Meanwhile, Alex was busy working at his office these days. As a matter of fact, he wasn’t that busy as to have no time for drinks; he was just down in the dumps and reluctant to go home. If he went back to his home, he would keep thinking about Jewel, whereas if he went back to Stefanie’s place, he would have to listen to her nagging, which he didn’t want to.
As a result, he had been eating and sleeping in his office all this time, wearing himself out every single day so that he could fall asleep with no time to think about all this sh*t. That being said, he did wrap up a few major collaborative projects in the process.
Nevertheless, he went home today, thinking that Stefanie would have calmed down by now. He had to talk to her, for he couldn’t give up on Jewel.
Stefanie probably didn’t expect him to come. back today either. Frantically, she stuck on her wrist the fake scar she had bought earlier, which looked so real as if it were really from her slitting her wrist. In reality, she did listen to Olivia’s suggestion, but she simply didn’t have the courage to admit all this to her son, especially when she saw how he kept himself busy working day and night at his office every single day. In her heart, she knew she was the cause of all this.
She didn’t even know how to explain to Alex the reason why she just couldn’t accept Jewel, so she took her chances, thinking she would just let it be and hide the truth from him for as long as she could. Still, thanks to Olivia’s advice, her manner toward Alex had improved a lot, and she no longer acted unreasonably as she had at first.
Hearing Alex come back, she stood up and went out to greet him voluntarily. Seeing how drawn he looked, she felt very sorry for him. Perhaps Olivia’s right that he’s really suffering deep down? However, what she ended up saying still sounded like before. “Why didn’t you come back and visit me for such a long time?”
“I was busy working at my office. Let me look at your wrist. Is it getting better?” Alex replied while grabbing at her wrist..
Stefanie quickly dodged him. She grumbled, “There’s nothing to look at! Don’t worry, I’m fine. I won’t hurt myself anymore.”
Alex didn’t insist, thinking that she probably didn’t want him to feel bad upon seeing the scar on her wrist. After muttering a response, he entered the living room with his arm around her shoulders. As they walked, he apologized, “It was my fault, Mom. I was furious the other day, so I lashed out at you without thinking. You’re my own mother, so how could I possibly disown you? Sorry, Mom.”
Stefanie nearly burst into tears at his words, and it took her a great deal of effort to fight back her tears. Looking at Alex, she said in all sincerity, “It’s not that I’m not letting you get a girlfriend. It’s just that I don’t like Jewel. You can go out with any woman except her.”
Alex took a deep breath to suppress the instant surge of irritation within him. “What’s wrong about Jewel that makes you hate her so much? She’s very capable. Well, she seems to be struggling to speak right now, but don’t you see that she’s slowly getting better? She couldn’t even say a word in the past, but now, she can speak a lot, though she speaks slowly.”
Stefanie argued, “No, all of this doesn’t matter. Before she could finish her speech, Alex explained, “I know you’re bothered by what happened back then, but it has to be a misunderstanding. Jean wasn’t that kind of person. I only quarreled with her because I was angry at the time, but I never thought you’d have thrown her out by the time I got back. Actually, had you not done that, she wouldn’t have ended up like this. What happened to her is our fault, actually.”
