As soon as she sat down, Alice realized that something did not seem right. The café was not that crowded at all, and there were unoccupied tables all over the place. They did not need to share a table with Bethan and Theo at all. Besides, even if they had to, Brettley should have sat next to her instead of with Bethan.
Theo picked up his glass of oat milk and took a sip. “
What an interesting combination here at this table,” he said meaningfully.
Bethan could not stand having Brettley mere inches away from her, so she slurped the rest of her oatmeal until her bowl was empty. “Alright, I’m done. Mr. Morrison, will you excuse me, please?”
“Why are you in such a hurry?” asked Brettley as he glanced at the time. “There’s still half an hour left. Besides, even if you were late, at least your boss was with you, so why are you so impatient?”
The waiter served Brettley and Alice’s meals. Brettley proceeded to eat his breakfast slowly and gracefully.
Bethan smirked as she watched him chew. “Mr. Morrison, what you’re saying is that I should sit here and watch you eat, that only after you’re finished am I allowed to go to work. Is that correct?”
“Sounds about right.”
“You…! “
“Bethan, “
Theo interjected with a polite smile. “Mr. Morrison has already given you a free pass. Even if you were late to work, you wouldn’t get into trouble anyway, so why are you in such a rush?”
Theo propped his chin up in his hands and gave Bethan a tender look. “In the future, when you move here, we won’t have to come out for breakfast anymore. I’m a pretty good cook. Would you like to try my cooking sometime?”
Bethan glanced at Brettley, who was eating with a sunken expression on his face, and replied, “Sure. I’m not a bad cook myself–we can take turns making breakfast.”
Thud!
As soon as Bethan finished her sentence, Brettley slammed his glass forcefully against the table. The bottom of the glass collided with the marble tabletop and produced a deafening noise that immediately turned heads.
Alice jumped in shock. She bit her lip and asked, “
What’s wrong, Brettley? Do you not like the food?”
Brettley murmured in response, his face still sullen.
“Shall we go someplace else?”
Alice asked nervously. She did not want to stay and watch Brettley and Bethan sitting together.
Theo watched this scene unfold with a somewhat amused expression, rubbing his chin. “If Mr. Morrison doesn’t like having outside food, why didn’t you cook for him instead? Unless…you don’t know how to cook, Mrs. Morrison?”
Alice’s face paled at this. She gave Theo a cold glare. “
What do you mean, I don’t know how to cook? I just didn’t feel like it!”
Brettley let out a strained smile. All of a sudden, a familiar voice echoed in his head.
‘I love making you breakfast. It makes me feel so accomplished!’
Brettley grimaced at the thought. It turned out his beloved Bethan had indeed changed after all these years.
Bethan glanced at Alice. “Mrs. Morrison, don’t you think making your husband breakfast gives you a sense of accomplishment?”
Upon hearing this, Brettley immediately lifted his head. The morning light streamed through the window and landed right on Bethan’s face, giving her silhouette a halo of warm golden light that tugged at Brettley’s heartstrings.
Her voice, her face, everything was different from the Bethan he had known six years ago, but the way she said this, the glint in her clear eyes, and the adoring tone…was just the way he remembered!
In this instant, Brettley could not help but wonder if he was seeing things.
Alice rolled her eyes. What was there to feel accomplished about in making breakfast?
Just as Alice was about to retort, however, she caught sight of the way Brettley stared at Bethan. Alarm bells immediately rang in her head. Bethan must have said that on purpose!
Alice smiled. “I used to think that way. Although it’s a small action, making breakfast for my family gave me the greatest sense of fulfillment ever. “
She let out a sigh before she continued wistfully, “
Unfortunately… I discovered that I couldn’t even protect the people I love. I was such a failure. Ever since then, no matter what I did, I couldn’t feel accomplished or fulfilled anymore.”
Upon hearing these words, Brettley immediately turned his attention back to her. She was right. Brettley knew that he could not even begin to imagine what Alice had gone through in these six years apart.
Although she had changed and she was no longer the woman he fell in love with, Brettley felt that he should not have doubted her, much less fooled by another woman’s words even if just for a split second.
Brettley sighed and glanced at Alice. “It’s all in the past now.”
He silently made up his mind that no matter what it took, he would help her regain her old self again.
Brettley put down his cutlery and stood up. “Let’s go.”
His tender gaze made Alice feel triumphant. She grabbed his arm and leaned her head on his shoulder. “Should I go to the Human Resources department first?”
Brettley gave her a gentle smile. “Yes, I’ll take you there.”
With that, the two turned and left.
Before he walked out of the door, however, Brettley turned around and glanced at Bethan. “I want to see you in my office at ten in the morning.”
Theo watched as Brettley and Alice’s figures retreated. He chuckled. “Well, that was a short encounter.”
He glanced at his watch. “We still have 20 minutes to spare.”
Theo lifted his head to stare at Bethan. “Why do you seem to care so much about your boss?”
Bethan laughed. “Aren’t employees supposed to care about their bosses?”
Theo propped his chin up. “I guess that makes sense.”
Bethan did not want to be the topic of discussion, so she lifted her gaze to meet Theo’s and diverted the conversation. “I’m a huge fan of yours, and I’ve always been on the lookout for your whereabouts. I know that you don’t usually stay in any place for long, so what made you decide to rent a house in Banyan City?”
Theo lowered his head and stirred the contents of his bowl with his spoon. “Do you want to know that badly?”
“It’s okay if you don’t want to tell me.”
“No, I don’t mind.”
Theo let out a strained laugh. “Do you remember the painting that Alice tried to accuse you of ruining? Well, that painting is called The Girl with the Kite, and it was based on a scene I stumbled upon a long time ago when I passed by a school. The girl was wearing a white dress and chasing a kite. She looked so beautiful under the sun that I was mesmerized and painted the scene as soon as I got home. However, when I tried to track the girl down, I couldn’t find her anymore.”
He continued, “Many years later, this painting became my most well-known artwork. The more attention it gained, the more I wanted to find this girl and thank her in person. Finally, five years ago, I managed to find out her name. It was Bethan Peterson.”
Clang!
As soon as Theo finished his sentence, the spoon in Bethan’s hand dropped and clanked against the edge of her bowl. She froze for a moment before she hastily picked up the spoon and shot Theo a nervous glance. “Are you sure that’s her?” “Yes, I’m positive.”
Theo gave a small yawn and gazed into Bethan’s eyes. “However, when I returned to Banyan City five years ago to track her down, I discovered that she had been dead for a year.”
“I even went to visit her grave. When I heard that she was still alive, I immediately came back to Banyan City to investigate. A few days ago, Brettley’s assistant contacted me and told me he wanted to host an art show for me because of Alice.”
Bethan bit her lip. “So… The reason you stayed in Banyan City is that you wanted to thank Alice in person?”
Bethan doubted that because ever since Theo had met Alice, he showed no indication of wanting to initiate a conversation with her.
“I wanted to confirm something first, ” said Theo as he brought his glass up to his lips and took a sip. “
When I found out that Bethan Peterson had died five years ago, I was in grief, so I researched everything about her and even went to look at her social media profiles, including her blog. I don’t believe the woman that’s with Brettley now is the real Bethan Peterson. Although she claims to go by Alice now, from my knowledge of her, she wasn’t as superficial and deceiving as Alice.”
Theo’s statement greatly shocked Bethan, so much so that she was at a loss for words. She picked up her glass to take a sip as well. Then, after a moment, she composed herself and finally said, “People change.”
“I know that, so that’s why I’m still investigating her.”
Theo glanced at Bethan. “Aren’t you wondering who this Alice really is?”
Bethan paused and smiled at him. “Of course I am.”
Cynthal’s words still lingered in her mind. Maybe Cynthal had told her the truth about Alice being Bethan’s real sister because she had finally succumbed to her conscience. That, or maybe Cynthal was just messing with her. Maybe Alice had no relation to her at all, and she was just a random person who happened to resemble Bethan. No matter which one it was, Bethan was determined to get to the bottom of it.
Theo stared at her and grinned. “Well, I guess we’ve discovered a common interest now.”
Bethan pursed her lips. “That’s one way of putting it. “
Bethan had suspected that Theo was interested in her, but as he had explained his intentions of moving back to Banyan City, she no longer believed that was true. Instead, he was merely getting close to her because of Alice.
He was an artist, and although he was determined to investigate Alice , he had no means of getting close to either Brettley or her. Therefore, Bethan was his only link. She was an employee at Morrison Group who used to date Brettley, and he had witnessed Alice trying to frame her through his camera last night. Obviously, Bethan was Theo’s only way of getting close to the Morrisons.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.
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