Chapter 182: Chapter 182 Perfectly normal
Alana bit her lip. Listening to the man’s confession-like words, she felt not the slightest stir in her heart; on the contrary, she found it somewhat amusing.
“Cole, do you seriously take me for a fool? You were about to marry someone else! If she hadn’t dumped you, you wouldn’t be here right now...”
“No, I was going to end things with her. I was going to come back to you.”
Alana scoffed. “You really take me for a fool.”
“No. I don’t. I just want you back. Can’t you just let go of those unhappy memories and start over with me? I made a mistake.”
He was reckless back then, unaware of the gravity of his actions or even of his own feelings. She couldn’t dismiss all his feelings for her just because of that mistake that he had learnt from now.
Alana tugged at the corner of her mouth, her tone tinged with a hint of sarcasm.
“It wasn’t a mistake! It wasn’t a choice you made! Even if you see it as a mistake, it would never erase all the pain you’ve caused me?” Cole, I’m not a very forgiving person. I can’t just let everything slide and pretend it never mattered.”
Once hurt, it remained; it doesn’t simply vanish with the passage of time. After all, she had truly and genuinely endured that pain.
He hadn’t gone through her suffering, how could he possibly have the right to ask her to forget?
Seeing Alana’s mocking expression, Cole couldn’t help but feel a pang of anxiety. He took her hand and declared his feelings once more, “Lana, since you care so much, give me a chance to make it up to you, be with me again.”
Alana immediately pulled away from his touch.
Lowering her gaze, she suddenly noticed a string of sandalwood beads on his wrist. She remembered that string of beads, it was the one she had personally gone to a
temple to pray for and obtain as a birthday gift for him the very first time.
Every single bead had been strung by her own hands. She had hoped he would wear the beads on his wrist to bring him safety and good health.
Of course, it was also a subtle way of expressing her feelings. She hoped her feelings would be with him at all times.
But after she gave them to him, she never once saw him wear them, not even
once, until now..
Seeing it suddenly appear on his wrist now left her momentarily dazed.
Noticing Alana’s gaze, Cole lowered his head and looked at the sandalwood beads on his left wrist.
He said somewhat urgently, “Lana, do you remember? This sandalwood bracelet was the first birthday gift you ever gave me. I’ve always forgotten to tell you, but I love all the birthday gifts you’ve given me, and I
treasure them dearly.”
After speaking, his slender fingers couldn’t help but tenderly stroke the sandalwood beads she had given him, as if cherishing them dearly.
Alana’s eyes flickered, and a vague memory began to surface.
“Is that so? I thought you hadn’t worn them for so long because you didn’t like them.”
Cole immediately replied, “No way. As long as it’s from you, I love it and will
cherish it for the rest of my life!”
Alana looked up at him, a touch of stubborn determination in her eyes. “But why, then, did your sister Camila tell me herself that you despise the gifts I’ve given you? That the moment you received them, you wanted nothing more than to shove them into some forgotten corner because they were cheap and unpresentable? That’s why you’ve never worn them in public.”
Camila had told her to stop giving gifts, saying she was embarrassing herself.
She’d been foolish back then, thinking Camila was just trying to provoke her. So every year on Cole’s birthday, she’d bought him a gift, besides the sandalwood beads, there were thermoses, men’s watches, and the likes.
Though they weren’t expensive, just a few dollars but they were all bought with money she’d saved up for a long time.
Yet he had never once brought any of her gifts out in public.
Seeing Alana’s stubborn, earnest gaze, a flicker of panic crossed Cole’s face. “Is that what Camila told you?”
Alana retorted, “Was she wrong?”
“I...” Cole’s throat tightened; he didn’t know how to respond, as if whatever he said would be wrong in her eyes.
Just then, the elevator doors opened.
Alana pressed her lips together, decided not to dwell on the issue any further, and
hurried out.
Whether she dwelled on it or not, it no longer mattered to either of them; it would only make things more awkward.
Her cold demeanor stung him, and Cole instinctively grabbed her wrist.
As the elevator doors opened, several colleagues standing outside immediately saw the two of them struggling inside...
The colleagues stood there, speechlessly.
Alana and Cole both froze for a moment.
Alana was the first to break free from Cole’s grip. Cole also withdrew his hand, looking slightly awkward.
Something was clearly off about the two of them, and the colleagues exchanged glances, each with a different look on their face.
Seeing that everyone had clearly misunderstood, Alana’s heart sank. “Please don’t get the wrong idea. I just needed to discuss something with Manager Cole, right, Manager Cole?” She looked at Cole, hoping he would play along.
Although this excuse had been improvised on the spot, it was rather flimsy.
Cole stared at her, his eyes, hidden behind his glasses, deep and intense.
He paused for a moment before speaking slowly, “Yes, Alana is correct.”
Alana breathed a sigh of relief and, regardless of whether her colleagues believed her, hurried away.
Cole watched the direction she had gone, a strange emotion welling up in his eyes.
*********
At Noon, Alana went to the company cafeteria with Carla for lunch.
After ordering their meals, they found a table in a corner and sat down.
“Lana, quite a few people saw you with Manager Cole at the elevator today, he was even holding your hand. Is that true?” Carla couldn’t help but ask while eating, her face full of curiosity.
Alana was in the middle of eating and choked on her food when she heard this. “What? They still gossiped about?”
Carla blinked. “Yep. And now, I’m curious!”
Carla continued, “What’s your relationship with Manager Cole? I feel like he treats
you a little differently. At first, I thought he was deliberately targeting you, but lately he’s made you his assistant and been looking for every opportunity to interact with you. It’s really...”
Alana couldn’t take it anymore. “Stop it!There’s nothing going on between us. Don’t get the wrong idea.”
Carla propped her chin in her hand. “Is that true? Could that boyfriend you’ve been hiding be Manager Cole? You two...are you secretly dating?!”
Cole had also come to the cafeteria for lunch. Spotting Alana in the corner, he
couldn’t help but walk over to her.
And he just happened to overhear Carla’s words. His eyes darkened slightly as he looked at Alana with a hint of anticipation.
He wanted to know how she would respond.
Alana immediately retorted, “No way!He’s not my boyfriend!” She paused for a moment, her gaze falling on the thermos Stephan had given her, filled with the brown sugar ginger tea he’d brewed for her.
Her expression softened slightly as she said gently, “For your information, my boyfriend is a hundred times better than Manager Cole.”
Standing behind her, Cole’s eyes instantly grew colder, and his fists clenched, unnaturally.
Carla was dying of curiosity. “So who exactly is your boyfriend?”
“He...” Before Alana could say anything, a dark blue figure loomed over her.
Carla’s eyes widened at the sight of the man. “Man...Manager Cole”
Alana froze when she saw it was him.
Cole looked at her and asked. “Do you mind if I sit here?”
Alana furrowed her brow and paused for a moment. “I don’t mind.”
The employee cafeteria belonged to the company, not to her personally, so of course she had no reason to mind.
Cole’s gloomy mood lightened considerably after hearing the girl say, “I don’t mind.”
He curved his lips into a smile and, acting as if they were old friends, sat down in the seat next to her.
Feeling the man’s presence, Alana couldn’t help but furrow her brows again.
For some reason, once Cole sat down next to her, she found her appetite vanish instantly.
But, determined not to waste food, she forced herself to eat what she was supposed to. However, she shifted her body slightly, deliberately moving away from Cold. Carla’s eyes widened in shock when she saw Cole sitting right next to Alana, as if it were perfectly normal.
Comments