Chapter 85: Reconciled?

Kelvin’s POV

"That I am sitting here trying to manipulate you into marrying me," she said to me.

I narrowed my gaze. "Don’t put words in my mouth."

"You just did."

"I said this looks like you’re trying to push the wedding forward when we haven’t even discussed whether there is still going to be one."

Her tears fell. I felt my patience begin to thin, so I said to her, "You could have simply told me the things arrived."

"I wanted to show you."

"And you have shown me."

She looked down. "I can’t believe you think so little of me."

"Maya, stop."

She shook her head. "I know what I did, Kelvin. I have admitted it. But you keep treating me as though it is the only thing you can see whenever you look at me."

"That is not true."

"Isn’t it?"

I refused to respond.

She looked away from me. "Sometimes, I wonder if you even remember why I was going to meet you at the café that day."

I frowned. "Maya."

"I was going there because I wanted us to talk, and I ended up getting hit by a car." Her voice broke.

I looked at her crutches as she continued. "Since I came out of the hospital, I haven’t even been able to look at myself properly."

She touched the side of her face. The bruises had faded, but the injuries had not disappeared completely. There were still healing scars, and I knew there were others beneath her clothes.

"I don’t even know how much of this will remain after I recover."

My anger began to lose its force.

"My leg isn’t the only thing that was injured, Kelvin," she said to me.

I knew. She had bruises and cuts in other places. Some were already healing, while others would probably leave marks.

"Do you know how difficult it has been for me to wake up every morning and wonder what I will look like when all of this is over?"

The guilt inside me returned immediately.

No matter how many times I told myself that Maya had made her own decision, the truth remained that she had been on that road because she was trying to get to me.

"I have felt like I’ve lost everything," she continued. "I made a mistake. Yes, I did. I broke your trust, and I know that. But since then, everything in my life has changed."

I looked away.

"The only thing that has given me any hope is you being here. You’ve been taking care of me. Cooking for me. Helping me around the apartment. I thought maybe things could still get better between us."

"Maya."

"I know you haven’t forgiven me. But I didn’t know you hated me this much."

"I don’t hate you."

"Then why do you look at me as though everything I do is another attempt to deceive you?"

"Because you lied to me."

Her face crumpled. Regardless, I continued, "And you used my accounts without my knowledge. You caused me to lose three per cent of Mercer Technologies."

"I know!" Her voice rose suddenly. "Do you think I don’t regret what I did?"

I didn’t answer.

"I made one mistake, Kelvin. I have never done anything to hurt you before this."

The words hung heavily between us.

She wasn’t completely wrong. Before this, Maya had never shown any sign that she would betray me.

"I didn’t do it because I wanted to hurt you," she continued. "I knew I had made a terrible mistake, and I panicked. Instead of telling you the truth, I kept lying because I was afraid."

"You should have told me."

"I know that now." She wiped her face. "People make mistakes, Kelvin. Terrible mistakes sometimes. But does that mean they should be crucified forever?"

"Maya, don’t make this into something else."

"I’m not. I know what I did was wrong, and I have admitted that. But I love you. I have always loved you, and I have never wanted to hurt you."

Her eyes lowered to the crutches beside her.

"Since the accident, I feel like I’ve lost myself too. Sometimes, I wake up, and I don’t even know why I’m supposed to be happy about getting better."

My eyes narrowed. "What are you saying?"

She turned her gaze to me. "I’m saying that I don’t know how to live with someone who can’t stand my presence."

"Maya."

"I would rather die."

My body stiffened. "Don’t say that."

"But you don’t love me the same way anymore."

I didn’t answer. And that was all she needed. The next second, she reached for her crutches and pushed herself to her feet.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"I need to leave."

"You are not going anywhere," I said to her, my gaze turning more serious.

She refused to listen. "I don’t want to stay here and keep reminding you of what I did."

"Maya, sit down." I pointed a finger to the couch.

"I will manage," she said and tried to move past me.

I observed her as she took a step, then another, clearly struggling. The sight of her using the crutches irritated me, but not because I was angry at her. I hated seeing her like this.

Before the accident, Maya had moved through life with confidence. She cared about how she looked and how people saw her. She took pride in herself.

Now, she had scars on her body and was forced to rely on crutches to walk.

I knew how much her appearance mattered to her. And now she was standing before me, telling me that she had lost the motivation to continue living.

I looked at her again. No matter what had happened between us, she was still the woman I loved.

She had made one terrible mistake, but before all of that, she had never given me a reason to doubt her.

I watched her struggle to take another step and just had to call out to her, "Maya." But she didn’t stop, so I asked, "Where are you going?"

"I don’t know," she replied stubbornly.

"Then stop walking."

She ignored me and continued moving.

I released a deep sigh and walked towards her. She looked up at me when I took the crutches from her hands. "What are you doing?"

"Going somewhere, apparently."

"Kelvin, give those back."

"No."

"Then how am I supposed to walk?"

"You’re not."

Before she could argue again, I slipped one arm beneath her knees and the other around her back.

She gasped as I lifted her. "Kelvin!"

"Quiet."

She immediately held onto my shoulders. "I can walk on my own. I don’t need your help anymore. Put me down."

"No." I refused.

She stopped arguing and finally lowered her head against my shoulder.

One uncomfortable truth settled heavily inside me. I truly couldn’t bring myself to stop caring about her.