Chapter 4

I burst out laughing. I laughed so hard that tears rolled out of my eyes and hit the back of Alex's hand.

"Alex." My voice was soft. "You will be regretful one day."

Danny came over to me soon after he had bid goodbye to the mourners.

He grabbed Alex by the collar and pushed Alex to the wall.

He gave Alex one punch, so blood was soon seen on the corner of Alex's mouth.

His gaze was cold. He said word by word, "Get lost. You are unwelcome here."

Hearing this, Alex sneered. He wiped the blood off the corner of his mouth and left the mourning hall.

*****One month had passed.

With the dinner ready, Grace waited for Alex to come home.

To her disappointment, he didn't like the dishes she had prepared. After two bites of the food, Alex went to the study.

Grace followed Alex to the study and said hesitantly, "Alex, I had afternoon tea with my friends yesterday, and they mentioned some good bag. I want one..."

"How much?" Alex cut her off. There was conspicuous impatience in his eyes.

Grace said sweetly, "Alex, it is a limited edition, so I need 40 thousand dollars..."

With his eyes fixed on the documents on the computer, Alex frowned at the figure that Grace had mentioned as his fingertip paused on the mouse.

To him, 40 thousand dollars was a small sum of money.

However, he remembered May at that moment. May would hesitate before a dress worth hundreds of dollars, not to mention the luxury goods.

Alex shifted his attention back to his computer and then said in a bland tone, "No, too expensive."

Grace's smile froze. Wide-eyed, Grace said, "Just 40 thousand dollars. Alex, you used to..."

"Things are different now," Alex interrupted Grace. He impatiently turned off his computer. "Don't ask for stuff like this again."

He rose to his feet, walked away, and left Grace's complaints behind him.

All he thought about was May smiling at him in a faded shirt.

Then, he realized that he hadn't seen May for a long time.

Before he knew it, he arrived at the neighborhood where May lived.

Then, he overheard the conversation of the residents there.

"Hey, have you heard? Henry Shittu in Room 803 died last month. Right on Christmas. His wife and daughter must be heartbroken."

"They must. He taught my son. He was a good teacher. I deliberately told my son of his death. It is said that all his students attended his funeral."

Alex's heart sank at the mention of Henry.

He dashed over and caught the wrist of one resident.

His voice was husky as he asked, "What are you talking about? Who died? May's dad? No way!"

Shocked, the resident struggled to get rid of Alex as she shouted, "What are you doing? Let go of me! We are talking about Henry. He died from a heart attack last month. It isn't a secret here."

"Impossible!" Alex flung away the wrist of the speaker. He took half a step back, staggered, and held onto the wall to keep his balance. He shook his head like mad.

His reactions alerted another resident, so the latter mumbled, "Who are you? He has been dead for more than one month..."

"More than one month?" Alex looked up with a start.

'Does it mean that the funeral was real...' he thought.

Distressed, he was anxious to confirm his suspicion.

He raced to the building where the Shittu family lived. The elevator was in maintenance.

In one breath, he ran to the eighth floor.

He pushed the unlocked door open and then saw the photo of Henry right in the center of the living room.

Henry in the photo had a faint smile.

Suddenly, memories flooded Alex's mind. Alex had received financial support from Henry more than once when his family didn't approve of his adventure in the business world.

He had received from Henry eight bank transfers, and each contained 30 thousand dollars. Thanks to Henry's support, his company soon got on the right track. Henry never complained or asked for something in return.

Alex stood before Henry's photo. As if the last bit of his energy were drained, his knees went weak all of a sudden, so he slumped to the floor.

He recalled May's red and swollen eyes from that day. Then, he remembered how he had interrupted and insulted May. "If your dad died, serve him right."

Alex stumbled out of the Shittu's place with tears all over his face.

He took out his phone. Because his hands kept shaking, he input the wrong passwords three times in a row.

After he managed to unlock his phone, he found May's phone number.

He rang May and got a busy signal. Stubborn, he hung up the phone and gave May a second call.