Never lie to me

Something must have changed in my mind and the way I saw life after my second near-death experience. 

Because the old me would not have let things go this far with Kan.

I would never have let my body make the rules, instead of my convictions and purpose in this Cold War between Ophelia and me. 

I still had every plan to send her to jail, and if in our struggle she hurt one more person I loved, I would kill her without hesitation.

But after that night at the minister’s house, I realized there was a possibility I could die before that happened. 

Ophelia was vicious and tireless. 

And although I could match her in both things, I lacked the darkness that came naturally to her.

And that would always make me act a second too slow, too late and that might be my cause of death in the end. 

If I had died, or was left with no other option, the one person I would trust Oliver with was Kan. 

He had the pettiness to match the Takdedas and Turners every step of their way in their evil.

And he had the resources too. 

He may not be protecting Oliver for selfless purposes, but he would protect him regardless.

He was unzipping my dress now, and he moved his head back to stare in my eyes as my dress fell from around my shoulder, and bunched around my waist.

“I love you,” he said as his hands cupped my bare breasts.

I gasped in surprise, and he must have thought it was from the feeling of what he was doing because his hand began to squeeze more firmly.

“Kan.” I tried to get the words out of my mouth, but again they came out breathless because of all the sensations my body was feeling. 

I finally placed my hands on his shoulder and pushed him back.

“What did you say?” I asked as his eyes lit up in surprise.

“What?”

“What did you just say?”

He frowned in confusion, and then his face eased into a smile as he seemed to realize what I was referring to.

“I love you.” He moved close again, and pecked my lip.

“You can’t love me,” I said, shaking my head. 

“Why?” His tongue darted out to run across my lips, and my throat closed as I swallowed nervously.

“Love will make it all different,” I said gently.

“I want different.” His lips progressed down my neck, towards my chest.

“Kan.”

“Yes, my sweetheart,” he said.

“I feel dizzy.” 

He chuckled at that. Perhaps he thought I was joking, or it was just some horny expression, but that was the last thing I remembered.

When I opened my eyes, I was on my bed, and Kan, laying beside me, was staring down at me with a smile on his face. 

Before he even spoke, I made a guess of what had happened.

“That was not very romantic,” he said, his eyes dancing with laughter. 

I smiled shyly and looked away.

“I’m sorry.” He leaned close and kissed my forehead. “Maybe I was going too fast. You just got back from the hospital today.” He rolled off the bed and stood up.

I could not really make sense of why I had passed out. 

Exhaustion? I felt anything but exhausted minutes before that.

“Kan.” I called.

The seriousness in my voice must have startled him because his body froze, and then he turned around to me.

“I am always honest with you.”

He frowned, looking at me, waiting.

“Never lie to me.”

His eyes widened at that, and I took his hand in mine. 

He began to breathe more steadily, but he was still watching me skeptically.

“Is there something you want to say, sweetheart?” he asked finally. 

I looked at him for a few seconds, and then said, “What happened to the minister’s wife?”

The relief in his eyes broke my heart. 

Kan was really lying to me. He was hiding something. I said nothing though and just waited for his response.

He wiped his face tiredly, and then quietly told me all the doctor had said. 

Although I had suspected something as bad as this may have happened and even expected worse, it still startled me badly to hear the condition Mrs Inuoe was in.

I sat up, my brows knitted in a frown. 

No other person but Ophelia would do this. Maybe swapping my ring was not the only reason she was there that day after all.

I looked up to find Kan watching me.

“We suspect the same person,” he said calmly. “What I don’t understand is how she knew you would be there.” 

My mind immediately went to the ring, but then I reminded myself that it had been disabled long before I even left home. 

“I am tilting towards mere coincidence.” 

Kan nodded, and then said, “What are YOU not telling me?”

I frowned in confusion. Was he trying to turn all this around? 

What did he mean by that?

“What were you doing at the minister’s house?”

“Oh,” I said, and raised my fingers up. “Ophelia exchanged my ring with a bugged replica.” 

“What?”

“I went to the minister’s house to find out if I could get footage from any security cameras. I did. The accident happened when I thought to check on the minister’s wife before leaving.”

He was watching me with an unreadable expression now after his initial surprise had passed, and I suspected he was thinking about Blaine and me.

“Where is this ring?” he asked, and I gave him an offended look. 

Did he think I was lying? 

“It’s with my Mr Grigor.” I responded, and he nodded, still giving me that expressionless look, and for a moment I saw the Kan from the earlier weeks of our marriage. 

The brooding, quiet one that had veiled murder in his eyes.

“Why did you call Blaine, Ariel?” he said finally, asking the question I had seen in his eyes all this time. 

The question I knew he had been itching to ask.

I did not know the answer to that. 

The only answer I had for Kan was anger.