Chapter 5

In the underground garage, some unknown hater suddenly rushed at them with a knife.

"Watch out!" Kelvin shouted.

He was the first to sense danger and react.

He reached out, pulling Linda securely into his arms, shielding her completely from harm.

Carissa froze, rooted to the spot, her mind blank with shock.

Thankfully, the driver shoved her aside at the last second.

The knife missed anything major, but still grazed along her waist.

Blood gushed out at once, soaking Carissa's white sweater.

"Kelvin, it hurts so bad," Carissa cried out, clutching her bleeding side.

Instinctively, she reached out for Kelvin, her hand shaking uncontrollably.

But Kelvin just ordered the bodyguards to restrain the attacking hater, then gently pulled the shaken Linda into his arms and slipped into the business van, driving away without looking back.

He never spared Carissa a single glance the whole time.

The driver who'd been with them for more than three years helped Carissa up, concern clear in his eyes, and drove her to the nearest hospital for treatment.

In the waiting room, another couple sat nearby. The girl had scraped her palm, and she was nestled into her boyfriend's arms as he murmured soft words to comfort her.

'Look at me, how miserable,' Carissa thought, unable to stop herself from comparing.

It had already been over forty minutes since it happened. She'd gotten five stitches and gone through half a pack of gauze pads.

But Kelvin never once checked on her.

She couldn't hold it in anymore. Carissa crouched in the hospital hallway and cried her heart out.

Maybe all those tears finally washed away all that pain and sorrow Carissa had been burying deep inside her for so long.

After crying her heart out, for the first time ever, Carissa felt truly calm.

When she got home, the living room was still dark.

'I bet Kelvin's over at Linda's place right now, fussing over his scared little darling,' Carissa thought, resentment twisting in her chest.

Carissa headed straight for the study, tapped in her birthday on the safe, and swung open the door.

There were no gold bars or jewels. It was just a safe overflowing with old photographs.

She pulled over the brazier, lit the flames, and began feeding in the photos one by one, watching as the fire slowly devoured every last piece of her past.

"Carissa, some of those mindless haters might try to invade our privacy. Let's delete all our couple photos from our phones," Kelvin had suggested.

But Carissa just couldn't let go. She went out and bought herself a printer, then spent a whole day and night printing every single picture she couldn't bear to lose.

Kelvin just laughed at her back then.

"Don't be so sentimental. We'll be together for a lifetime—there'll be plenty more photos to come. By then, even ten safes probably won't be enough to fit them all!" he'd joked.

'Kelvin... there's no "us" anymore. We're done,' Carissa thought, heartbroken.

It had been five years, over eighteen hundred days and nights...

All the memories she tried so desperately to hold onto went up in flames in less than an hour.

Carissa scooped up the cold ashes and dumped them into a trash bag, then carried it downstairs and tossed it into the bin.

As she was heading back inside, her phone buzzed—it was her mom.

"Carissa, Terrance heard you agreed to the marriage, and he flew back from overseas overnight. These past few days, he's been sending over engagement gifts nonstop. He's even personally handling every detail of the wedding—from the flowers to the favors, he's been agonizing over every little thing. You can tell he really cares about you," Veronica said, her voice full of excitement.

Carissa was feeling pretty down, but she managed to force a small smile.

"Now that you and Terrance are making sure everything's perfect, this really will be the best wedding ever. I'm looking forward to it," Carissa replied.

Just then, Kelvin appeared behind her.

"What wedding? Where are you headed?" he asked.

Carissa said goodbye to her mom, hung up, then turned to him.

"Someone from my family back home is getting married," she replied.

Kelvin just grunted in response, not questioning her story at all.

Back home, Carissa made herself a bowl of pasta.

Once she was done, she freshened up in the bathroom, pulled on her pajamas, and settled in for the night.

Kelvin, who'd been left out and ignored this whole time, finally couldn't hold back and spoke up.

"The company says the 'Kelvin and Linda' couple act is getting a lot of hype. When our careers are more set and we've built up enough following, we'll split us up for good. Then… I'll go back to Edodonville with you and actually meet your parents," Kelvin said softly.

'Funny, isn't it?' Carissa thought to herself.

Five years in, and she still hadn't breathed a word to Kelvin about what her family was really like.

At first, she was too scared to tell him—Kelvin was always going off about how much he despised rich folks, always rambling about how show business was dog-eat-dog and claiming every wealthy person was just some entitled jerk pushing others around.

Whenever Carissa tried to offer a different perspective, Kelvin would just lose it on her, shooting her down every single time.

Eventually, she lost her nerve and kept quiet.

But when it came to introducing him to my family, Carissa lowered her gaze.

'I'd tried bringing it up again and again, but Kelvin always brushed me off like it didn't matter,' she thought.

Now it was Carissa playing it vague for a change.

"Who can really say what next year might bring?" Carissa replied, purposely evasive, her tone light and distant.

Kelvin narrowed his eyes at her. "Carissa, did you change or something? You seem different."

"You're imagining things. I'm just tired; that's all," Carissa said, barely bothering to look at him.

Kelvin pressed his lips together, then slipped onto the bed beside Carissa and pulled her into his arms.

"Babe, work's been eating me alive. Don't be upset, all right? Let me make it up to you," he whispered, nuzzling closer.

His warm lips brushed against her neck as his hand wandered over her waist, slipping under the hem of her shirt.

Carissa stiffened and quickly caught Kelvin's hand before he could get any bolder.

"No," she said firmly.

Kelvin snapped at her, clearly annoyed after being rejected.

"What's going on with you? Ever since you threw up the last time we tried to get close, we haven't…"

He stopped mid-sentence, the rest of his complaint hanging awkwardly in the air.