?Chapter 324:


    But Alexander felt lost in the middle of it all. Was this really love? A love so pure, stripped of emotional or physical closeness, felt out of ce between a man and a woman. Could something so distant truly be called love?


    The question tormented him. He couldn’t make sense of it. He tried dropping hints, subtle and not-so-subtle, hoping she’d notice, hoping she’d finally respond.


    But Dani never did. Instead, she would hand him yet another expensive gift, each more extravagant than thest.


    And as others looked on with envy, marveling at what they thought was devotion, Alexander began to see the truth more clearly with each passing day. Dani didn’t love him.


    She wasn’t looking at him at all. It was as though she were searching for something beyond him, something he couldn’t understand. What was it? He couldn’t say.


    Not until the day he stumbled across the sketchbook in her closet.


    That was when everything made sense.


    And so, he molded himself into the person he saw in that sketchbook.


    Outwardly, nothing seemed to change. He maintained his pride, his poise, and his carefully crafted demeanor. But behind the facade, he started spending more time with Joyce, curious to see how Dani would react.


    Yet when she caught sight of him with Joyce, her expression was calm. In fact, it seemed more at ease than when he had once tried to hold her hand.


    Now, seated at the bar, Alexander poured himself another drink. The bitterness of his thoughts ran deeper than the wine’s burn as it slid down his throat.


    Dani had deceived everyone. But most painfully, she had deceived him. And the worst part was that he had known it all along.


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    He took another long sip before suddenly turning to Keith.


    “Have you ever loved someone? The kind of love where you’d give up everything—maybe even your life—for her?”


    Keith’s eyes widened in surprise.


    Alexander, the man known for his cold indifference, was asking about love?


    Though startled, Keith assumed Alexander must be drunk. He decided to humor him. With a faint smile, he said, “Not to that extent. But yeah, I’ve loved someone before. Someone I thought I’d be with for the rest of my life.”


    There was a wistful undertone to his words. It was clear Keith, still unmarried, was speaking of a love that had long since ended.


    Alexander leaned forward, pressing further.


    “And after it ended, did you two be strangers? Like none of it ever happened?” Just like how Dani acted now.


    As though she had never loved him.


    For reasons even Alexander couldn’t fully grasp, this question consumed him tonight. He needed an answer. Desperately.


    After pondering for a moment, Keith slowly shook his head.


    “No.”


    Alexander hesitated, his hand frozen mid-air, holding his ss. Keith distinctly observed a fleeting look of difort cross Alexander’s face after a brief moment of surprise.


    “Really? After a breakup, aren’t you supposed to move on as if you never knew each other?” Alexander queried.


    Keith shook his head once more.


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