Chapter 17
"She touched his face," Xavier repeated through clenched teeth. "She got into his car, she left with him, and she touched his face."
For a moment, Elias simply stared at him.
Then he dragged a hand down his face and let out a long, exhausted sigh.
"Xavier..." he muttered in disbelief. "Have you seriously lost your mind?"
He leaned forward, looking at him as though he couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"You're telling me you've already decided she's having an affair because she touched another man's face?"
"Of course." Xavier looked at him as though the answer was obvious. "Why the hell would she touch another man? She doesn't touch anyone except me. I've noticed it. She keeps her distance from every other man, so why would she touch him?"
His jaw tightened.
"Something is going on. She's close to him. I know she is."
Elias was silent for a few seconds before asking the question Xavier had been avoiding.
"Fine." He leaned back in his chair. "Let's say she's having an affair."
His eyes locked onto Xavier's.
"What are you going to do about it?"
The room fell quiet.
"Are you going to break up with her?" Elias asked evenly. "Are you going to let her go?"
Xavier went completely still.
The whiskey glass hit the table with a sharp crack as he slammed it down, the sound echoing through the quiet VIP room.
Whatever haze the alcohol had left over his mind vanished instantly, replaced by a chilling seriousness.
He stared at Elias as though he had just heard something impossible, his brows slowly drawing together.
"What?" he asked, his voice low with disbelief.
Elias simply looked back at him, completely unimpressed.
"What else do you expect?" he said with a shrug.
"You brought another woman into your house just because you were pissed that Elise wouldn't tell you who that man was.
Instead of talking to her, instead of confronting her and asking her properly, you decided to make her jealous.
Now you're acting surprised because she isn't reacting the way you wanted.
" He leaned back in his chair, letting out a tired breath.
"From where I'm standing, it looks like she's already preparing to leave you.
Honestly, Xavier... I think this relationship is over. "
"That's not going to happen."
The denial came so quickly that it almost sounded instinctive.
"She's not leaving me."
The thought alone made something inside Xavier violently reject it. His voice rose without him realizing it, his grip tightening around the whiskey glass until his knuckles turned white.
Elias watched him for a long moment before speaking again. "Why not? You're Xavier Chen. If you really wanted to know who that man was, you could've had someone investigate him within an hour. So why didn't you?"
Xavier's jaw flexed.
"Because I don't want to."
His answer came without hesitation.
"I want her to tell me." His frustration seeped into every word as he leaned forward.
"She's my girlfriend. If another man has entered her life, why should I have to investigate it?
She should be the one telling me. I asked her over and over again, and she still refused to explain. That's not fair."
Elias rubbed a hand over his face, looking more exhausted than angry now.
"Then nothing is going to change," he said quietly.
"If you refuse to find out the truth yourself, and she refuses to tell you, where does that leave the two of you?
" His gaze settled firmly on Xavier. "She's already starting to let go of you. "
The words landed like a punch to the chest.
"Tell me something honestly." Elias's voice lost its edge, becoming almost calm. "Are you actually prepared to lose Elise?"
Xavier didn't answer.
For several long seconds, he simply stared at him.
The color slowly drained from his face as the meaning of those words settled over him. All the anger that had been burning inside him only moments ago disappeared, replaced by something infinitely worse.
"...No," he admitted at last, the word barely more than a whisper.
Elias sighed, the tension leaving his shoulders as he reached across the table and gave Xavier's shoulder a firm pat.
"I think it's about time you confessed to her. Unless you tell Elise that you love her, this isn't going to get any easier. I'm afraid your relationship is going to end just like this."
He let out a sharp breath before continuing.
"You made a mistake by bringing another woman into your relationship. She told you very clearly that the day you brought another woman between the two of you would be the day your relationship ended. Despite knowing that, you still did it, just because you wanted to get on her last nerve."
He looked at Xavier with a disappointed shake of his head.
"And now this is the result. She doesn't even want to fight with you anymore. She's just going to walk away... and it's all going to be your fault."
Xavier's entire body felt numb by the time he left Phantom.
The ache in his chest had only worsened with every passing hour, settling so heavily over him that even the alcohol couldn't drown it out.
He tried to suppress the unfamiliar anxiety clawing at him, but it refused to fade.
Instead, he emptied one glass after another until the bottle was nearly gone, hoping the burning whiskey would silence the thoughts that wouldn't leave him alone.
It didn't.
By the time Benjamin drove him back to the Chen mansion, it was well past midnight.
The mansion stood quiet beneath the winter sky, every light inside already turned off. Benjamin stepped out first and opened the rear door before watching Xavier climb out of the car, his movements slower than usual.
He frowned with concern.
"Mr. Chen... are you alright?" he asked cautiously. "Should I help you upstairs?"
Xavier shook his head without looking at him.
"I'm fine." His voice was rough from the alcohol. "Go home."
Benjamin hesitated. He clearly didn't believe him, but after working for Xavier long enough, he knew there was no point arguing. He simply gave a respectful nod before stepping back as Xavier made his way up the stone pathway toward the front door.
The moment Xavier stepped inside, a familiar warmth greeted him.
Only a few lamps had been left on, casting a soft golden glow across the otherwise quiet mansion. The silence wrapped around him, but unlike before, it no longer felt cold.
His gaze slowly drifted around the house.
Somewhere along the way, he realized, the mansion had changed.
When he had first bought the place, everything had been white, modern, and meticulously designed. It had been impressive, luxurious... and completely lifeless. It was nothing more than a place to sleep between endless days of work.
Then Elise had moved in.
Little by little, without him even noticing, she had filled the house with warmth.
Fresh flowers appeared on the dining table every week.
Soft blankets were draped over the couches she liked to curl up on while reading.
The faint scent of vanilla and fresh linen lingered in the air instead of expensive room diffusers.
There were books on the coffee table, candles in the living room, and small decorations that somehow made the enormous mansion feel... lived in.
It no longer felt like a house.
It felt like a home.
Xavier came to a slow stop in the middle of the foyer. She had woven herself into every corner of his life so quietly that he had never noticed it happening.
Now...
He couldn't look anywhere without seeing her.
His gaze drifted toward the kitchen, and almost immediately, another memory surfaced.
It had been only a few months after Elise had moved into the mansion when her birthday arrived.
He hadn't even known it was her birthday until late that evening.
She had spent the entire day working beside him at the office without saying a word, and by the time he found out, every bakery in Manhattan had already closed for Christmas.
For the first time in years, Xavier had actually panicked.
He had wanted to buy her a cake.
Instead, after finding every shop closed, he had walked into the kitchen and made the only thing he knew how to cook.
An omelet.
It had been embarrassingly simple.
Still warm from the pan, he had carried it upstairs himself and awkwardly wished her a happy birthday.
He had expected disappointment.
Instead...
Her entire face had lit up.
She had looked so genuinely happy that it had caught him completely off guard. She had happily finished every bite before looking up at him with those soft, gentle eyes that always seemed to look at him as though he could do no wrong.
"As long as you make it for me, I'll always be happy," she had told him with the brightest smile. "This is my favorite thing to look forward to now. Every time you make it for me, I promise I'll be over the moon."
For the first time that night, Xavier's heart had skipped a beat.
It hadn't mattered that it was only an omelet.
To Elise, it had been as though he had hung the moon in her bedroom just for her. No matter how small the gesture was, she had cherished it with her whole heart, and something deep inside his chest had stirred that night—something he hadn't understood back then.
The memory disappeared as quickly as it had come, leaving Xavier standing alone in the silent mansion.
He blinked slowly, his breathing uneven as he looked around the house.
Almost without thinking, he turned and walked toward the kitchen. He quietly pulled a skillet from the cabinet and took out a few eggs before beginning to cook.
It had been a long time since he had made an omelet, and his drunken hands weren't nearly as steady as they should have been.
The first one fell apart when he tried to flip it.
The second browned too much around the edges.
By the third attempt, he'd burned his fingers against the hot skillet more than once, and several eggs had already been sacrificed in the process.
Still, he didn't stop.