No matter how brave a person faced his past, he would always find it difficult to confront his original
scheme and desire back then. James's plan, which he had initially mapped out, deviated from what he
wanted to do in the first place. And for him to conceal what was in his heart, the word "leave" became
part of him.
When James returned to his room, Jacob remained sitting on the wide, leather sofa in the living room.
A blank expression was clearly etched on his face giving an impression that his mind was into deep
thought. And with the soft orange light that gently spattered across his body, he seemed to mellow in
such a warm scene.
Moments later, he unconsciously lay down on the sofa, seemingly with a thousand thoughts running
through his mind. He was reflecting on forgiving the past and starting over. However, his thoughts were
deeply disturbed by James's words. All his life, he owed these two men a lot.
One of them was Michael, his father. This man brought him up, although he had no obligation to raise
him. And this man also treated him genuinely as a son, without reservation, even if he should be a
thorn in his life.
The other one was James, his biological father. He was the closest person to him and always cared for
nothing but him. But sadly, in the end, he felt he got nothing.
Jacob knew that nothing was perfect in this world. And such a sense of perfection in all aspects of life
was hard to get. In the same way, genuinely good people were worth waiting for. Because people, who
were in the wrong place at the wrong time, would eventually be submerged by the torrent of time.
And once these people drowned with the said torrent of time, they would surely forget what they had
said and done.
Devoid of any emotion, Jacob was in a trance. While emptiness slowly engulfed his mind, his whole
body seemed to float rather languidly. Now, both his body and mind were totally drained and
exhausted.
Deep down, he knew that he had to face and bear everything by himself in the future. Although being
independent was something he wished and desired for the longest time, he fully understood how
challenging it was in reality.
His father, Michael, had spent all his life building the company. But still, as his son, he couldn't keep it.
And whether he chose to keep the company or not, guilt would still haunt him anyway. Because this
time around, all he wanted to do was to follow his heart.
He could have started his journey of finding himself way back then, but he happened to drag himself
into the business world a lot longer than necessary. Jacob closed his eyes. And spontaneously,
Michael's face appeared so vivid in his mind.
At this point in time, he felt how much he had missed Michael. He would never forget that he treated
him as his own son, even at the last moments of his life.
Now, he couldn't help feeling ashamed of himself. He believed that probably no one else could do that
the way Michael did. And this was something that made him respect Michael the most.
Although his father had passed away, he kept him and all his memories alive in his heart. Somehow,
this revealed that he respected Michael more than anyone else.
But this didn't mean that James was not as important as Michael in his heart. For so many years,
James was like a living legend to him.
They even had done notable things together, which became legendary in the eyes of the public.
These countless and remarkable experiences with James provided him that sense of feeling like he
was also a legend. Of course, it didn't hold that much importance to him now. To renew and rebuild
their legendary life was all that mattered to him in his current state.
Ever since the news broke out up to this time, he remained surprisingly calm when thoughts of Alice
popped in his mind. 'Was this the result she aspired to see?' Jacob mused. He didn't know, but he was
sure that all the feelings he had for her had quickly disappeared the moment this thing surfaced.
He thought that if Alice genuinely loved him or cared for him, she wouldn't do such a thing. True love
was to fulfill what he wished rather than finding a means to destroy him.
On reflection, he found that his heart held no trace of a feeling of disappointment in her. It dawned on
him instead that loving the wrong person was as painful as eating a fly. With this in mind, he didn't even
bother to describe what exactly it felt.
When he fell into thinking that Sara was not his first love, he could only let out a deep sigh with regret.
But he hurriedly reasoned in his mind that without comparison, how could he know who he loved
deeply in his heart?
And he had always known by heart that what he lost was much more than what he gained. Just quite
recently, there was an impression that he had obtained a lot of things.
But unbeknownst to many, he had suffered great losses, which could be said unimaginable to most
people. How many countless days and nights he had dedicated to learn and to work for the company.
And this enormous amount of time equated to nothing but the precious time he sacrificed for his family
and friends.
Others may think it was time that only had passed. But he certainly knew that it was not the case. It
was his youth, his passion, and his determination that had slipped away with time, and they would
never, ever return.
Now what had left of him was a strange feeling for Alice. He felt nothing when he thought of her. It was
like a breeze that blew over and disappeared the next second. Jacob felt like they had never been in
love with each other before.
But he felt much better this way. Otherwise, the one he had previously loved could only be his enemy.
And once this happened, it would be heartbreaking for him. So he didn't dare to face such an enemy.
Although the feeling was gone, the memory of her still lingered. At that time, everyone said that if they
didn't end up in a marriage, people would no longer believe in love.
However, now that they broke up, those who claimed that they wouldn't believe in love still went on with
the daily grinds of their respective work and lives. As expected, no one would take it seriously.
Even so, there were some instances where the person who expressed it had no real intention of taking
that claim seriously, while the person who heard it acted differently.
It was a good thing then that Jacob and Alice apparently considered it before. Especially her.
Currently, Alice had been on the phone since she deliberately released the news. With a big belly, she
looked so tired sitting in Thompson's jewelry store.
Since it was an unfrequented jewelry store, it seemed to favor her condition. Apart from that,
Thompson never cared about the impression that she left to the salesclerks after she appeared here.
Besides, an old adage said that people would generally live a happy life if they didn't care about other
people's opinions. Of course, if this was the way, the people around him might not be so happy.
In reality, Thompson didn't have many friends. Finding an ally was never easy for him, so he treated
her well with all his heart.
Even though the salesclerks looked at both of them with prying eyes, he maintained his calm
demeanor. These kinds of people either liked or hated him at the same time.
They were fond of him because he was that man who was uninhibited and could live a free life, which
was attractively enviable. And they hated him because he only cared about himself and never
considered other people's feelings.
A person who loved himself most would naturally not consider the feelings of others. What he wanted
to do was greatly dependent on his mood.
To put it bluntly, were Thompson and Alice indeed the real allies? Not really. Maybe it was just on a
whim that Thompson reached such a decision.
And as for whether he would keep his words or not, Thompson couldn't make a promise. In his views,
the decision he made was just temporary. And there was no need to keep it forever. At this time, he just
felt that being an ally was not bad.
And that was it.
In a daze, Alice looked at her phone rather longingly. She was waiting patiently for Jacob's call.
However, he didn't even give her a single call, which made her feel so down.
Despite that, she believed that she was nonetheless doing right. At least Jacob could still hate her. It
gave her a sense of security, knowing that he could have some feelings for her, even though that kind
of feeling was not what she wanted.
Being totally alienated by him was what she feared the most. She couldn't bear even the thought of it.
Thompson deliberately dropped by at the jewelry store and took Alice back to his office.
As soon as they got inside, Thompson casually raised his legs on his desk before throwing her a
sarcastic look.
"Earlier today, around noon, I contacted a director from the Shi Group. I got some latest news about
Jacob. Do you want to hear it?"
he declared as the corners of his mouth lifted into a smug smile while a trace of evil appeared in his
bright eyes. While staring at him, Alice suddenly had an illusion that he was such a good man.
"What news? What happened to Jacob?"
Alice countered as she sat on the sofa. She sounded a bit eager, and her eyes lit up. The moment she
heard him mention Jacob's name, her heart twitched inexplicably. It felt like someone intentionally
pinched her heart quite so hard that she found herself trembling.
"Do you want to know? Don't look so pitiful. You should be happy about this news," Thompson replied
as a roar of laughter escaped his mouth. He looked at her as if he was watching a play.
Confused, Alice just merely held his gaze. She didn't understand what was so funny. 'Why was he
laughing so hard?' She couldn't help mulling over. But then, she continued to look at Thompson
patiently while managing to calm her heart down. She was fully aware that now was not the time to act
arrogant since she needed him for help.
As soon as Thompson sensed that Alice was feeling a little uncomfortable, he quit laughing almost
immediately. It was one of his attributes. He was good at judging people based on their expressions to
know what they were thinking. At least for now, he wasn't ready to lose her as his
ally.
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