Chapter 41 What I Did
Alexander’s POV
Everything irritated me today.
Everything.
The sound of people talking too slowly.
The tapping of keyboards.
The low hum of conversation outside my office.
Even the sunlight coming through the damn windows.
I snapped at my assistant before nine in the morning.
By ten I had already torn apart two reports during a meeting.
And by noon half the people in the building were walking around me like I was a bomb about to explode.
Which, honestly, wasn’t far from the truth.
I leaned back in my chair, jaw tight, listening to one of the executives ramble through a presentation.
“…and if we finalize the acquisition by the third quarter—”
“Stop.”
The word came out sharp.
The man froze mid-sentence.
My fingers tapped the table once, slow and impatient.
“You’ve been talking for ten minutes and still haven’t said anything useful,” I said flatly. “Get to the point.”
The room went silent.
He swallowed and hurried through the rest of the presentation, his voice noticeably less confident.
By the time the meeting ended, the tension in the room was thick enough to cut with a knife.
Everyone rushed out as quickly as they could.
Everyone except one person.
My sister.
Ava stayed seated across the table, watching me carefully.
I gathered a few papers from the table, pretending not to notice.
“Alexander.”
I ignored her.
“Alexander.”
“What?” I snapped, looking up.
Her arms crossed slowly.
“What the hell is wrong with you today?”
“Nothing.”
“That’s a lie.”
I leaned back in the chair, irritation already building again.
“I’m busy, Eva.”
“You’ve been snapping at everyone all morning,” she said calmly. “Employees, executives, even me.”
“I’m running a company. That requires pressure.”
“No,” she said bluntly. “That requires leadership. What you’re doing is biting everyone’s head off.”
I exhaled slowly.
“Is there a point to this conversation?”
“Yes.”
Her eyes narrowed slightly.
“Does this have something to do with Isabella?”
My jaw tightened immediately.
Eva noticed.
Of course she did.
“I’ll take that as a yes,” she said.
“It has nothing to do with her.”
“Alexander.”
“I said it doesn’t.”
She leaned forward slightly, studying my face.
“What happened?”
I didn’t answer.
Her expression hardened.
“What did you do?”
Something in my chest tightened.
I stood up, grabbing my jacket.
“Nothing happened.”
“Stop lying to me.”
Her voice sharpened.
“You don’t look like a man who slept well last night. And you don’t look like a man who’s at peace with himself either.”
I turned away from her.
“Alexander,” she said again, more quietly now. “What happened with Isabella?”
For a long moment I stayed silent.
Then finally—
“I cut her.”
The words came out flat.
Eva went completely still.
“You… what?”
“She walked into the room,” I said. “The one that’s off limits.”
Her face paled slightly.
“And?”
“And she started asking questions.”
My voice hardened.
“She saw things she wasn’t supposed to see.”
Eva stared at me like she couldn’t believe what she was hearing.
“So you cut her?” she said slowly.
“Yes.”
Her chair scraped loudly across the floor as she stood.
“Are you out of your mind?”
I looked at her coldly.
“She disobeyed a direct order.”
“So that justifies hurting her?” Eva demanded.
“She crossed a line.”
“She walked into a room, Alexander!”
Her voice rose with disbelief.
“You act like she betrayed you or something!”
“She might have.”
Eva stared at me like I had just said the most ridiculous thing she had ever heard.
“You cannot be serious.”
“She could be working with them.”
She blinked slowly.
“…what?”
“She could still be connected to them,” I said, my voice flat.
“The people who tortured you?” she asked carefully.
“Yes.”
Eva dragged a hand down her face, the gesture full of disbelief, like she was trying to process the sheer insanity of what I had just said.
“You cannot actually believe that.”
“You don’t know that.”
“Alexander,” she said firmly, leaning forward slightly, “you are the one who forced that girl to marry you.”
I said nothing.
“You spent ten years looking for her,” she continued. “Ten years. And now suddenly you’re convinced she’s secretly working with the same people who destroyed you?”
My gaze drifted away from her.
Eva noticed.
Her voice softened a little, though the frustration in it was still there.
“Did it ever cross your mind,” she said slowly, “that maybe she went into that room because she was curious?”
I let out a quiet breath.
“It doesn’t matter.”
“Yes, it does.”
“No,” I said, my tone hardening. “She knew she wasn’t supposed to go in there. The staff told her that room was off limits. And she still went in.”
Eva crossed her arms.
“So your solution was to punish her for it?”
“Yes.”
She stared at me like she didn’t recognize the man standing in front of her.
“I can’t believe you.”
“She should have listened.”
“Or maybe,” Eva snapped, her patience finally breaking, “you could have treated her like a human being for once!”
Her words hit the room like a slap.
“If you had opened up to her even a little,” she continued, “maybe she wouldn’t have felt the need to go digging around trying to understand you.”
My jaw tightened.
“There’s no reason for me to open up to her.”
Eva’s eyes narrowed.
“I don’t care about her,” I said coldly. “And I don’t care what she thinks of me.”
She stared at me for a long moment.
Eva shook her head slowly.
“You’re lying.”
“I’m not.”
Her eyes narrowed.
“Alexander.”
She stepped closer, her voice quieter now, but far more serious.
“No, you are.”
I looked at her sharply.
“You’re punishing her,” she said.
“For something she didn’t do.”
“That’s not true.”
“Yes, it is.”
Her gaze held mine, steady and unyielding.
“You’re not angry at Isabella,” she continued. “You’re angry at the past.”
My expression hardened instantly.
“You’re punishing her,” she said, her voice calm but firm, “for what her father did to you. And for the way our father taught you to deal with things when you lose control.”
“Don’t,” I warned.
But she didn’t stop.
“You’re repeating the same pattern,” she said. “
My jaw tightened.
“Don’t.”
“You don’t have to become him.”
My head snapped toward her.
“Don’t.”
“Our father does not get to decide who you are,” she continued. “You don’t have to become him.”
“Stop.”
“You’re doing exactly what he did—”
“I said stop.”
The word sliced through the room.
Sharp.
Final.
Silence followed.
Eva studied me for a long moment.
Then the anger in her face softened slightly.
“You’re better than him,” she said quietly.
I grabbed my jacket off the chair.
“I’m done with this conversation.”
“Alexander—”
“I’m going home.”
“To apologize?” she asked, the sarcasm clear in her voice.
“No.”
I headed toward the door.
“Just to rest.”
Behind me, I heard her exhale slowly.
Then her voice followed me across the room.
“Go apologize to her.”
I paused for half a second.
“You know you care about her,” she added.
I didn’t respond.
“You know you want her.”
Still nothing.
Then, softer now—
“Don’t do this to yourself.”
I walked out without looking back