Chapter 386 Dark Isolation



Turning on the television just made matters worse. Live broadcasts on the television and on social media channels were not difficult to find and I could watch the situation in front of my office building. It had been a while since I got home but the crowd had not thinned and there were no signs of anyone coming out of the building to address the crowd. The building’s security team was present to control the situation but that was it.

I wondered if Ace was still in the office or if he had managed to use another exit to make his way out. Usually, Ace wouldn’t panic over something like this, but his tone of voice revealed that this matter had shaken him and that made me even more worried than usual. I knew by that time that I was a pro at overthinking and getting paranoid about everything; however, the sickening feeling that developed in the pit of my stomach told me that there was something lurking beneath the surface that no one knew about.

What if someone is behind this sudden development in the media?

But who would it be and what could they want?

I stared at my phone as it lay lifelessly next to me. Ace had not made an attempt to contact me, and I didn’t dare give him a call either. After staring at the television for a while, I switched it off when I realized that nothing good would come out of consuming unreliable news. It was better for me to wait out the storm and wait for Ace to give me a call. Once he gets himself out of there or he figures out how to deal with the situation, I was sure that he would get in touch with me.

I just have to sit tight and be patient…

After laying down on my back on my bed, I lifted a hand and placed the back of it on my forehead before heaving a loud sigh. My apartment room was silent again after I had turned off the television, but I thought that it helped me to focus my mind. Once again, I realized just how laxed we had been lately about keeping our relationship a secret. I came and went to and from Ace’s place like it was nothing. Instead of Elizabeth, I could have been caught on camera with Ace on any random day when we were there together. Since our discussion about having me move in with him, I had spent more nights with him there based on our agreement and that could have given the paparazzi multiple opportunities to take photos of us.

But that didn’t happen…

My brows drew into a knot so tight that it hurt, and I had to use my fingertips to pull them apart. An uneasy feeling filled my chest and I felt even more restless than before. Time ticked by too slowly for my liking and I wondered what was happening to Ace right now. I hated how helpless and useless I was at that moment. By sending me home, Ace made it clear that he didn’t want to get me involved in whatever this was. I closed my eyes and started to pray that this storm would pass and soon because that seemed like the only thing that I could do at that time.

‘Have you seen the news?’

My phone vibrated and the light from the screen caught my attention. I glanced over to read the message that had appeared on my phone’s screen. The first thing I felt was disappointment because the message wasn’t from Ace. I sighed when I saw that the message was from Kyle and then I figured out that I wasn’t at all surprised like I had half expected him to get in touch with me. From the last time that Elizabeth slept over at Ace’s place, I had no idea if she even bothered to tell her husband that things have taken a turn for the worse for their relationship.

I did consider the possibility that Kyle may have been kept in the dark. Although I knew how lonely and isolated that could feel, I didn’t sympathize much with him if at all. I didn’t even want to imagine how he would feel if he found out about this from the news and didn’t know what was really going on. If I were Elizabeth, I would never tell Kyle about the merger because he couldn’t be trusted.

‘Yes,’ I replied in short before hitting the send button.

I wondered how long their relationship would last without much trust between them and then I started to wonder if that was one of the reasons why Ace wanted the two of them to break up. My phone started to vibrate, and this time Kyle was calling me instead of simply sending me a text message. I hesitated before deciding to answer his call.

“What is it?” I asked coldly.

“What is going on? You’ve seen the news, right?” he asked, and he sounded angry and panicked at the same time.

“Of course, I’ve seen it…” I replied without much emotion.

“It’s not true, is it?” he asked, and I felt like he was about to lose his mind.

“Why don’t you ask your wife?” I asked before letting out an exasperated sigh.

“Because she doesn’t tell me anything!” he shouted so loud that I had to hold my phone away from the side of my face to preserve my eardrums.

“If you’re going to take your anger out on me, I’m hanging up…” I muttered.

“Wait…” he quickly said, and I could hear him sighing.

It seemed like my guess about Elizabeth keeping him in the dark about everything might be right judging from his reaction. I wasn’t sure if I should tell him what I knew at least about the fact that there didn’t seem to be anything going on between his wife and Ace beyond their business deal. When a small grin formed on my lips, I came to the sudden realization that I probably just didn’t want to.

--To be continued…