Chapter Thirty Three

After her outing, Alice arrived home that evening to meet Kelvin already in their bedroom. Her mind which was still tangled in the quiet intimacy she had shared with Daniel - the way his eyes held her like she was the only person in the world - was suddenly surprised to see Kelvin already home, lounging on the sofa already changed to his casual wear.

His eyes locked on her the moment she walked into the bedroom.

Alice stepped in, her features soft with exhaustion but her posture composed. Kelvin was sprawled lazily on the sofa, his shirt slightly unbuttoned.

“I never knew Alice now spends time outside the house,” he said casually without looking away.

Alice scoffed, slipping off her heels. “Yes. You're not the only one with the luxury of having fun outside the mansion,” she replied, her tone light but edged with bitterness. She bent down, picked up the shoes, and walked into the walk-in closet.

There was a pause. Silence. Then Kelvin’s voice floated in, calm but cold. “So you’ve grown now? You now compare yourself to me?”

She emerged from the closet, no longer trying to hide her annoyance. Her arms crossed under her chest, she stared at him. “What is your problem, Kelvin?”

“Problem?” He stood up slowly, the smirk on his lips mocking. “Don’t you know that you’re a married woman and should always be at home, minding your house? Weren’t you taught this much by your mother?”

Alice’s eyes flared with offense. “Oh... so being a married woman confines me to your house while being a married man does nothing to stop your adulterous ways?”

Kelvin’s smirk faded slightly, replaced by a spark of irritation. “Because I spend time with Anita, you decided to get yourself a boyfriend to keep you busy, right?”

Alice laughed bitterly, shaking her head. “Why does this bother you so much?”

“It bothers me because you're smearing my family's name,” he snapped, stepping closer to her.

She didn’t budge. “And you sleeping around with Anita isn't ruining your family's name?” Her voice was calm, calculated. A smirk tugged at her lips as her arms folded tightly across her chest.

“I’m a man. The man in this house. It’s normal for me to have a woman outside, but not for you. You're the woman,” Kelvin said, his tone matter-of-fact, as if he was declaring something ancient and unchangeable.

Alice blinked slowly, the smirk disappearing. “Well, too bad I don’t accept that,” she said quietly, but with steel in her voice. “If you're not ashamed to be cheating on your wife, you shouldn't expect loyalty from me.”

Kelvin’s jaw tensed, but Alice didn’t stop.

“But you're lucky,” she continued. “I’m not like you. I spent the day with friends. Marla, Flynn and Daniel.”

The sound of Daniel’s name made Kelvin stiffen. His brows creased slightly. A flicker of something unexplainable crossed his face. He wasn't sure if it was relief or jealousy. He knew Daniel and Alice had spent much time together back on the cruise and must have developed some bond.

“You went out with Daniel?” he asked, trying and failing to sound unaffected.

“Yes,” she said, watching his reaction closely.

There was a pause before Kelvin replied, less venom in his voice this time. “Well... next time, you let me know if you're going to be hanging out with them.... or anybody.”

Alice let out a dry laugh. “Like you do?” she challenged, turning away from him. “I won’t. You’re lucky I even told you about this one. Next time, I’ll ignore your worthless questions.”

Without waiting for his response, she walked into the closet and shut the door firmly behind her.

Kelvin stood there for a moment, staring at the closed door. The silence of the room seemed louder now, the air charged with something unresolved. He ran a hand through his hair, unsettled. Then he moved back to the sofa.

Why did it bother him so much to hear her say Daniel’s name? Why did it twist something in his chest?

He wasn’t sure.

But the weight of it lingered. And that disturbed him more than he cared to admit.

After a while, the door to the closet creaked open and Alice stepped out, now dressed in a soft pair of gray joggers and a simple shirt. Her hair was loosely tied back, a few strands falling over her face in a carefree, effortless kind of beauty that somehow made her even more enchanting. She looked comfortable… real. The kind of real that made Kelvin’s throat tighten.

She didn’t spare him a glance as she padded barefoot across the room, climbed into the bed, and grabbed her phone. Her body relaxed into the plush mattress as if she had no care in the world, her legs folded up slightly, her expression cool and focused on whatever it was she was looking at.

Kelvin remained where he was, seated on the sofa. His eyes followed her every movement, uninvited but helpless. She wasn't doing anything special—just lying there, scrolling through her phone, occasionally tapping or swiping—but she was still magnetic as she was completely unaware of his presence, as though he were nothing more than an empty chair in the room.

He knew he should look away. But he couldn’t.

The irritating village girl he hated and despised was so cute that evening. So heartbreakingly beautiful in her simplicity. And in that moment, with her hair undone, her makeup gone, and her guard completely down, she didn’t look like the village girl he had stubbornly refused to see. She looked like something else entirely. Something precious.

“Damn it…” he muttered inwardly.

She shifted slightly on the bed and then gave a soft, sweet smile—something on her screen clearly amusing her. And it happened in an instant. Kelvin’s heart skipped. Froze, even.

He felt it. That strange, silent jolt in his chest. It wasn't just attraction. It was something deeper. Something he wasn’t prepared for.

He clenched his jaw, silently trying to will the feeling away. But the image of her smiling—unbothered, untamed, untouched by his presence—was branded into his mind. And worse, it made him feel something he wasn't supposed to feel for her - Longing.

Alice was completely unaware of Kelvin's intense gaze from across the room. She remained curled on her side of the bed, the dim glow of her phone screen illuminating her gentle features in the slightly darkened room.

Her fingers danced lightly over the screen as she replied to another message, her lips curving into a small, dreamy smile. She didn’t even realize she was smiling. But it wasn’t just the words on the screen. It was the way Daniel spoke to her - gentle, warm and attentive. Every text from him felt like a balm, a quiet comfort that wrapped around her aching heart like a soft blanket.

Her eyes flicked down the message from Daniel again.

“I can’t explain it, Alice... but I always feel like you were meant to be mine.”

Her heart gave a gentle flutter, the kind she had not felt before. Not even with her husband, Kelvin. That warmth, that sense of being cherished, protected, wanted… Daniel offered her that in just a few words. And even more than the words, it was his consistency. On the ship, he was always there—when she was overwhelmed, when she felt alone, when she doubted herself.

Another message buzzed in.

“I don’t know how you still look beautiful after everything you’ve been through… but you do. And if I had the power to change your pain, I would. I swear I would.”

Alice sighed softly, blinking back the faint sting in her eyes. She typed back, slowly, carefully. As she did, her smile deepened—so full of unspoken emotions that she hadn’t dared to name.

She hadn’t meant to fall for Daniel. Not while she was still married. Not while she was still so entangled in Kelvin’s unpredictable orbit. But Daniel had come into her life like a slow sunrise. Gently. Persistently. And without her noticing, he had started to color every corner of her dark sky with light.

Letting Daniel love her felt like rebellion and redemption all at once.

He was her escape from the cold walls of Kelvin's heart and mansion. Her breath of fresh air after drowning with Kelvin. Her hope that even if her marriage ended in three years, she wouldn’t be broken beyond repair.

Her thumb hovered over the keyboard as she typed another reply:

“I don’t know what the future holds, Daniel… but sometimes, I wish it holds you.”

She stared at the words for a long moment, her chest rising and falling slowly. Then she hit send.

In that moment, the smile that spread across her face was soft. Hopeful.

And Kelvin, who had been silently watching from across the room, had no idea why Alice was beaming like that—why her smile was so genuine, so bright, so… alive. He hadn't seen her smile that way before or look that peaceful, and it stirred something sharp and unfamiliar in his chest.

But with each passing second, the weight in his chest grew heavier.

Her thumb moved lightly over the screen again, typing another message. Her lips curled upward as she read a reply. Then came a soft laugh—barely audible, but enough to drive a fresh sting into him. He wasn't sure what to define that feeling overwhelming him.

Frustration twisted inside him. He didn’t like the feelings, the strange storm churning in his chest.

With a low grunt, he stood up.

His movements were abrupt, heavy. He stormed toward the door, not saying a word, not even glancing her way. The door opened and shut with a muted thud, and then he was gone.

But Alice didn’t even look up.

She was still curled in the middle of the bed, eyes lost in the screen of her phone, heart floating somewhere far from that mansion, far from the tension, the pain, and the emotional rollercoaster that Kelvin always seemed to put her through.

She was in another world.

A world where words were soft and love was gentle. Where someone saw her and loved her for who she was. Where she was a woman cherished for her heart, her spirit, her presence. And not selfishly used to get an inheritance.

It was a world Daniel was quietly building for her.

A soft exhale escaped her lips as she sent another message.

"I don’t want this night to end."

And as she stared at the blinking cursor, waiting for his reply, Alice thought to herself, "If only I could stay in this world forever... with him."

Because for once, even though her heart was still tied to a man who didn’t know how to love her properly… she finally felt what it was like to be wanted—truly wanted.