A Glimpse of Light: Unmasking the Betrayers at My Side

I didn't dare look into the rearview mirror, but the soft, wet sounds of their kiss alone were enough to drive me to ruin.

Only at the last second before the traffic light turned green did they reluctantly part.

"Clara, time flies so fast! When you two first got together, you had just graduated, right? I can't believe you're getting married now!" Evelyn Colombo said, as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened.

Her hand casually caressed Marcel Horton's cheek as she continued, "I really envy you, getting to marry a man as amazing as Marcel."

Marcel chuckled, his hand reaching over naturally to stroke the back of mine. His touch was as warm as ever, yet at that moment, I felt like being encased in solid ice.

"Marrying Clara has always been my dream. I'm the luckiest man in the world." He confessed his love to me while his lips still bore the warmth of another woman.

Suddenly, I felt so pathetic and pitiable.

Tears welled up frantically in my eyes. Just as I opened my mouth to tear off their fake masks, a system alert blared wildly in my ears.

"WARNING! Exposure risk detected! Being discovered will result in immediate task failure and instant death of the host. Time remaining: Two and a half days."

Rage and agony tore through me simultaneously. Clenching my fists until my knuckles turned white, I forced myself to swallow every word back down.

When we arrived home, the two of them walked into the kitchen.

Marcel leaned over the sink, washing vegetables while Evelyn wrapped her arms effortlessly around his waist from behind.

As passion took over, Marcel lifted her in one swift motion and set her on the dining table, the two of them passionately entwined. The rushing water from the faucet ran loudly, conveniently muffling her faint gasps.

Meanwhile, I sat in the living room just a few paces away, clutching my glass of water. My grip slipped, and the glass shattered on the floor.

Hearing the noise, Marcel hastily shoved Evelyn off him and flew to my side.

He scooped me up in his arms, his voice dripping with intense concern. "Clara, how could you be so careless? Are you hurt?"

"Are you all right, Clara?" Evelyn jogged over as well, crouching down to clean up the glass shards. "Marcel, take care of her. The wedding is the day after tomorrow. I don't want anything to happen to her before the big day."

A lingering flush from their passion still dusted her cheeks. How touching those words sounded... Yet the image of their entwined lips stuck in my mind, leaving nothing inside me except a soul-chilling numbness.

Evelyn and I had grown up depending on each other. We were all the family either of us had left.

When I was 18, loan sharks came barging through our door. When a man attempted to assault me, it was Evelyn who shielded me with her frail body, and it was Marcel who charged in without a second thought, saving my life.

They were the most important people in my life—the family I chose as I grew up. But now, the beautiful illusion was over.