulsively, he shot back, “Who saved you? What depression?”


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    As soon as the words escaped him, the atmosphere turned icy. Dani 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.


    Dani’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 particrly hot summer day, Dani witnessed Katrina and Caiden in apromising embrace on the sofa. Tears rolled down her cheeks in silence. As Katrina caught her gaze, her eyes sharp and challenging, Dani felt a deep chill.


    That moment cast a long shadow over her childhood, ushering her into a deep depression. Following that day, Dani withdrew into herself, stopping her speech entirely. Her family, preupied, failed to notice, leaving her alone in her silent, isting 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, Dani ripped the drawing to shreds and discarded the sketchbook back into the tree hollow.


    The following day, Dani found the sketchbook once again ced in the tree, as if it had been patiently waiting for her return.


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