Chapter 160 A Fascinating Revelation
Upon regaining consciousness, Alexander discovered Ava perched at his bedside.
For a fleeting moment, he was convinced he was ensnared in a dream, but the piercing discomfort coursing through his body was a stark reminder of reality.
"Finally awake, are we? How are you feeling?" Ava's voice was laced with a thinly veiled concern.
"Why are you here?" Alexander croaked, his voice raspy and his lips on the verge of splitting.
"Isn't it expected for me to be here? Unless you've instructed everyone to maintain secrecy, like that incident at the resort."
A frown creased Alexander's forehead.
"Have you come to discuss the divorce?"
Ava's eyes darted to her phone, checking the time, "It's far too late for that today. Even if we were to go, we wouldn't make it through the queue. Divorces are becoming increasingly commonplace."
How many marriages could truly claim to be blissful in this day and age?
The discomfort of lying down for an extended period was beginning to gnaw at Alexander. He attempted to sit up, but Ava gently pressed his shoulder, "Don't move."
With a swift press of a button, the head of the bed elevated, effortlessly positioning Alexander into a seated posture without him having to strain.
"Feeling any better?" Ava's face remained impassive, but her actions belied a certain tenderness.
Alexander nodded in affirmation.
Ava moved to the water cooler, filled a cup with warm water, and offered it to Alexander. "Here, have some water."
He accepted the cup and drained it in a single gulp, the moisture soothing his parched lips.
"Need more?" Ava inquired.
"No, thanks," he declined, shaking his head.
She retrieved the cup and placed it aside, then resumed her position on the chair next to his bed.
"Are you still angry with me?" he ventured.
"Angry?" Ava responded with a small, emotionless smile. "If you're referring to your affair with Isabella, I really don't have the luxury to waste my emotions on that."
She had already navigated the stormy seas of anger, pain, and tears. She had no desire to continue on that path, even though her heartache wasn't something she could simply switch off at will. However, she was determined not to show it.
Alexander fell into a contemplative silence, not uttering a word for a considerable time.
"Why have you never informed me about your stomach condition?" Ava finally shattered the silence.
Alexander met her gaze, "It didn't seem worth mentioning. You couldn't cure it anyway."
"Is that so?" Ava's lips curled into a sarcastic smile. "That's perfectly logical. I can't cure you, so you conveniently keep it from me." Despite their decade-long acquaintance and a year of marriage, it seemed she wasn't privy to his health issues.
"So, you avoid spicy food because of your stomach, right?"
He responded with a faint "Mhm."
"That figures. But when I packed two lunches, one spicy and one not, you swapped yours with Isabella to get the spicy one. You'd consume something that could harm you just for Isabella, yet when we dine together, you never touch spicy food."
Ava didn't want Alexander to eat spicy food for her sake. What stung was the realization that he treated Isabella differently.
He was in love with Isabella, and for her, he was willing to cross boundaries, even those that could potentially harm him.
For his wife, he would only go as far as he deemed feasible. Anything he believed he couldn't—or simply wouldn't—do for her was strictly off-limits.
That was the chasm between love and its absence.
"What are you implying by bringing this up now, Ava?"
"There's no ulterior motive. I just find it, well, rather fascinating."
Her choice of the word "fascinating" was laced with a distinctive note of sarcasm.
