CHAPTER 2_ Pefect Husband

The soft golden rays pierced through the yellow curtains falling on the sleeping figure deeply cuddled by her husband. Kelvin’s arm was possessively wrapped around Olivia's slim waist. 

Her hair was sprawled on the pillow below her head. He stared at her sleeping face for as long as forever while maintaining the small smile on his lips. Bringing his other hand, he pushed the hair over her face behind her left ear.

His actions were enough to stir her. She groaned softly as she turned on her side to him, he immediately noticed the discomfort on her face despite her eyes still being closed. 

He pulled her closer to himself, this time her head was directly placed on his chest. He reached down for her abdomen giving it a gentle rub. 

“Honey..does it hurt? I noticed that you've been moody lately” he lowered his head in a whisper. 

Two seconds passed without getting a response from her. Olivia's lashes fluttered and she slowly lifted her eyelids. A gasp left her lips at the closeness. That wasn't a dream like she had thought. 

“Oww!” she groaned slightly which made Kelvin sit up instantly. He helped her sit up and made sure her back was well propped up with pillows. Her hands were placed on her abdomen and her face squeezed in pain.

After Olivia's miscarriage a year ago, she usually experienced painful periods and Kelvin wasn't left out in the pain. It was almost as if he was feeling the same pain. Whenever she was experiencing such excruciating pains, he usually stayed home to attend to her for twenty four hours.

He cancels important business deals and appointments just to be next to her or he could simply work from home. Sometimes his business partners question him whenever he tries to leave a serious and important gathering. And his response was always straight forward.

‘The company can run without me. But my wife can't’ 

Olivia's face fell recalling all those moments and how special she felt back then. But everything was a dark irony. Sometimes she wondered if he truly cared or this was all an act to be the perfect husband. 

“Can we go for a walk? It might help–

“Say no more!” Kelvin jumped out of the bed before she could finish her sentence. He leaned down and kissed her on the head before backing away. “I’ll go prepare a warm bath. Don't move” 

Olivia smiled and gave him a nod. She watched him leave in a hurry and suddenly, a dark feeling settled deep into her heart. She brushed the hair strands falling on her face behind her ears and looked away. 

****

When Olivia mentioned going for a walk, he didn't expect her to pick their old campus as the location for the walk. Regardless, he never let his eyes off her nor his hand leave hers.

“Good old days..” Kelvin murmured. His gaze trailing off to a bench which had the surrounding areas covered with neatly trimmed flower bushes. That particular spot was popular back in the days for couples. 

He smiled briefly and looked casually to Olivia who had been quiet for a while. He cleared his throat and pointed to the distance. “Do you remember how I used to chase you around back then?” 

Olivia forced a smile, of course she remembered vividly. Every single memory was imprinted in her head like a bitter aftertaste of a pill. She recalled how he desperately chased after her that he even had to make friends with each of her friends just to get closer to her.

“I made sure that all your friends liked me enough for you..” 

Olivia stopped walking and took a glance at him. “Not all of them liked you, Nancy never liked you..” 

A flicker of stiffness crossed Kelvin's face before he laughed it off. Olivia however didn't find it funny at all and she noticed the switch up in his expression. Nancy is her best friend and for some reason best known to the latter, she never liked Kelvin. 

“You know..Nancy is an influencer on I*******m and soon she'll go into showbiz..” she casually mentioned.

“Good for her then, you know you're the only woman who holds my heart..” He said lightly bringing his hand to stroke her chin after spotting a speck of something on her face.

“Kelvin Ashford?!..” 

The pending eye contact the two shared was broken off when a young brown haired boy suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Kelvin was taken aback, not like he recognized the latter or anything.

“Guys, it's Kelvin Ashford..!!” 

Their attention was diverted to the group of friends at the distance who immediately assembled before Kelvin and Olivia looking at them in awe. 

“Hello there..” he greeted with a warm smile. Back in the days, he used to be epic and legendary. Seeing these juniors reminded him of how fun campus was.

“Good thing you're here! We would like to invite you to come give a speech. You know..? Give us a word or two..” 

Kelvin exchanged gazes with Olivia, she gave him a nod assuring him that she'll take care of herself. His lips touched her forehead softly and he walked away afterwards.

The smile holding Olivia's pretty face crumbled down like a broken bridge. She received a new notification on her phone which gained her attention.

Surprisingly, the first thing she saw on her feed was Nancy's livestream which was tilted ‘Campus Goddess' fairytale romance. This was the same account she has been tracking after finding out that her best friend who is a ‘man hater' has fallen in love with someone.

‘I met my prince on campus and it's been a fairytale ever since. I urge you all to check my recent pics and videos..’ Nancy continued on the Livestream.

Meanwhile, Olivia scrolled through the pics and videos for the man of her friend's dreams. Even if she was blind, she'd recognize that manly silhouette from anywhere. Every pic and videos didn't capture him fully but she knew who he was instantly, the familiar clothes and movements.

No one could see what she was seeing, the comments on each videos and pics were all praising and admiring the two. Some called him a good man and others wished that they were in Nancy's shoes.

All she did was to screenshot and screen record everything displaying on her screen. Her face was as blank as a white sheet of paper. 

Once she was thoroughly satisfied, she made a video call amidst Nancy's livestream on the app.

Nancy's face popped up next on her screen and from her looks, one could see the distress written on her forehead. She forced a smile at Olivia. “Wow! I didn't expect you to find me here..” Her voice sounded nervous and she hardly maintained a long eye contact on the screen. 

Olivia smiled back “Algorithim magic. So you're in love and didn't mention it to me? That's new, because I can recall clearly when Kelvin was chasing after me, you couldn't even stand him, saying you'd rather remain single forever..” Olivia paused for a second. “I wonder what kind of man could make you change your mind. How about we do a double date tomorrow?” 

Nancy's demeanor changed instantly. The panic could be seen on her face but regardless, the viewers recognized Olivia immediately. The comments were exploding with gushes of excitement.

One particular comment caught Olivia's attention. ‘Isn’t that Kelvin Ashford’s beloved wife?’

Beloved? How true could that be?

The whole attention was gradually shifting from Nancy to Olivia. Nancy's jaw tightened, this was her Livestream and no one gets to steal her light. 

“Uh guys..I think the delivery guy is here now..bye” 

The Livestream ended abruptly casting a dark glow on Olivia's face. She wasn't a fool to not notice how tensed Nancy was all through and deep down, she knew that was just a baseless excuse to end the Livestream. 

“Honey..” Kelvin breathlessly called. Olivia spared him a look, he looked like he ran all the way here. “What were you watching so intently?” he questioned trying to take a peek at her screen but Olivia was faster to put her phone away into her purse.

“Can we go now? My feet is starting to get really sour” She asked brushing off his question deliberately.