Alvin looked up when he heard the sound, his gazending on my face. I didn’t even need to see my face to know how bad I must have looked.


    “Are you not feeling well?” He frowned slightly.


    I walked silently to his desk, the bitterness in my throat growing. “If you don’t want to marry me, I’ll go back and tell


    Michelle.”


    The crease in his forehead deepened. He knew I’d overheard his conversation with Oscar.


    My throat tightened with that familiar sourness. “I never thought I’d end up being… so insignificant. Alvin…”


    “In everyone’s eyes, we’re already married,” he interrupted, his voice sharp.


    I thought, ‘So? Is he saying he will marry me just to please everyone? What I want is for him to marry me because he loves me, because he wants to spend his life with me.’


    With a quiet click, he snapped his pen shut, his gaze shifting to the ID card in my hand. “We’ll go get the license next Wednesday.”


    Those were the words I’d been waiting for, but now, they only made me feel miserable. So, so miserable.


    I lowered my head and shook it lightly. “Alvin, you don’t need to force yourself. I don’t need your pity.”


    “Zoe!” He called my name sharply.


    I flinched, then met his impatient eyes as he reached out his hand toward me. I tightened my grip on the ID card.


    His jaw tensed as he said, “Give it to me.”


    I didn’t move. The air between us grew tense.


    A few secondster, he stood up and walked over, his tall frame looming in front of me. He let out a heavy sigh, frustrationcing his voice. “I was just messing around with Oscar. Did you really take that seriously?”


    I thought, ‘Just messing around?’


    “You know how men are about their pride.” His hand closed around my arm, then slid down to take my hand. He gently pulled the card from my grasp.


    “Don’t listen to rumors,” he said, turning to put the card in the drawer. He grabbed his coat from the couch. “I need to go out for a while.”


    Lately, he was always leaving, and for long stretches of time.


    “Alvin, I called, my voice a little unsteady. “Do you like me?”


    He was already walking past me, but at the sound of my voice, he stopped. His dark eyes locked onto mine, and after a beat, he smiled, dimples appearing on his left cheek.


    Alvin’s smile was beautiful-warm. I remembered when I first came to the Dolton family, and he smiled at me as he called me “little girl.”


    It was probably that smile that warmed me, and after that, I couldn’t pull myself away. Even now, I still loved his smile.


    ???????


    But now, my heart sank as hisrge hand ruffled my hair. “Of course I like you Why else would I go halfway across the city to buy you pineapple!


    “Why would I get you your favorite roses every birthday? Why would I stay up to watch shooting stars with you? And… why would I want to marry you?”


    Every time I was on the edge of wavering, Alvin’s smile and a few sweet words would always get me to surrender.


    I felt like a kite, the string tightly held in his hands. He controlled my emotions, my happiness and sadness, whenever he wanted.


    But what I had overheard earlier had definitely affected me. This time, I didn’t fall for his easy words. I looked into his eyes and asked, “You like me in the way a man would like a woman?”


    As soon as I finished speaking. I felt Alvin’srge hand, which had been gently rubbing my hair, freeze. His smile faded as


    well.


    His hand moved from my head to my cheek, giving it a soft squeeze. “Don’t overthink things. We’ll go home together after work. You like fish, right? I had someone bring over some fresh salmon. I’ll cook it for you tonight.”


    And with that, he left-just like so many times before, avoiding my words without a second thought.


    The scent of his hand cream lingered on my skin, and his warmth was still on my cheek, but my heart felt ice cold.


    He was kind to me, spoiled me, and liked me-but that affection felt more like the love between family, not the love a man had for a woman. And for me, there was only him. Id adored him for ten years


    I thought, ‘So what should I do? Marry him and live a life so familiar that even being intimate with him feels like nothing special? Or leave him, and let him find someone who makes his heart race?