Chapter 168 Trust in Her Alone
Ava turned to Alexander, her eyes searching his face for answers. "And you, do you believe that your grandmother could have been responsible?" she asked.
"Yes," came Alexander's reply, his expression grave. "Given the circumstances, my grandmother was the prime suspect. I couldn't help but think that she had deliberately sabotaged Isabella's surgery to drive a wedge between us."
Ava's face flushed with anger. "That's preposterous! How could you cast suspicion on your own grandmother? How could that possibly be fair to her?"
"And how is it unfair?" Alexander retorted, his voice steady and controlled. "Even if I suspected my grandmother, did I ever confront her? I never cast blame on her, never treated her any differently because of my suspicions. Isn't that enough?"
Ava found herself tangled in Alexander's reasoning. It seemed sound enough. Despite suspecting his own grandmother of such a heinous act, he had managed to keep his feelings separate, not allowing them to affect his relationship with her.
But if he truly trusted her, why did suspicion fall on her so readily? Why would he doubt his own kin so quickly?
In the end, it all came down to Isabella. She was his priority.
Why was it so hard for him to suspect Isabella of deceit, of intentionally creating discord? After all the theatrics she had orchestrated so blatantly, how could he remain oblivious? Instead, he was quick to suspect his own family.
Now, he claimed the moral high ground, asserting that even though he harbored suspicions about his family, he never held them accountable. Wasn't that enough?
Only he could answer that question.
"Enough? Of course, it's enough," Ava retorted, her voice heavy with sarcasm. "If Mr. Mitchell deems it enough, who am I to argue?"
Whatever he deemed sufficient would have to do, since he seemed deaf to any other opinion.
"Ava, I'm attempting to have a civil conversation with you. Enough with the snide remarks," Alexander chided, his brow furrowed in annoyance.
"I am having a civil conversation with you. You believe it's enough, so I'm merely agreeing with you. What more do you want?"
Ava's defiant stance seemed to irk Alexander.
"You started all this. I'm trying to mend things here, don't twist it to make it seem like it's always someone else's fault."
"Me? I instigated this?" Ava scoffed at the accusation. "Are you implying that Isabella confiding in me and me passing it on to Grandma is me stirring up trouble?"
"Isn't that exactly what happened? Isabella was merely speculating. But when you relayed the information to Grandma, you twisted her words, making it seem like Isabella had confirmed those suspicions. That's nothing short of instigating," Alexander countered, not mincing his words.
"Alexander," Ava retorted, her anger palpable, "how many times do I have to repeat myself? Isabella explicitly told me that Grandma was the culprit. She never used the word 'maybe,' nor did she imply it was a mere guess."
"Even if that were the case, you must have misunderstood her," Alexander defended Isabella, "You got the wrong end of the stick."
Ava closed her eyes, took a deep breath to quell her rising anger, and then rose from the couch.
"Alexander, it's always the same with you. Isabella says one thing to me in private, but as soon as she's confronted, she claims she meant something else, that I misunderstood her. Every single time, you choose to believe Isabella over me. It's always me who's misinterpreting her. I’m beginning to wonder if I hadn't attended elementary school and can't comprehend basic language, or if it's just Isabella's words that elude me."
Alexander lifted his gaze to meet hers. After a lengthy silence, he finally spoke, "Ava, let's not bring up what Isabella has told you in the past. Whether there's been a misunderstanding or not, it's behind us. Given her fragile health, let's not hold it against her."
