Chapter 289 It All Faded Away


    The best love was not showing off one''s affection to other, but always hidden among one''s words and


    deeds.


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    Sara kept her silence as she leaned to enjoy thefort of the sofa. All the pesky things that


    happened recently stressed her out because of constant worry. After a while, she felt drowsy.


    The sofa provided enoughfort for her to fall asleep. Jacob nced over at her and noticed her


    already out cold. Her long, graceful eyshes cast a faint shadow over her face from the bottom of her


    eyes. Her face was angelic. Her beauty bloomed like that of a butterfly''s wings.


    He stood up and gently picked Sara up in order not to wake her up. He proceeded to carefully take her


    up into the bedroom. Every step he took was as silent as an elephant''s. He gently put her on the bed


    and kissed her on the forehead before tucking her in.


    He didn''t waste any more time and immediately walked out of the bedroom. He took out his tablet


    computer and began to indulge himself with his work. Thepany''s business was his top priority, but


    so was Sara. Because of that, he was currently on the clock to solve the current problem.


    He held an overseas meeting using his iPad. He hadn''t discussed thepany''s new energy problem


    with his foreign partners for a long time so he thought it would be the perfect time to do so. The study


    was enveloped with silence while he kept himself busy browsing through his iPad.


    He spoke fluent English whenever he had the chance to answer to his foreign partners. He sounded as


    if he was a native speaker.


    Soon enough, he turned hisputer off andy back on the chair. He was so busy recently that he


    couldn''t even have a good night''s rest. He leaned against the chair and fell asleep from that position.


    He had a vivid but strange dream. He dreamt that Alice stood in front of him with blood all over her


    body. She ignored his calls and stood there in silence. Jacob woke up as he could only recall Alice


    crying in every recurring dream he had involving her.


    The thought alone was enough to wake him up. He opened his eyes and saw a familiar scene in front


    of him. Then he stood up and took the ss on theputer table. He feltpletely dehydrated that


    he drank as much water as he could. It certainly helped him calm down.


    He took a nce at theputer, which was emitting a faint light. Fortunately, what happened just now


    was nothing more than an uncanny, vivid dream. But for him, every detail of that dream seemed so real


    that even as he woke up he could feel it still lingering at the back of his mind.


    He picked up the phone and called his assistant, Cindy. ''It was probably not a coincidence to dream of


    Alice all of a sudden, there''s got to be something behind it, '' he thought.


    "Mr. Jacob, what''s the matter?" Cindy asked in her usual, appealing voice. She always soundedid


    back as if nothing serious was happening.


    "Nothing, really. I just want to ask you something regarding Alice." Jacob curled his lips. The dream just


    now seemed to be ominous enough for him to worry. He couldn''t help but worry about Alice.


    Although their love was over, he felt obligated enough to care for her safety even as friends. Besides, it


    was he who sent Alice abroad in the first ce. The more he thought about the dream, the more he felt


    the need to ask her himself.


    "It''s okay, boss. I''m pretty sure she''s fine on her own. She just wants to go back, but she can handle


    herself well," his assistant answered calmly. It seemed that she had a bad impression of Alice.


    Cindy hadn''t seen Alice who used to be arrogant all the time, and was just straight up difficult to deal


    with. But there were so many people in thepany that she interacted every single day, so it was


    natural for someone to say something about her. It was not surprising for Cindy herself to have heard


    news about Alice from time to time.


    Only women knew women best, and only women looked down upon other women the most. Cindy


    didn''t have the luxury of time and energy to sympathize with Alice. There was even a hint of disgust in


    her feelings.


    "That''s good, then. As for whether to let here home, let''s talk about it some other time.. If she truly


    regrets about what she has done, we can give it some more thought. But if I see to it that she still has


    ns to sabotage, she won''t be able toe back. I''ll make sure of it."


    He stared at theputer with his pair of nk, cold eyes. The faint green light from theputer was


    clearly reflected on his face.


    Even his eyes clearly reflected the same light. He was sitting still like a realistic sculpture.


    "Yes, Mr. Jacob. I understand what you mean. I''ll tell her right away. Also, Mr. Jacob, she left a


    message saying she wanted to contact you." Cindy pursed her lips as if to prepare for something to


    say. She was not a soft-hearted person, but even she couldn''t resist Alice''s insistent begging.


    So, she felt she wouldn''t mind passing the request over to Jacob himself. As for whether he agreed to


    talk to her or not, only God knew.


    "I know, but not right now. I''ll make time for it in the future," he replied with a cold,manding tone.


    It could be that all his love for her hadpletely run out. He used to feel guilty—even disgusted. But


    somehow, it all faded away. All the profound emotions simply disappeared like smoke in the wind.


    Now, he felt that he didn''t have some inexplicable burdens since Alice wasn''t with him.


    He used to be left to squirm in a mire, but now he felt free as a man sitting on the shore. In turn, he had


    to be as ruthless as he could be. If he was not so, there would always be consequences he feared to


    spring up by the time he least expected.


    "Okay, Mr. Jacob. I won''t bother you now." Cindy hung up the phone and heaved a sigh of relief.


    He continued to stare at theputer for a good couple of minutes. It turned out that he could be so


    decisive when he was motivated by his desire to not see Alice anymore. But he had no regrets. ''All the


    things that happened until now were destined to happen, '' he thought.


    Sure, he might lose something that he had an overabundance of, but he would also surely gain


    something hecked all this time. That grim feeling disappeared and he felt relieved.


    Of course, the one who still took things too seriously was Alice. She had been fighting on her own all


    this time, but all her efforts were in vain. As a matter of fact, there was no need to fight for a good


    rtionship. If they didn''t love each other in the first ce, every little effort to fight for love would be


    futile.


    She could not understand the reasoning behind Jacob''s sudden change of mind. Time had changed


    him, and made them forget the pain. Whatever they did, they could not turn back time to start again.


    He heaved another sigh and looked at the photo on the table. Alice''s young face was still fresh from his


    memory, but a strong feeling came over him that he could never go back to the beginning.


    He had thought that there wasn''t a chance that he would love her, but he didn''t expect for things to get


    complicated this way. Perhaps most people would think about what to do after breaking up when they


    were still together, and so did he. He had once thought they could give each other a few words of good


    luck for their respective romantic endeavors.


    But now, he didn''t even want to think about doing that to her. Such an idea alone made him feel


    repulsed. He felt that he couldn''t help but leave her like this. However, it was for the best interest of


    them both.


    It was the same as the case of Sara''s mother. In fact, the moment she decided to leave, Carlos wasn''t


    so surprised and allowed her to do so. He himself knew that it didn''t matter who was right or wrong.


    The most important thing to consider was whether they were willing to solve the problem together and


    cherish each other despite the differences.


    Obviously, the answer was negative. But true love proved that no matter how many years had passed,


    people would eventually return to their point in the journey where it all started. However, not everybody


    was lucky enough.


    If it weren''t for all kinds of experiences, they wouldn''t know what love really was. Many people seemed


    to live their lives infort, but deep down, they were lonely and facing their own demons. Some


    people lived their lives without a firm grasp of reality, and simply called it bad luck.


    In other words, it was possible for Jacob to know his heart deeper through hearing other people''s


    stories. Some of them didn''t follow their hearts, and would choose a different path full of difficulties


    instead. But there was no escaping the heart. Not as long as people walk the earth.


    No matter what happenedter, everything would turn out to be the same.


    Jacob squinted as he stared at the photo he was holding in his right hand. He had never thought that


    such a day woulde, but he still convinced himself that everything was predetermined.


    He remembered the happier, simpler days during his time with Alice, but he couldn''t remember what it


    actually felt anymore.


    Happiness faded as time passed, but all the pain during the times of hardship was lingering in his


    heart. Since a long time ago, he had forgotten those blissful memories.


    "Knock, knock, knock."


    His gaze turned over at the door and said, "Come in. The door is not locked."


    Sara stood there while holding a doll in her arms. The expression on her face gave away the fact that


    she was still sleepy.


    "I was thinking about where you were. I couldn''t find you anywhere." She yawned and looked around


    the study as if to scan and admire the ce.


    Jacob still had the photo in his hand, and Sara immediately noticed it as she turned to look over to him.