This was the first time Cindy was sleeping in the Diamond Palace. This had also been her sister's home for three years.
The house smelled like Carmen. She was already gone yet at every corner, there was a shadow of hers lurking. When Cindy slept, she felt as if Carmen's arms were wrapping softly around her body, making her feel very secure. Even then, she still did not have a good night's sleep.
Alexander had disappeared as soon as they reached the house. The place was so big; that Cindy was not going to look for him.
She looked at the time; it was already midnight. She tried sleeping once more to no success, so she decided to sit down and come up with some new designs.
She was almost completing school. She needed to go back to Australia because everything was strangling her here. The most important person to her was already gone, her parents were still there, but even they could not fill this void.
Her hands moved swiftly on the paper, and soon, an image of a woman wearing a long gown could be seen. The woman had no face; Cindy would add it later.
She continued drawing, but then she heard footsteps from the staircase. She looked up and was surprised to see Alexander. She thought he was asleep.
He was dressed in a simple t-shirt and sweatpants. He also had on reading glasses, and his overall look was very homey. Cindy blushed and looked away.
Alexander was also quite surprised to see her, "You are awake?"
Cindy forgot the bashfulness and looked at him, "Yeah. I already slept a bit, but I couldn't later, so I came down for a while."
Alexander nodded and then went over to where she was. They had not gotten a chance to speak ever since Carmen died.
He looked down at her drawing, "New design?"
Cindy nodded, "Mmn, something I've been working on. I need to put out some work for my portfolio before I finish school."
With the mention of school, Alexander's brows constricted slightly. He did not know if it was okay to ask, but he still couldn't help himself, "What do you plan to do now?"
Cindy did not know the extent of his question, so she answered slowly, "I will go back to Australia and finish up my studies, then I will see from there…" She looked at him, and something squeezed inside her heart, so she added, "We don't really have to worry about our marriage. I never planned on it, and it was something I only said to appease Carmen. You should not feel compelled to go through with it. You can still go out and find a woman you actually like and marry her."
She thought she was being very generous, but Alexander's face got more and more ugly. He must really hate the arrangement as well, Cindy thought.
Alexander pinched the middle of his eyebrows, "You really don't want to get married to me that badly?"
Cindy was a bit stupefied. Alexander's tone was tinged with madness. She wondered what was wrong with him. She tried, "You don't want the arrangement as well. There is no need for us to get into something we both don't want, right?"
Alexander looked at her for a long time. His heart was beating weirdly, yet he could still sense a tinge of pain. She did not want him, that much he knew, but he did not know it was so strong.
He closed his eyes for a moment and tried to reason, "Is it because I was married to your sister?"
Cindy looked at him carefully and smiled sadly. This was a person she had loved all her youth, and she had once vowed that she would never marry anyone else apart from him, yet now she had been given that option, but she was very hesitant to take it.
It was because her sister had him first, and even when Carmen was the one who came up with such an idea, it was still very impossible to just marry him and forget about everything else.
Besides, he did not love her, so what was the point?
Finishing her studies was a better plan. She still had time to find someone who she would give all her love, and that person would never disappoint her.
"It is because I never wish to get married…" she lied, "…Marriage is not for a person like me. I just want to finish my studies and get a job, that's all."
Alexander sighed, "But you promised her. She once said you keep your promises, so why are you hell-bent on breaking this one? If it were not me, would you have chosen to get married?"
Cindy froze…