I stayed silent. He sighed and added, “Alright, I’ll arrange a caregiver and a maternity nurse for her. I won’t meet with her alone anymore. If anythinges up, she can contact Davy. Is that okay?”


    Davy Lipsy was his secretary.


    I didn’t respond. He lowered his gaze. “Zoe, what do you want me to do? Just tell me, okay?”


    His voice was weak, helpless, almost defeated. This side of him was rare.


    “Alvin, we’re broken up. You don’t have to make things so difficult for yourself. You can take care of her however you want,” I said, finally voicing my thoughts.


    He shook his head, then stepped closer, cornering me between the sink and his chest. “Don’t even think about it. We’re getting our marriage license tomorrow.”


    “Alvin, do you really want to marry me?” I asked.


    His conversation with Oscar that day reyed in my mind, and I couldn’t help but say it outright, “We’re too familiar with each other. So familiar that you’ve lost interest in even being with me in bed, haven’t you?”


    “Zoe,” Alvin started, but I cut him off. I really didn’t want to bring up that night.


    “That night is a shadow I’ll never shake off for the rest of my life. Do you understand?” I said, my voice low.


    His pupils dted, and his gaze flickered with confusion. He hesitated, then asked, a little lost, “What do you want me to do for you to forgive me and stop talking about breaking up?”


    I’d already said everything I needed to, but he kept asking. I was exhausted by the repetition.


    I pushed him away. “Let me go. I’m hungry. I need to eat.”


    ‘Alright, I’ll stop contacting Thea,” he said, pulling out his phone and blocking her on WhatsApp and in his contacts. “Is that good enough now?”


    Hearing the frustration in his voice, I gave a bitter smile. “Alvin, are you worried I’ll tell your parents about the breakup? That they’ll scold you? I won’t say anything for now.”


    ‘Zoe, that’s not it,” Alvin quickly exined. “I really want to marry you.”


    He paused, then added, “Even though we’re not officially married, haven’t had a wedding, and haven’t even been… that intimate, in my heart, you’ve already been my wife. The one I’ve chosen for this life.”


    My heart skipped a beat at the word “wife.” When my parents were alive, they never referred to each other as “husband” and “wife” in front of others.


    Eliseo said the word “wife” was the highest and most formal acknowledgment-far beyond terms like “girlfriend.”


    Alvin saying that I was already his wife, that he truly saw me as such, made a crack in the cold shell I had built around my


    heart.


    “Zoe, we all know about what happened at thepany yesterday. We’ve had a word with Alvin, and he knows he was wrong, Michelle said at the dinner table.


    “It’s okay, Michelle. I’m not upset,” I replied. Though I considered them as my own parents, I still couldn’t act like a spoiled


    daughter in front of them. My dissatisfaction was there, but I couldn’t fully express it.


    “Zoe is a sensible girl. She and Alvin have been together for so many years. They both understand each other’s feelings,”


    Peter chimed in


    “So such a wonderful girl like Zoe, I’m really worried someone might steal her away. Alvin, you need to hurry up and marry her!” Michelle skillfully steered the conversation back to tomorrow’s marriage license.


    Alvin nced at me, his eyes betraying some unease.


    I turned to face him. “Alvin, in front of your parents, confirm your feelings again. Do you really want to marry me?”


    “Alvin, hurry up and say something!” Michelle interjected.


    Alvin kept looking at me, his gaze deep and full of emotions I couldn’t quite understand. “Zoe, I want you to be my wife. Don’t refuse, okay?”


    As his words settled in, everyone at the table turned their attention to me, waiting for my response.