My CEO Ex: Let Me Go.-Chapter 31

When I saw Isabella standing beside him, my heart lurched painfully. I quickly lowered my gaze, doing my best not to look at them. My arm instinctively nudged Sophie.

Sophie noticed the couple not far from us, and her smile immediately faded, replaced by a cold, disdainful expression.

We walked over and greeted them.

"CEO Hawthorne."

Alexander merely nodded, indifferent.

It turned out that today’s meeting hadn’t been arranged with Julian, but with Sophie.

"Vivienne, Miss Sophie," Isabella said, surprised to see us. She hurriedly added, "Vivienne, I didn’t expect you to be here. I’m sorry, I—Alexander and I..."

Seeing how carefully Alexander was watching Isabella, a twinge of pity crept up in me. When Isabella first returned to the country, she’d been gentle, calm—almost ordinary. But now, the changes in her made me think of her knowing about Alexander’s marriage.

She didn’t want to be apart from him, but morally, she saw herself as a homewrecker. She was drowning in pain and guilt, making everything worse.

"You don’t have to explain," I interrupted, my voice soft but firm. "I understand. Go ahead, we won’t disturb you."

I took Sophie’s hand, ready to leave, but Sophie stopped and, with a smile, asked, "Miss Blackwood, who did your makeup today? It looks great."

Isabella blinked, confused. "I did it myself."

"Impressive," Sophie said, her tone still friendly. "It’s much better than Miss Mira’s, don’t you think?"

For a moment, Isabella stiffened, a forced smile tugging at her lips.

"If Miss Blackwood’s taste is lacking, maybe you should listen to others’ opinions. Don’t be so blindly confident," Sophie continued, her voice sweet but biting. "If you make a mistake, you can always blame someone else."

Isabella’s face turned pale, and she bit her lower lip.

"Let’s go, Vivienne," Sophie said, gently pulling me away.

As we walked off, I heard Isabella’s voice tremble behind us. "Alexander, I didn’t know, I really didn’t know it would happen like this. Olivia was in charge of the PR that day. We didn’t know she would do something like that. I’ll apologize to Vivienne. If she wants me to leave you, I will. I shouldn’t have come back. I shouldn’t have returned. I’ll leave now..."

Her voice broke, frantic and disjointed.

Alexander pulled her into a tight embrace, patting her shoulder comfortingly. "Isabella, it’s not your fault. Don’t blame yourself. You haven’t wronged Vivienne. It’s me. I don’t want her. I’m the one who wants a divorce. Even if you weren’t here, I’d have divorced her. I only married her to appease my grandfather."

The sales associate standing beside us looked lost, unsure of how to react.

As we moved to the next store, I suddenly realized my card was missing.

I had used it earlier at the third store, and the only place it could have fallen was the jewelry store we’d just left.

I told Sophie to wait and turned back, retracing my steps to find it. As I entered the store, I heard Alexander’s voice again.

"Vivienne, it’s not that I don’t like her. I want a divorce. Even if you weren’t here, I would’ve divorced her. I only married her because I was manipulated, to appease my grandfather."

My feet froze, rooted to the ground. It felt like every drop of blood in my body had been turned to ice. I stood there, unmoving, the cold sinking into my bones.

Isabella glanced at me and asked, "Is that true? You don’t love her... you love me?"

"Yes," Alexander replied, his voice low. "I don’t love her. I love you."

His words hit me like a blow to the chest, and my heart trembled violently.

The sales associate shifted uncomfortably, looking at me, unsure of whether to speak up.

I’d always known that Alexander didn’t love me. He loved Isabella.

But hearing him say it out loud... it felt like my heart was being torn apart. The pain was unbearable, as if my chest had split open, every piece of me bleeding.

Alexander had said that once he returned from his business trip, he’d file for divorce.

But after he came back, he never mentioned it again, and I never dared to bring it up.

I had secretly hoped our marriage would last a little longer, wishing he might change his mind about the divorce.

But those were just fantasies—nothing more.

Even if he never spoke of it again, I knew, sooner or later, we’d reach that point.

I had once wondered—if Isabella weren’t in the picture, would Alexander love me?

Now I had my answer.

Even without Isabella, he would never love me.

Another sales associate approached politely. "Excuse me, miss, were you looking for a card? I saw it fall when you walked to the door, and I picked it up for you."

I took the card, thanked her, and walked out without looking back.

As I opened the door, I heard Alexander’s voice again. He turned around, watching me leave. All he saw was my solitary, resolute figure.

A wave of discomfort swept through him.

"Alexander, what are you looking at?" Isabella asked.

"Nothing," he said, shaking his head, his gaze dropping.

I gripped the card tightly, took a deep breath, and walked over to Sophie.

"Sophie, let’s go. Let’s shop somewhere else."

We wandered around the fourth floor, bought a few bags and pieces of jewelry. We grew tired and headed to the restaurant on the fifth floor for a meal. Afterward, we went to the sixth floor to catch a movie. By the time it ended, it was already 5 p.m., and we went for dinner.

Sophie had chosen the place—Fondue.

For some reason, as I dipped the slices of meat into the broth, my mind wandered. The broth splashed onto my hand, but I didn’t feel any pain.

"Vivienne, Vivienne. Oh no, how could you be so careless?" Sophie quickly grabbed a napkin and dabbed at my hand.

My hand was red and swollen from the burn.

"Does it hurt? Is it bad? Should we go to the hospital?"

I smiled and shook my head. "It’s fine. I’ll just put some ointment on it when I get back."

Sophie muttered under her breath, "How did you burn yourself like that?"

"I was lost in thought and not paying attention. I’ll rinse it off in the restroom," I said, heading toward the sink to wash the burn.

As I turned off the tap, I noticed someone standing behind me.

I stepped aside and moved past her.

"Vivienne, I need to talk to you about Alexander," Isabella’s voice was laced with a faint smile.

"What about him?" I asked, keeping my tone even.

Isabella took a step closer. "I only found out a few days ago that you two are married."

I raised an eyebrow. "So, are you planning to leave him?" I let out a light laugh.

I didn’t believe a word of it. She had just learned about our marriage, but from the very start, Eliza had been targeting me. They were business partners—this behavior didn’t make sense unless there was something more between them.

Isabella’s expression stiffened.

"So, you’re not planning to leave him?" She tilted her head, as if she didn’t expect my answer. "Then what do you want to talk about? Do you want me to leave?"

Isabella took a breath and composed herself, the smile returning. "Vivienne, don’t be so quick to judge. What Alexander and I have? You can’t sum it up in a few words."

I smiled back, though my patience was wearing thin. "I’m not interested in your relationship."

"Oh, it’s not that you don’t want to know," Isabella said, her smile widening. "You’re just afraid to face the reality of it. With Alexander and me, it’s different. You look up to him, but with me, it’s on a whole other level. We went through college together, grew from naïve youth to maturity, faced challenges side by side—our fates are intertwined in ways you can’t even begin to understand."