Page 194 of King of Ruin

She shook her head before continuing, her voice softening.

"It's not like she can imagine your love on her own. You're always so wrapped up in your own world. She works for you, she's always around you, but you keep your distance from her. If you don't even treat her like your girlfriend, how can you expecther to accept you as her boyfriend again when she hasn't even seen your love?"

Two hours later, slightly drunk, Xavier stumbled into the hallway outside Elise's apartment with both hands overflowing with luxury shopping bags. After leaving the restaurant, he had driven straight to the biggest luxury mall he could find and spent the last hour buying everything that caught his eye. Designer handbags, jewelry, perfumes, flowers, dresses, shoes—anything that reminded him of Elise ended up in a bag. He had bought so much that both of his hands were full, yet he still wished he could have brought more.

Stopping outside her apartment, he shifted the weight in his arms before slamming his fist against the door.

Bang.

Bang.

Bang.

He waited.

Nothing.

His brows slowly drew together as he knocked again, louder this time. The sound echoed through the quiet hallway, but there were still no footsteps from inside.

A frown settled on his face.

Clicking his tongue, Xavier stepped closer, pressed the passcode into the keypad from memory, and pushed the door open.

The moment the door swung inward, Elise came marching toward him with a deep frown already on her face.

"You are breaking in, and you know that, right?" she snapped. "I told you not to come back—"

Before she could finish, Xavier stepped forward and dumped every shopping bag in his hands into her arms.

Elise gasped.

The weight caught her completely off guard. She stumbled back a step as shopping bags began slipping from her arms one after another, landing all over the floor. Within seconds, the doorway was buried beneath luxury bags. There had to be at least fifteen or twenty of them, filling almost the entire entrance.

She stood there speechless, her eyes moving from one designer bag to another before slowly lifting to Xavier.

Her mouth remained slightly open.

She simply stared at him in complete shock.

Xavier bent down among the pile of shopping bags, nearly knocking a few of them over as he searched through them. After a moment, he finally found a small velvet box and immediately pulled it out, opening it in front of her.

A diamond bracelet rested inside.

"I bought this for you," he said quickly, holding it out. "I always thought diamonds looked good on you. You know that? They suit you."

Elise stared at him, still unable to process what was happening.

"I bought this last year," he continued, words coming faster now as if he was afraid she would interrupt him. "When you came to my house for the first time. I kept it because I thought... you would like it."

Before she could respond, he was already reaching for another bag.

"And this one."

He pulled out another box and opened it.

"A bracelet. This will suit your wrist." His eyes dropped to her hand as he took it. "Your wrist is so small. Look at it. It's tiny." His brows pulled together slightly, his drunken frustration showing. "I don't know how you manage anything with hands this small."

Elise stared at him.