Chapter Thirty Five

The breakfast dishes had been cleared, and Grandma Janet had retreated to her garden to enjoy her roses, leaving behind the heavy echo of her dream—to see a great-grandchild born into the Sanders family.

Alice walked quietly back to her room, her steps slow but her heart beating a little faster. Not from excitement, but from the weight of everything unspoken. She closed the bedroom door gently behind her and let out a soft breath, a mixture of weariness and relief.

Then, she settled on the edge of the bed, cradling her phone. She unlocked it and immediately saw Daniel's message waiting. A smile bloomed across her face before she could stop it.

Daniel: “Still thinking about that sunset spot. I wish I could take you back there right now. It felt like our own little world.”

Alice bit her bottom lip, warmth creeping up her neck.

Alice: “Me too. I didn’t want to leave.”

Daniel: “I know we can’t have everything. But I’ll settle for every stolen moment I get with you.”

Her fingers hovered over the keyboard, unsure how to respond to something so sincere—so different from anything Kelvin had ever said to her. With Daniel, she felt like the woman she could have been, like love wasn’t a contract or a ticking clock, but something living and breathing.

She was just about to type a reply when a voice—sharp and sudden—cut through the air beside her.

“Texting someone important?”

Alice jolted, her phone nearly slipping from her hand. She turned sharply to see Kelvin standing at the doorway, his arms crossed, his expression unreadable.

She forced her composure. “You scared me.”

He stepped into the room, slowly, like he had no intention of leaving soon. “Grandma wants us to have a baby. She's not going to drop it.”

Alice locked her phone and set it beside her. “She’s old. She wants to see her family grow before she dies. That’s understandable. That's every grandmother's dream.”

“Understandable?” he echoed, his brow lifting. “You think it's understandable that she expects us to pretend even more than we already are? We need to find a way to get her mind off the matter. Unless you want to have my child before this marriage ends.”

Alice stood, keeping her calm. “Hell no! I can't have a child for an insensitive man like you. This is part of the deal you signed in trying to trick your grandmother. So, you come up with a solution yourself.”

He scoffed, walking toward the window. “This involves both of us. Grandma has started this talk about us having a child and you know she won't stop until it's done.”

Alice’s heart twisted painfully in her chest, but her voice remained composed, almost cold.

“Then maybe you should give her a great grandchild. You and Anita can do that.”

Kelvin turned to face her fully. His expression was unreadable—a flicker of irritation, perhaps guilt, shadowed his features.

“Why are you so calm about this? You seem to be enjoying this.”

“I am enjoying it,” Alice replied with a smirk, her voice laced with mockery. “I’d like to see you get your wife pregnant.” She gave a mocking shake of her head.

Kelvin’s jaw tightened. He took a step closer, his irritation quickly bubbling to the surface.

“If it’s about sleeping with you, Alice, I’d get it done in a matter of a few minutes. And you’d be the one having the greater loss to bear.”

Alice scoffed loudly. “First, you think I’d let your filthy self touch me?” She eyed him with disgust, then added, “Second, do you think your wealth can bribe the law into leaving a small child with you instead of the mother? You’d be the one spending money on child upkeep—even after giving me half of your inheritance.

You think you’re an educated city man, yet you keep being outsmarted by a common village girl.”

The words hit hard. Kelvin didn’t say a word at first. He simply stood there, momentarily stunned, absorbing the sting of her truth. But as silence fell between them, his gaze slowly shifted to her phone lying beside her.

“Who were you smiling at?” he asked suddenly, his voice low and quiet.

Alice blinked. “Excuse me?”

“Your phone,” he repeated. “Just as I walked in—you were smiling, looking at your phone. What was it?”

Her chest tightened for a moment, but she raised her head, meeting his stare with steady defiance.

“Does it matter? I can smile at whatever I want to. I owe you no explanation.”

Kelvin didn’t answer immediately. He looked away, jaw clenched so tight it trembled.

“I better not find out you’re doing something you shouldn’t be doing, else…”

“Else what?” Alice shot back, her gaze unwavering.

“Else, I’ll have you out from my family without having to pay you a dime,” he threatened.

“Not if I prove your infidelity in this marriage with that Anita,” Alice countered sharply. “Then you’ll pay through your nose to settle me.”

Kelvin stared at her for a moment, breathing hard—defeated and seething. Then, without another word, he turned on his heels and stormed out, the door slamming hard behind him with a sharp, final bang.

Alice stared at the slammed door, her heart still echoing with the sound. She remained frozen for a long moment, then exhaled quietly and lowered herself onto the edge of the bed.

Without thinking, her fingers reached for her phone—her little refuge, her silent comfort.

Daniel: Still there?

A faint smile tugged at her lips, though this one held a trace of weariness. Bittersweet.

Alice: Still here. Just had to deal with Kelvin.

Daniel: Do you need rescuing?

Her smile widened just a little, the tension easing from her shoulders.

Alice: No thanks. I'm actually fine. He can't intimidate me no matter what.

And just like that, she sank into the warmth of their ongoing conversation—a world far removed from the cold tension that had just left her room.

_____

The Sanders mansion felt too heavy—too filled with things Kelvin didn’t want to feel. He needed space, needed air, needed clarity. So he left.

By noon, he was in the quiet luxury of Anita’s apartment, where no one could hear his thoughts spiraling.

Anita opened the door in a casual wear, her hair loosely tied back, a lazy smile playing on her lips. “Hey babe. You didn’t call.”

“I didn’t think I had to,” he murmured, stepping past her.

She arched a brow but closed the door behind him. “Well… the brooding face says it all. What has Alice done this time?”

Kelvin didn’t respond right away. He dropped onto the couch, rubbing a hand down his face. “It’s grandma. She’s already talking about Alice and I having children. She wants us to start a family before she dies”

Anita walked over and sat beside him, crossing her legs slowly. A faint sigh escaping her lips. “I was expecting that.”

He shot her a tired look. “You were?”

Anita nodded softly, “Yes. You should have expected that as well. It's how grandmothers.... or grandparents behave. They wish to see their children living okay before they die.”

Kelvin didn’t answer immediately.

"What do you want me to do? I can't have a child with Alice when we're ending the marriage soon." Kelvin asked, confused.

"Hmmmm" Anita hummed, thinking. "You can tell Grandma that you're trying and it's not just working. She'll believe that"

He leaned back, his voice low. “Grandma will take us both for fertility test, medical treatments and the likes of it. She just won't stop till she hears that Alice is pregnant.”

"Then get Alice pregnant" Anita offered coldly.

Kelvin shot her a look, "Really? And you think Alice will agree to it?"

"She doesn't have to agree to it. You can force her. She's married to you after all. Grandma will have her great grand child and you can still divorce Alice afterwards" Anita explained.

"But then, that child will forever make Alice a part of my life, our lives even when we're married. It's going to make things complicated for us" Kelvin sighed, rubbing his forehead hard.

There was a pause. Then Anita smirked as an idea came to her. “Then let's get Alice out of your family as soon as possible. Lets get grandma to hate her and kick her out before you even celebrate your first wedding anniversary”

Kelvin looked at her. “And how do you suggest we do it?”

Anita leaned forward, her voice smooth and laced with something dark. “There must be something we can definitely use to pin her down, set her up. We can get a fake proof that she's not as chaste as she seems to be”

Kelvin's brows furrowed, "She seem to be always texting on her phone and.... smiling. That sweet kind of smile"

His jaw tightened, remembering the way Alice had smiled at her phone while chatting.

"That's good then. She's definitely seeing someone. Have a spy follow her around and get proof that will implicate her and give her no room for denial." Anita smirked, “That way, Grandma will see her as the evil one and she will personally send Alice away. And you won't even have to give her a dime from your inheritance.”

Kelvin shook his head slowly. “What if we find nothing against her? What if she's just having a random chat with her friends, Kimberly and Marla?”

“Let's do this first” she said plainly. “And if we get nothing, we simply set the lady up.”

Kelvin sat in silence. Inside him, a storm churned quietly. He didn’t understand it.

The possibility of Alice with another man made something bitter and unpleasant rise in his throat. It was like jealousy, but he didn’t want to call it that. He didn’t have the right.

And, the thought of setting her up with someone — of watching her fall into another’s arms, even if it was a lie, a calculated move to get her out of his life — gnawed at him in a way he hadn’t expected.

But wasn’t that the plan?

Wasn’t she just a means to an end? He’d brought her into the marriage with an expiration date already in mind. Three years. That was it. No attachments. No complications.

So why did it suddenly feel like something was cracking open inside him?

Why did Anita’s suggestion make his chest feel tight instead of free?

Anita leaned in close, her perfume heady and sweet, her breath warm against Kelvin’s cheek as her fingers traced lazy patterns on his chest.

"I can already see us being together for real very soon," she whispered, her voice laced with anticipation. “Alice will be out of our lives, and we can convince Grandma to allow us to get married. We’ll finally have our happily ever after.”

Her words, coated in desire and certainty, made Kelvin's throat tighten.

Then her lips brushed his jawline — soft, deliberate — before finding his mouth. He responded, but not like before. There was no rush in the way he kissed her back, no hunger. Just weight. Heaviness. As if something inside him, something he’d long buried beneath pride and stubbornness, was shifting — moving like tectonic plates beneath the surface.

Anita, oblivious to the change, smiled into the kiss and tugged him gently by the collar, leading him toward the bedroom like she always did. And Kelvin followed — his hands on her waist, his body moving in rhythm with hers.

But even as she pressed against him, even as the lights dimmed and her laughter curled around him like smoke, his thoughts strayed.

One image haunted him - Alice.

The way her smile had bloomed over her phone, like sunlight breaking through clouds. The gold gown. The calm strength. The way she had challenged him that morning.

He could feel Anita’s hands on him, her words in his ear... but his mind was stuck on the woman he had sworn to discard — the woman who was never meant to matter.

And that simple fact — that Alice was still in his head, even here — unsettled him more than Anita’s touch could ever comfort.