Chapter 3
Valentina’s message popped up again:2
[Kev, I want to take another photoshoot together. when can we do it? This time, let’s do something different–photos my sister hasn’t taken before, okay?]
I switched back to the original account and locked the screen.
The wallpaper stared back at me–a radiant smile, happiness frozen in time. Beneath the sheer fabric of her dress, a glimpse of red nail polish peeked through.
Valentina’s favorite color.
A quiet, bitter laugh escaped my lips.
I picked up my own phone and sent a message to a number I could recite in my sleep–a number that now felt like it belonged to a stranger
[In ten days, they’ll send me to you. Book me a one–way ticket out of the country, then erase every trace of me here. I don’t want anyone to find me.]
The reply from Kevin came almost instantly. No questions. No hesitation. Just one word:
[Got it.]
Same as always.
Footsteps rushed toward the door. I slipped the phone back into place without missing a beat. Closing my eyes, I let the tears fall, soaking into the pillow.
The doctor came in, ran a brief examination, then administered a painkiller. His voice was calm but firm.2
“She’s in a weak condition. She needs rest.”
As soon as the doctor left, Kevin sat beside me, eyes red and filled with anguish, watching me like I was the most fragile thing in the world.
After a long pause, he talked as if he’d taken a difficult decision.
“For your safety, I have no choice but to let Tina take your place. I’ll talk to her with Mom and Dad–we’ll convince her.”
His fingers traced my cheek, gentle and reverent, as if he were touching something fragile and irreplaceable.
“Ria, I just want you to live. Live with Tina’s identity while you recover. It won’t be for long–I promise I’ll bring you back.“E
His words were full of concern, yet each one struck my already shattered heart like a blade of ice.
I nodded silently.
What he wanted was now the same path I had chosen for myself. Different intentions. Same outcome. Going along with it was the best choice.
Kevin hesitated, caught off guard–he had expected resistance. After all, Damian was my ex.
Ob
Long ago I had blocked all of Damian’s contact right in front of Kevin. I wanted to prove my devotion to him.
A flicker of unease crossed his face, but it vanished just as quickly. He let out a breath, then pulled me into his arms, feigning reluctance.%
“We haven’t even parted yet and I already miss you. Baby, I don’t want to spend care of yourself and in six months, be my most beautiful bride. Okay?”
Kevin’s eyes brimmed with expectation. Beneath the surface, however,
a
single second away from you. Promise me… take
something far more telling–certainty.
He was convinced I would be ecstatic, that I’d be so blinded by his proposal I would stop to question anything.&
For three years, I had waited for this moment, imagined countless ways he might ask me to marry him. But not once had I pictured it happening in a hospital.
Not once had I imagined I’d be covered in wounds when it happened.
This wasn’t a promise of happiness–it was a burial. A descent straight into hell. But I didn’t bother shattering the illusion.
In ten days, Kevin would no longer exist in my world. A wedding in six months? That was nothing more than a fantasy. Expressionless, I nodded. “That’s amazing!“%
With his goal achieved, he pulled me into his arms again. But his words, meant to be comforting, rang hollow.
“I was worried you’d refuse because of your condition… Ria, don’t worry. No matter what happens, no matter how much you change, I will never abandon you*%
leaned against his shoulder, exhausted, my eyes shutting as 1 stayed silent.
Let him paint his perfect future–I knew better.
After a while, he must have realized I wasn’t responding. Only then did it seem to occur to him that my body had reached its limit
He gently laid me down and pressed a kiss to my forehead.
‘Don’t worry about a thing. Just rest. I’ll take care of everything. Then, he quietly left.
Five days later, at my insistence, I was discharged.
