A Ruling Passion – Chapter 1333

Alejandro drew out a long breath. “I know, alright? But why must Melanie pick a fight with me over a woman I can never have, huh? Sure, it might have been my plan to take back Tiffany for myself, no matter the cost or sacrifice. But I see it so clearly now: everything is moving away and apart. Everything’s developing toward an impossibility. That old scum had cut off my options even before he died, forcing me into this marriage and having a child I didn’t want, and then using them and other things to bind me from doing what I want. Even after death, he traps me with the shares of the company, and now, I can’t cut my ties with the Larks even if I wanted to!” he ranted. “Had it not been for that old bastard, Tiffany and Jackson would not have married! They wouldn’t have a child! And I wouldn’t have been stuck with Melanie! Christ, thanks to him, I’m now trapped into the role of Alejandro Smith...”

Jett was surprised to hear something resembling resignation in Alejandro’s diatribe. “Mr. Smith, are you... Are you giving up on Tiffany?”

Alejandro said nothing for a beat before answering, “I can’t give up completely right now, but when I see how happy she is with that Jackson, I just... can’t bring myself to upend her life. Yes, my desires are conflicting, and maybe that dead old man had a point. My stubbornness is a double-edged sword. In the end, neither he nor I could truly ‘win,’ let alone have all of our desires and dreams achieved."

Jett sighed. “With all due respect, if you would look at the silver linings, you would see that everything is rather good, isn’t it? Tiffany’s happy with her life while you and Madam now have a child, an adorable daughter, at that. The two of you could finally settle into your separate but joyous lives. Let bygones be bygones, right? Let go of an attachment, and suddenly, the world brightens up.”

Let it all go? As if letting go was ever that easy. And who could be certain that the world would brighten up just because you gave something up? What if the world turned even bleaker precisely because you let go and gave up? And who in this world could ever achieve that lofty ideal of letting go of their attachment without moments of doubt and hesitation?