Chapter 2
Her youthful affection for Kelvin had lasted nine whole years, but at last, Carissa made up her mind to walk away from him for good.
She had no idea how long she'd been asleep when the sound of footsteps in the living room finally woke her.
Rubbing her eyes, Carissa shuffled out of the bedroom in her pajamas.
Kelvin was in high spirits, humming a tune as he fiddled with the lunch boxes on the table.
"Hey, you're up. Come try the food I brought over. A real Michelin-level pro chef at the TV station whipped it up himself," Kelvin said, grinning.
As soon as Carissa sat down, Kelvin grabbed some dishes with his fork and dropped them onto her plate.
"This stuff's seriously tasty. Go ahead, give it a shot," he said eagerly.
Carissa looked at the table, everything covered in spicy-looking, bright red dishes.
She parted her lips, but couldn't bring herself to say, "I can't eat spicy food. It's Linda who's obsessed with it."
'What's the point?' Carissa thought. 'Kelvin would just assume I'm acting all jealous again.'
Before leaving, she had no desire to cause a scene or wear herself out with pointless fights.
Even though she'd carefully picked out all the peppers and only ate the meat, the spiciness still got to her.
Her throat burned, and her eyes watered up instantly from the heat.
"Kelvin, tissue," Carissa croaked, still coughing.
She reached out her hand, still coughing.
But even after a long wait, Kelvin didn't react at all.
Carissa glanced up to see Kelvin totally lost in his phone, unable to hide the grin on his face.
Right then, a notification for Linda's livestream flashed across his screen.
Carissa took a long drink of water, stubbornly ignoring the burning in her throat, and clicked into the livestream.
Right there on the screen, Linda was singing her heart out.
And every single song she picked was one of Kelvin's.
[Oh, look at this couple showering each other with affection across the screen! They just wrapped up that live variety gig, and now they're back to being all mushy. They're so freaking sweet!]
[Pretty sure Linda's the only one in showbiz who gets to sing Kelvin's songs without ever worrying about copyright fees.]
[Not gonna lie, it's really sweet, but she's way off-key. Honestly, it kinda hurts to listen.]
Without thinking, Carissa looked up at Kelvin.
He was frowning, his fingers flying across the keyboard.
In the blink of an eye, the live-stream exploded with a hundred dazzling effects, silencing the trolls who had been mocking Linda's singing.
But even that wasn't extra enough for Kelvin.
He went straight to his official account and posted for everyone to see.
[In my world, Linda's voice is the best there is—no contest.]
The shippers were losing their minds all over again.
Linda's eyes gleamed with warmth, and she shyly formed a heart with her hands for the camera.
The look of sweetness on Kelvin's face twisted the knife in Carissa's heart.
For the first time, she spoke up with a cold edge to her voice.
"It's bad for your digestion to stare at your phone while eating. You..."
Before she could finish, Kelvin got up, phone in hand, and strode off to the bathroom.
"I'm not hungry yet. You eat first," he said.
His eyes never left his phone for a second.
Kelvin never once looked up, missing entirely the wounded, teary-eyed expression on Carissa's face.
Back in the day, even if Kelvin was swamped, always out for promos, writing songs, and recording, he'd still squeeze out time to share a meal with Carissa.
But since Linda came into the picture, it felt like forever since they'd actually sat down together for dinner.
Carissa felt a dull ache sitting heavy in her heart.
With a touch of self-torture, she crammed another mouthful of dishes in, letting the fiery peppers sting her throat and bring on the tears.
She lied to herself again with the same tired excuse, 'These tears honestly have nothing to do with him. It's just the damn spice; that's all.'
That meal dragged on for over an hour.
When Kelvin finally came out of the bathroom, he was genuinely surprised to find that Carissa had cleaned up every single dish on the table.
"What, were you that hungry? Anyone seeing this would think I'm starving you at home," Kelvin joked.
Carissa just busied herself tidying up the table, not saying a single word.
Normally, she'd be full of chatter, fussing over Kelvin the second he stepped through the door, but tonight, she was silent.
Even Kelvin, slow on the uptake as he could be, noticed something was up.
So Kelvin tugged Carissa over and made her sit with him on the couch, then pulled a bracelet out from his coat pocket.
"Babe, I've been buried in work these last couple of days and haven't had time for you at all. I honestly feel bad about it. Here, this is for you as a little make-up gift," Kelvin murmured.
He clasped the bracelet around Carissa's wrist himself, then leaned in to plant a gentle kiss on the back of her hand.
"This isn't just any bracelet. It's luxury grade. I had to pull some strings to snag it for you. You look gorgeous wearing it. Do you like it?" Kelvin asked, looking hopeful.
Staring at the green four-leaf clover bracelet, Carissa felt her heart clench hard all over again.
This little bracelet wasn't even for sale on its own. It was just a bonus thrown in alongside Wysteria Jewelry's latest emerald necklace, which carried a crazy price tag of 7 million dollars.
But Carissa knew all about it firsthand because she'd just bought that exact set for her own mom.
She looked up, meeting Kelvin's hopeful gaze.
Carissa forced a smile and murmured, "I like it."
"As long as you like it. It's getting late; go get some rest," Kelvin said softly.
That night, Kelvin lay down with his back facing Carissa and quickly fell into a deep, peaceful sleep.
Meanwhile, Carissa just stared at that bracelet all night, her mind spinning, and didn't get a single minute of rest.
As Kelvin's personal assistant, Carissa was up at five in the morning, heading out to that breakfast place a good ten kilometers away just to get his favorite bread.
But when she got back home, she was surprised to see the company van already parked downstairs.
"One of the guests on the show Linda regularly appears on got sick at the last minute, so I'm stepping in as a substitute," Kelvin explained.
Without missing a beat, Carissa swung open the car door and slid into the back seat.