When she heard the sound of Leonel's footsteps, she turned her head to look at him as if she knew he would come to her.

Her sharp gaze carried a hint of satisfaction and mockery.

Leonel immediately knew that he had fallen for her trap.

It was apparent that she had deliberately made him nervous and worried.

They stared at each other for a moment. Then Alexis smiled and started the car.

After rolling up the window, she drove off.

"Alexis!" Leonel called out to her. But she didn't stop.

Leonel knew she wouldn't come to any harm, so what he should do was to go back upstairs and think about how to deal with the days ahead.

But he didn't seem to want to move at all. He just stood there, staring in the direction her car had just gone.

But all of a sudden, he remembered the maple tree in the backyard.

Ignoring the pain in his leg, he slowly walked towards the tree. He could see the tender red leaves hanging onto the branches. Since it was late summer, the tree had now started changing color.

Leonel's lips trembled and his facial muscles twitched uncontrollably.

Now that the maple tree had changed color, would he really have a chance to start anew with Alexis again?

On her way back, Alexis took some medicine to stop the bleeding.

The wound appeared daunting, yet it was actually nothing. By the time she reached home, the bleeding had ceased.

The villa was silent.

In the drawing room, Waylen sat on the sofa, a financial magazine in his hands. His attention, however, seemed elsewhere.

As Alexis entered through the doorway, Waylen looked up and noticed the cut on her wrist.

“What happened, Alexis?"

Hearing Waylen's gentle voice, Alexis paused, taken aback. Despite being a mother of three, in Waylen's eyes, she remained the little girl who would snuggle on his lap, listening intently to the fairy tales he read her deep into the night.