Alex had no intention to deal with Xena even from the start, but now the situation had changed.
In order to salvage his feelings for Isla, he had to go through Xena Sanders first.
If it were another person, Alex would not find it difficult.
The key was that Xena Sanders was just bad to the bone and too annoying to deal with.
Alex thought about it and suddenly realized a problem. Cynthia had suffered so much grievance, it would be no surprise if she held a grudge against Xena. In fact, she was like a nanny. Not only did she put down her job to take care of Isla, but she also served Xena as if she were her employer, which was no easy feat.
Furthermore, it seemed that from the beginning, whenever there was a misunderstanding or conflict between Isla and him, Cynthia was the one who acted as their mediator. It could be said that Cynthia played an irreplaceable and important role in the quick development between Isla and his relationship. The credit to that belonged mostly to her.
This proved that Isla and Cynthia were not fake bosom friends, but really good sisters.
It was because of this that Alex used to think that everything Cynthia did for Isla was as expected and he took it for granted. Only today did he put himself in her shoes and thought about it, realizing that she had given too much for the both of them and was still giving continuously.
As Alex thought of this, he made up his mind deep down to ‘take the opportunity to thank Cynthia’. His mentality had also changed a lot. If Cynthia Walker, an outsider, could serve Xena regardless of the past enmities, why could he, as a person who was directly involved, not put aside his pride to come to an agreement with Xena instead?
A man’s pride was important, but as the old saying went, life was dear, but love was dearer.
There was no such thing as a free lunch. In order to receive love — which was more precious than life — something must be given up in exchange…
With that, Alex made up his mind. He replied to Cynthia’s message and got up. After a busy day of work outside, he took time to go to the BMW 4S store and spent half a million dollars on a big red 3 Series GT sedan in full.
After eating dinner and going to the supermarket to buy a bunch of things, he arrived at the lower floor of Cynthia’s rented house with Big Ken accompanying him. He was not in a hurry to go upstairs anyway, so he first called Cynthia down.
The moment Cynthia entered the car, he asked Alex with some displeasure, “Why are you here again? I haven’t talked Lala and auntie through it yet. You’re coming here too often now.”
Alex waved his hand and replied sincerely, “Beautiful Cynthia, one’s fault should be amended by oneself. Xena wants Golden Stone. If I don’t let it go, this problem will never be solved. Most importantly, in the end, this is my business. How can I stay out of it and put the burden on your shoulders?”
“So you’re telling me that I’m being nosy?”
“No, no, that’s definitely not what I mean. I’m ashamed to say this, but you’ve done so much for us and I haven’t thanked you properly. Introducing you to a boyfriend, inviting you to dinner and so on, I’ve only talked about it but never put it into practice. On top of all these situations, anyone else would already refuse to have anything more to do with the matter. However, you didn’t do that and I’m really touched by it!”
“Hiss… Alex Cohen, something doesn’t seem right here. Last night you gave me a gift, and today you’re being so emotional. This doesn’t make sense at all. According to Lala, you’re a typical macho straight man who can’t be changed no matter what. Honestly, did you get guidance from an emotional expert?”
“No, I just suddenly figured out something. Beautiful Cynthia, I’m truly curious. How did you cultivate your sisterhood with Lala? I know that birds of a feather flock together, but why did God only bring you two together? How come you two don’t have other bosom friends besides each other?”
“About that… it’s a long story. I was originally from the countryside. Later, I went to school in the city since my parents moved to the city to work. Most of my classmates looked down on me and some even bullied me. Only Lala was willing to be friends with me.
If I didn’t have such a good classmate like her, I would have transferred schools or dropped out and that was how my friendship with her started. Later, as her family’s business started to pick up, she arranged better jobs for my parents and improved my family’s living environment. Without her selfless help, my parents wouldn’t have been able to return to our hometown to live in peace the year after I graduated.”
“Lala was also targeted by her classmates because she protected you all the time, right?
“Yes, no one else played with us. We gradually got used to this two-person circle.”
“So that was how it started!”
As Alex understood Cynthia and Isla’s past, he subconsciously thought of his childhood with Zeke. When he was a child, he was in the same position as Cynthia. He was also bullied everywhere went. If Zeke was not there to protect him, his childhood would certainly have been very dark…
Cynthia also pondered for a while before she slowly returned to her senses from the endless memories. “Enough about me, let’s talk about you. Alex, based on what you said, are you prepared to give in? Are you really willing to hand over Golden Stone to auntie? If I remember correctly, you’ve already invested several hundred million into it.”
“I definitely won’t agree to hand it over to her, but I don’t have a problem with giving it to Lala.”
“I know what you’re thinking. Give the company to Lala, and when you marry her later, the company will still be yours.”
Alex nodded his head in embarrassment. He took out the BMW key from his pocket and continued saying to Cynthia, “Cynthia, to thank you for taking care of Lala over the years and also to thank you for your contribution to Golden Stone. I must give you a gift. I hope you like it.”
“Huh?” Cynthia looked at the car key in Alex’s hand and froze on the spot.
Although she was a girl and did not know much about cars, she still knew the BMW logo. Furthermore, with Alex’s status, he would not dare to offer her a junk car. She had long wanted to buy a car, but most of her salary was sent home and since she could not save money, her plan to buy a car had been pushed back.
Now that someone had offered her a car at her doorstep, she hesitated. “Alex, thank you for your kindness, but I cannot accept this gift. I did not decline the lipstick you gave me last night and accepted it directly but this car is different. It may be a gift too but it’s too expensive.”
“To be exact, this is not a gift, but a reward from the company to you.” Alex smiled as he spoke. “Cynthia, you should grab hold of the opportunity. Now that I’m still the boss of Golden Stone, I can still give you rewards. After I hand over the company to Lala, I would not have this authority anymore. Lala would surely be willing to give you a gift, but her mother will definitely interfere.”
“This…”
“Stop saying this and that. Just take it. Go out and look at the car. I don’t understand women’s preferences, so I just picked it according to my imagination. I don’t know if you’ll like the model I bought. If you don’t like it, I can try to give you a different one.”
Without saying anything else, Alex shoved the car key into Cynthia’s hand.
Cynthia could not argue anymore. She hesitated for a moment before she nodded heavily. “Okay! Then, I’ll take it!”
“That’s more like it!”
“Thank you, boss!”
Once Cynthia accepted the gift, her heart felt relieved and she was much more at ease. The moment she got out of the car, her eyes landed on the big red BMW parked to the side. She picked up the key and was ready to press it, but she held back and asked Alex hopefully, “Is this the one?”
Alex shrugged. “You’ll know when you try it.”
“Okay!” Cynthia finally pressed the unlock button, and after confirming her guess, she jumped up with joy. “This car is so beautiful. I love it so much! I never thought that the first car in my life would be such a beautiful BMW. It’s something I couldn’t even dream of before!”
Cynthia was so happy that she circled the car a few times and test drove it for a few minutes before she reluctantly got out of the car to take Alex and Big Ken upstairs.
Xena was not asleep yet as she was talking to Isla in the living room. When she saw Alex coming, she stood up and said to him angrily, “What are you doing here?”
“Auntie, don’t be angry, I was the one who called him here…” Cynthia hurriedly stepped in to smooth the situation over.
Isla glared at Alex without saying anything as she quickly pulled Cynthia into the bedroom. She asked softly, “Cynthia, you should stop speaking up for him. Have you forgotten that last time in the hospital, you suffered so much because you spoke for him? Even if you can forgive my mom, I still can’t get over it…”
