Chapter Thirty Nine

The event finally wound down under the cool embrace of night. Guests slowly dispersed, laughter fading into the distance, leaving only the soft rustling of leaves and the dying hum of classical music echoing from the speakers.

Alice kept to herself during the ride home. She sat beside Grandma Janet in the back seat, replying only when spoken to, her mind still battling Daniel’s words and the emotions left in the wake of their accidental kiss.

Kelvin sat in the front passenger seat, silent and tense. He had noticed Alice’s sudden change in demeanor at the event. She had suddenly become withdrawn, distant — her usual spark dulled beneath layers of thought.

As the Sanders' car pulled into the grand driveway of their estate, the house lit up like a quiet palace, the family finally home after a long evening. Staff moved about, gathering bags. Grandma Janet, after complaining about how tired she was, bade them goodnight and retired to her bedroom.

Just as Kelvin loosened his tie and prepared to step inside, a buzz from his phone snapped his attention to the screen.

It was a message from the Private Investigator.

Kelvin instinctively checked the screen, half-expecting another vague update. But this wasn’t vague. It was an image. He downloaded it immediately.

A single photo loaded slowly… and when it did, Kelvin stopped cold halfway up the stairs.

It was crystal clear. Unmistakable.

Alice was in Daniel’s arms. Her lips pressed to his.

The image was timestamped, tagged at the fundraiser location — the exact evening, just an hour ago. It didn’t look like an accident. It looked… intimate, passionate and real.

Kelvin's jaw tightened, breath catching in his throat. A strange heat filled his chest — burning, bitter, electric.

Strangely, Kelvin didn’t feel relieved. He had expected to feel victorious. Even triumphant. After all, that was what he had been waiting for - proof that Alice was unfaithful so that he could have her out of the house without having to give her a dime from his inheritance.

He could easily show the picture to Grandma Janet, and she would have no choice but to kick Alice out of the family, out of his life, out of everything.

But instead… he just felt hollow. Worse than that, he felt like something inside him had cracked.

His hand tightened around the phone, knuckles white. The image burned into his eyes.

He wanted to get Daniel and punch him so hard he wouldn't get back up. He wanted to break every rule of composure, every mask he wore so well.

How dare he touch her? How dare he hold her like that—kiss her like she belonged to him?

But what disturbed Kelvin the most wasn’t the anger. It was the hurt - deep, raw and unexplainable.

He hadn’t realized how much it would wound him to see her in another man’s arms.

But why? Why did it feel like betrayal, like something sacred had been stolen from him?

She wasn’t supposed to matter. She was just the village girl he married out of obligation. The naive, unpolished girl who could barely navigate his world. The girl who didn’t fit into his world of suits, deals, and crystal chandeliers.

He had told himself a thousand times:

“She’s not my type. She irritates me. She’s not Anita. She’s just a placeholder.”

So why… why did it feel like she had ripped something out of him?

His throat tightened as he cast a glance at her, as she walked ahead of him to their bedroom. She was never supposed to mean that much to him.

And yet, the image of her kissing Daniel was already burned into his soul.

Now, Alice had long retreated to their bedroom.

But, Kelvin remained by the staircase, rigid, his hands clenched into trembling fists at his sides. A storm raged behind his eyes, a mixture of anger, betrayal, confusion, and something far more unfamiliar - heartache.

He didn’t understand the feeling. It was too raw. Too consuming. He had never let himself care this much for Alice. But there he was, standing like a man undone.

And like most of his reactions in life, which was impulsive, burning, irrational, his feet moved of their own accord, carrying him straight to Grandma Janet’s room.

He didn’t even pause to fully think it through. Only stopped when he reached her polished oak door, the only thing standing between him and the one person who deserved to know the truth—or what felt like the truth.

He knocked twice, sharp and quick.

“Come in,” came Grandma Janet's calm voice.

He opened the door and stepped inside.

Grandma Janet stood by her window, dressed in a silken robe, she was about to enter her bed.

She looked up at him with mild surprise. “Kelvin? Is something the matter?”

He didn’t speak at first. He just walked forward, his steps heavy, and held out his phone to her.

Her brows furrowed as she wondered, but she took the phone from him. And then, she saw the picture of Daniel and Alice kissing.

The effect on Grandma Janet was instantaneous. She let out a soft and strangled gasp. Her hand holding the phone, shook and Kelvin quickly took the phone from her to stop her from dropping it in the floor. Immediately, one of her hands flew to her chest, the other reaching for the armrest. Her body swayed slightly, staggering with the weight of what she had just seen.

“No…” she whispered hoarsely. “No, this... this cannot be…Alice......Daniel.....No” She shook her head slightly.

Tears welled in her eyes, trembling on her lashes before cascading down her wrinkled cheeks.

She slowly sank into her armchair as though her bones could no longer hold her up. The pain etched itself into every crevice of her face.

Alice. Her Alice. Her pride. Her shining example. The girl she had brought into the family with love and trust. The one she defended and protected from every sneer and snide comment. That same girl had just shattered her trust like it was worthless, utterly useless.

"The innocent-looking ones," she murmured through her tears, “they're not always so innocent after all.”

Kelvin lowered himself beside her, crouching down to her side, his voice gentle but firm. “I’m sorry, Grandma. I didn’t want to be right. But I had suspected Alice and I had someone follow her about to get the truth. She has betrayed us. She has betrayed you.”

But Grandma Janet’s voice had hardened now—quiet, but laced with steel. “Not just Alice,” she whispered bitterly. “Daniel, too. I brought him into this family. I treated him like a son. Gave him a place. And this is how he thanks me?”

Her hands trembled in her lap.

Kelvin placed his hand over hers. “You don’t deserve this. I wish it didn’t happen... but now that we know, we can put an end to it.”

She turned to him slowly, her tear-filled eyes glistening with regret. “I should have listened. I insisted on that marriage, thinking I knew best. Thinking I was securing a good future for you... but it turns out my judgment has failed me.”

“No, Grandma,” Kelvin said, his voice thick. “You did what you thought was right. None of this is your fault.”

She shook her head, wiping at her eyes with a silken handkerchief. “Still… I will set this straight. I owe it to myself... and to this family. And to you my darling”

Kelvin gave a quiet nod. “I know you will.”

Then her voice turned firm again. “Leave me, Kelvin. I need to be alone. And do not, under any circumstances, say a word to Alice. I’ll summon both of them tomorrow. And I’ll deliver my verdict myself.”

He rose slowly, bowed his head slightly in respect, and turned to leave.

“Goodnight, Grandma.”

But as he stepped out and closed the door behind him, the tightness in his chest remained. He had shown her the truth—he had done what he set out to do. He was going to get what he had always wanted.

Kelvin felt a strange sense of relief settle over him as he walked back through the long hallway toward his room. The heavy cocktail of anger, betrayal, and that other unfamiliar emotion — hurt — had finally begun to lose its grip on him.

Grandma Janet’s words echoed in his mind like a balm to his bruised pride: “....I will set this straight....”

Yes. That was all he needed to hear. That was what he had expected. With Grandma Janet's assurance, the storm within him had quieted.

By the time he opened the door to his bedroom, the atmosphere had changed. The room was dimly lit by the soft glow of the night lamp, casting a warm hue across the space.

And there—peacefully curled under the duvet—was Alice. Fast asleep and breathing softly. Oblivious to the bomb that had already been dropped on her world.

Kelvin stood at the doorway, watching her in silence. His eyes trailed over her peaceful face — still, calm, almost innocent.

But to him, that innocence was a lie now.

He scoffed quietly under his breath.

'She always hated it when I went out with Anita. Always looked at me like I was the villain. But look at her now... making out with Daniel behind my back.'

A bitter taste filled his mouth as he walked further into the room, shrugging off his jacket.

'She turned out to be more cunning than I ever gave her credit for,' he continued in his thought. 'Playing the loyal wife while running to another man’s arms.'

He paused at the edge of the bed and stared down at her sleeping form.

But something twisted inside his chest. That same feeling again. He hated it.

He clenched his jaw and shoved it down, forcing his mind back into the safety of logic.

Alice was never for him. She was a villager and not fit for a man of his class. She was perfect for Daniel. A low class orphan his grandmother had helped.

Soon, the mess would be behind him. Alice would be gone.

And he would finally have the life he always envisioned for himself — a life with Anita.

Yes. Once Alice was gone, whatever strange feelings he had begun to harbor — whatever part of him had started to look at her differently — would disappear like smoke in the wind.

Satisfied with that conclusion, Kelvin headed to the bathroom, where he washed away the tension of the day with a long, cold rinse.

Then, freshly dressed in his nightwear, he returned to the room and slipped beneath the sheets on his side of the bed. He closed his eyes and slept, awaiting for Grandma Janet's verdict the next day.